New to PT2020 looking for specific pc specs

[DVTOM]

Hi, I am new here but not new to PT but just upgraded to PT2020.5 so I am looking for help in determining if a pc I'm thinking of buying will handle PT2020 well enough for a while. I did a search and only keep being directed to Avid spec page which does not list specifics. (will any i9 be good enough )?

I have a home studio and do projects ranging from solo artists to small 4-5 piece bands. My largest project has 48 tracks but want to do more moving forward if need be.

Thanks for the help!

This is what I'm looking at purchasing but hopefully you guys can help direct me in the right path:

DELL XPS (I don't know much about PC specs)

Processor:9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 9900 (8-Core, 16MB Cache, up to 5GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology)

Operating System:Windows 10 Home, 64-bit, English

Video Card:Intel UHD Graphics **will add my own card**

Chassis Options:460 Watt Power Supply

Memory:32GB DDR4 at 2666MHz; up to 64GB **will add to 64GB later**

Hard Drive:512GB PCIe M.2 Class 40 SSD + 1TB 7200RPM HDD 239

Wireless:802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.2, Dual Band 2.4&5 GHz, 1x1

CD ROM/DVD ROM:Tray Load BDRE Drive (Reads and Writes to Blu-Ray disks)

[AUM Yogi]

If you have the budget get yourself an HP Z4 workstation. Avid specs and tests these machines to work with Protools.
This page will give you the details.
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/ar...-Configuration

I bought one of these machines to upgrade my studio computer last Nov'. Couldn't be happier. It has been the most reliable Protools computer I've used in the 15 years I've been working with Protools.

If you do go down the HP Z4 route make sure you get a machine with the exact specs that are listed. They test certain video cards, ram configurations and so on.

All the best in your computer search.

[JFreak]

Hi, wecome to the community.

As far as PT goes, the minimum recommendation is i7 CPU and 16GB memory. Nowadays it is more than recommended to have more memory, but if you have those two covered you should be fine.

[albee1952]

Your parts list looks good to me except for one item:
Chassis Options:460 Watt Power Supply
Personally, I look at 650 watts as the minimum. While that PSU might be fine for a basic build, once you had several hard drives, a few fans and a powerful graphics card, its possible(depending on the individual power rail ratings) that you might be under powered, which can cause lots of weirdness(IOW, the system boots fine but runs like crap). Just an opinion from someone that has built over a dozen PC's for Pro Tools(and had this very problem once)

PS, a note on RAM; If you start off with 32GB, that's cool, BUT, looking down the road, if the motherboard has 4 slots, and the 32GB is in 4 sticks, when you want to go to 64GB, you will have to buy all 64GB and remove the original 32GB(not a cost-effective way to make the change). Of course, if the 32GB is in 2 slots and there are 2 more open slots, then it makes total sense(but do remember, you want ALL RAM sticks to be identical(same brand, speed, size, part number)

[WaterRat]

Hi I’ve just set up a PT ultimate HDX system (2020.05) using an HP Z800 (dual hex core X5680 Xeons 48GB ram ) which seems like a total bargain at £600 here in the UK and works like a dream although I don’t run vast sample libraries etc however I have added a SATA III card (BEYIMEI 4-Port SATA III) and a USB 3 card (StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card)

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by WaterRat

Hi I’ve just set up a PT ultimate HDX system (2020.05) using an HP Z800 (dual hex core X5680 Xeons 48GB ram ) which seems like a total bargain at £600 here in the UK and works like a dream although I don’t run vast sample libraries etc however I have added a SATA III card (BEYIMEI 4-Port SATA III) and a USB 3 card (StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card)

I took a similar route last year and bought an HP z820 12 core(3.5GHz), 64GB RAM with a 500GB SSD. I also added a USB3 card and a USB-SPDIF adapter for non-Pro Tools audio out. That rig(with HD/Native) ran like a train and cost me $1100. Wish I still had it

[lesbrunn]

Originally Posted by WaterRat

Hi I’ve just set up a PT ultimate HDX system (2020.05) using an HP Z800 (dual hex core X5680 Xeons 48GB ram ) which seems like a total bargain at £600 here in the UK and works like a dream although I don’t run vast sample libraries etc however I have added a SATA III card (BEYIMEI 4-Port SATA III) and a USB 3 card (StarTech.com Dual Port USB 3.1 Card)

Those old HP workstations are solid workhorses, very stable. Just use SSDs, NVMe or otherwise, and you're good to rock.

[DVTOM]

Thanks to everyone who has responded.

I was looking at Dells and they seem to have some great systems (XPS) as well that can handle it. I will check out the HP's as well before I make a decision. Thanks for the feedback!

What graphics card do you recommend?

Thank you

[WaterRat]

My Z800 came with an Nvidia Quadro 5000 GFX card

[albee1952]

My HP came with a quadro 400, which worked fine, but I swapped it for a GeForce 750 Ti because that card allowed me to run 3 screens. running a quadro K2000 on my current x79 build(the compatibility section for PC shows a list of nVidia cards that are approved. Most are available used for bargain prices, but most any nVidia card should work fine. No matter what brand the card is(eVGA, PNY, Asus, etc), get drivers from the nVidia website