PLEASE give your feedback on the PC I'm buying

[Zarabozo]

Hello All,

This is my first post on the forums.

I would really appreciate any feedback, comment or suggestion on the PC I'm buying. I have until Monday to cancel or modify the order, after that it's a final sale. So, please, checkout carefully what I ordered and let me know how you think ProTools 8 LE will work on it with Windows 7 64 Bit.

I used to have what I thought it was a powerful PC (Core 2 Duo 2.6 Ghz and 4 GB on Ram) but it just can't handle decent large sessions, so, this is what I ordered:

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Using a Digi002 Rack and ProTools 8:

Motherboard: Supermicro X8DA6+ (support for up to 192 GB RAM)
2 Processors: Intel Xeon Six Core X5650 2.66 Ghz 12mb L3 cache (12 cores total)
Ram: 4 modules 4 GB each (16 GB total) Kingston DDR3 ECC registered gold 1333 MHz
Boot disk: SSDNow Kingston SNVP325-S2/64GB
Media disks: 2 Western Digital Velociraptor 600 GB 32 MB cache 10K RPM SATA 3, as RAID 0
Video: nVidia GeForce GT220 1 GB GDDR3 PCIe
Ultrasilent ThermalTake gabinet
Ultrasilent ThermalTake fans
Ultrasilent CoolerMaster power supply
Lacie Firewall 800 PCI card
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It's not cheap at all, nevertheless I'm in Mexico City and everything it's more expensive here because of customs and so. All that package will cost me $5,500 USD and it was the components recommendation from the guy who is selling me the parts (i tried asking for the same components with other providers and they wanted to sell it for more than 7k USD), he generally works with people with highly demanding audio and video tasks and he is trusted and respected in general.

If this hardware will be enough for Protools LE on 96 Khz 24 Bit 48 channel sessions with multiple plugins on most channels and up to 120 minutes of audio recorded on each track, then I'm really happy with it. But I definitely don't want to spend this kind of money on a computer if it won't be enough after all.

Another guy told me I can install OSX on this hardware and have like the best MacPro they don't even make yet. I also don't know about this being possible or true, or even better or recommendable.

So, please, please... give me your feedback on this matter . I'll really thank you for it.

Best regards,

Francisco

[Mr. Kelly]

Hi Francisco,

Welcome to crazy job of building a PT computer! Congratulations.

I'm in the exact same place... about to drop some coin on a PT computer, and crossing my fingers that it will all pan out.

I'm not one of the "experts" on here (hope they chime in for you), but here are some preliminary thoughts...

What operating system are you contemplating using? By what I see, Windows 7 64 bit is the only OS that will even remotely take advantage of the 16gb of memory you're contemplating. Plus, given that Pro Tools is only a 32 bit app., having all that memory will not be helpful (hope someone tries to explain it, I know I'll get it fouled up! ) If I get this right, Windows XP or Vista can only see "use" a much smaller amount of ram, with Windows XP using something like... 3-4GB.

Your motherboard choice isn't one of the boards that the "successful" builders on here are using, so you might want to consider that greatly. Almost universally, people on here are using boards that have Intel x58 or x55 chipsets on them, w. Intel i7 cpus (some are using your last cpu). This is the kind of board and cpu that has worked very well with many PT. builders. It would be, literally, a crap shoot to get any other combo up an running, as they will not have had lots of compatibility testing by users on here. I would certainly consider going with the recommended combination. Have you had a chance to read the "i7 Build" thread at the top of this forum page? The first page of that thread should be "the bible" when assembling a computer. These are the folks that have put together great working systems.


Are you expecting to use this computer for other things, as well? I ask, because your video card sends up a little red flag, also. PT doesn't need a large-memory video card to operate effectively. I've heard on here that, although some have had a 1GB video card that has worked ok, it's best on a PT computer to have a smaller memory video card, such as 512mb, as Window allocates (reserves) memory for the size of memory on the video card, which makes PT not be able to use that memory from your sticks. So, this may reduce your working PT memory, which makes the choice of Windows 7 64 as your OS a bit more important.

So, the best thing you can do for yourself, and your future PT use, is spend a couple of hours researching the threads above in this forum, look through the Avid "compatibility" pages, and then decide on parts that are used here successfully.

Good luck!

[serio]

Building this PC for ProTools LE would be like bringing a bazooka to a pistol fight. You can save a ton of money by building an i7 as Mr. Kelly already suggested. The thing is that you will hit ProTool's limits before you can even take advantage of all that power. I also agree with Mr. Kelly about the video card. Also, that firewire card may work for external hard drives but I'd stick with a Pyro or SIIG firewire 400 card with a TI chipset for any Pro Tools interface. Unless you need 48 channels of the Eleven plugin, you might want to scale back a little and put that extra green in something that will compliment your studio. Like a master clock or a nice ADDA converter. But then again, you are recording 120 minutes of audio at 96k so I asume you are working in post. That's a different animal than cutting songs, which is what many of the i7 guys here do. If you do need more power, there are other choices: http://www.rainrecording.com/products/element/

[Keybeeetsss]

Its this simple.. U don't "BUY" a PC for PT: U build it...

[Hotcrazyfruit]

Different firewire card, make sure its a TI chipset. If your going to do RAID, make sure its at the hardware level. Any software level raid will not work with PT. And dude, in terms of hardware your rockin. Do a D-verb test and post your results. cuz that will just be insane.

As for the 16 GB memory, keep in mind that PT will only use up to 3. But that leaves 11 gigs for windows and other 64 bit daws to run through rewire and such.

Welcome to the world of protools

Nick

[Zarabozo]

Originally Posted by kdarbyshirebryant

Short answer: no.
Unknown firmwire interface
Raid not supported.

Well... actually, the Firewire card was my choice: http://www.berkleemusic.com/communit...-for-pro-tools

I also asked for RAID 0. ProTools doesn't support OS/Software raids. But it *does* work perfectly with raid by hardware, which is invisible to the OS and ProTools. I also searched for it and there's a lot of people getting advantage of it with ProTools.

[Zarabozo]

Originally Posted by Keybeeetsss

Its this simple.. U don't "BUY" a PC for PT: U build it...

That's what I'm doing. You have to buy in order to build. Those are the components I've selected so far.

[JMS40]

Originally Posted by Zarabozo

But it *does* work perfectly with raid by hardware, which is invisible to the OS and ProTools. I also searched for it and there's a lot of people getting advantage of it with ProTools.

Where are you getting your info?
There are 10+ years of users here on the DUC that will steer you away from any RAID array with PT... it's completely unnecessary for a stable, working PT system.

[Hotcrazyfruit]

Originally Posted by JMS40

Where are you getting your info?
There are 10+ years of users here on the DUC that will steer you away from any RAID array with PT... it's completely unnecessary for a stable, working PT system.

agreed. although, it does give more track counts (theoretically), were at a point where any 7200 RPM 16 MB drive will give us a considerable amount of tracks.

[Keybeeetsss]

Originally Posted by Zarabozo

That's what I'm doing. You have to buy in order to build. Those are the components I've selected so far.

Sorry; I misread...