hewlett packard xw8400 - drive too slow?

[black030]

I recently bought a PCI HD3 system. Of the digidesign 'compato' list I chose the HP xw8400 (the only one capable of holding 3 PCI cards without the necessity of using an expansion chassis, as far as I know).
I picked the xeon 5160 configuration offered by HP (in Germany I can only choose pre-configured systems) -> problem with that configuration is, that it only comes with a 7200 rpm SATA drive. I could go and add a 10000 rpm drive (WD raptor (8 ms access)) for audio but could I run into problems with the apparently slower drive that would hold WinXP and the ProTools software? Or would it be a better idea to get rid of the slow drive and change it for a faster one in the first place? (I don't know if the HP support would have a problem with that, if I do it myself? But that's another story…)
I noticed that the xw8400 also supports Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives. Is that compatible with ProTools HD?

here the link:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/de/de...-77884339.html

[Brandonx1]

hi black030,
the system drive is fine. buy another sata drive for audio. you should be able to 40 plus voices a drive.

[black030]

thanks! BTW are those 2 gig of RAM just fine or should I opt for 3 (or 4) gigs (always having that crucial xp RAM limitation in mind)?

[Brandonx1]

Hi Black030,
2 gigs of ram will run PT 7.3.1 very well. If you have avid video hardware like a mojo or V10 I'd go with 4 gigs. Also if your running video, use a different drive for the video files. If you have any additional questions please feel free to ask.
Peace,
Brandon

[black030]

Hi Black030,
If you have any additional questions please feel free to ask.
Peace,
Brandon

Well Brandon, thanks a lot but one thing though - do you've actually used the xw8400 or had any experience with it?
What about Ram and a maximum RTAS plug-in scenario?

[Brandonx1]

Hi Black030,
No, I've only used and own the xw9300. As for the RAM, you'll get more RTAS power with more RAM for depending on the plug ins. I don't use a lot of RTAS plugs my self but did a dverb test a while ago and got more then 150 of them.
That care,
Brandon

[black030]

Hi Black030,
No, I've only used and own the xw9300.

Close enough
Thanks a lot. I think I am going to order it tomorrow (takes at least 2 weeks to deliver - bummer). Only one thing concerns me a little: Digidesign tested with a Nvidia Quadro FX 1500 - since I am free to choose the graphics card, I would like to try a GeForce 8800 GTS first (yeah I like to play a game just here and then…). Did you know of any compatibility issues there?

[Brandonx1]

Hi Black030,
Ya PT is picky about the video card used. I actually run a Geforce 7600GS. I had some problems with 7.2 and called tech support. the first thing they asked me is what video card do I use. I'm still running this card and currently it's working well but avid express blue screens me every time. I'm guessing media station PT would do the same. The reason I picked the Geforce 7600GS is because it was only a hundred dollars as opposed to the $500 dollar card digi wants you to use. Hope this helps.
Peace,
Brandon