Best Systems and Components for Win HD/TDM

[Ghengis]

I'm running HD-2 on PCI - There are 3 PCI slots on this board and the cards with fit in all of the 3 slots, allowing HD-3 on the motherboard.

Ghengis

[dubrichie]

alrighty,

i'm about to buy a used HD2 Accel that is PCI or PCI-X and will also be buying a new mobo for the system.

what i need from the mobo is:

at least 2 PCI-X slots, for the HD cards.

4 PCI-e slots for my 3 UAD-1 cards and the graphics card.

initially i will be using my Core2Duo E6600 but would like to be able to "drop-in" one of the upcoming 45nm quad core chips next year, so a P35 chipset would be desirable.

i really, really, really need this system to be as STABLE and RELIABLE as possible!

any mobo recommendations?

thanks,

regards,

richie.

[sunburst79]

alrighty,

i'm about to buy a used HD2 Accel that is PCI or PCI-X and will also be buying a new mobo for the system.

what i need from the mobo is:

at least 2 PCI-X slots, for the HD cards.

4 PCI-e slots for my 3 UAD-1 cards and the graphics card.

initially i will be using my Core2Duo E6600 but would like to be able to "drop-in" one of the upcoming 45nm quad core chips next year, so a P35 chipset would be desirable.

i really, really, really need this system to be as STABLE and RELIABLE as possible!

any mobo recommendations?

thanks,


regards,

richie.

This One

[dubrichie]

thanks for the suggestion, but i'm afraid that that mobo is not suitable for my requirements because:

1: it only has 2 PCI-E slots, as stated i need 4.

2: it is based on the 975X chipset as opposed to the P35 Express, meaning that it can accommodate neither a current Core2Quad cpu nor the upcoming 45nm based cpus.

i'm considering this one from Intel: Intel DP35DP mobo

any other suggestions? i would prefer PCI-X over PCI if possible.

thanks,

regards,

richie.

[sunburst79]

thanks for the suggestion, but i'm afraid that that mobo is not suitable for my requirements because:

1: it only has 2 PCI-E slots, as stated i need 4.

2: it is based on the 975X chipset as opposed to the P35 Express, meaning that it can accommodate neither a current Core2Quad cpu nor the upcoming 45nm based cpus.

i'm considering this one from Intel: Intel DP35DP mobo

any other suggestions? i would prefer PCI-X over PCI if possible.

thanks,

regards,

richie.

I'm sorry, I didn't see you needed a mix of PCIe and PCI slots. I was under the assumption you were looking for a PCI board for HD with PCI slots. So far the ASUS WS series board it the only one that I'm aware of that can run more than 2 HD cards. The 975x series will support the QX6600 processer's. Bob Nagy and Nick H are both running that board. I think that unless ALL of the slots are PCI X that there is not any advantage to be had. Once you drop more than 3 cards in I beleive that all of the PCI slots are running at the same speed/bandwidth.


The board you picked should work as well as any for your requirements. Your the first builder I'm aware of to mix PCIe and PCI like that but I can't see any reason it shouldn't work. As long as the HD cards clear any motherboard componentry-which is a problem given the size of the cards. Lets us know if it works

[Paje]

I'm back after my long anticipated computer upgrade, and have details about my new hardware. For anybody who is about to upgrade an XP HD system, you may find the following useful.

~snip~

If you're thinking about upgrading your HD system to a quad core, I think you should have success with the above components, except for the DVD burner, which I suggest you avoid...

Good luck. Bob

Thanks for putting that together Bob!

I've been waiting to upgrade my system for quite awhile. I've had a system I built myself, Intel server board in a rack-mount enclosure and running Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel w/o issue but, antiquated and a bit noisy. Question - which enclosure/chassis and fans did you use for your P5WDG2 WS Pro build? Any suggestions for building a very powerful AND quiet system? TIA.

Cheers,
Paje

[Mercurix]

Has anyone gotten the PCI-E cards to work with no problems on their Win XP systems? I have an HD2 PCI-e x1 and I have crashes and errors all the time. I was considering trading down to regular PCI, but apparently I need to get a motherboard with 64bit PCI slots, which just seems outdated now. Any idea on when Digi plans to support us Windows folks?

[Bob Nagy]

Question - which enclosure/chassis and fans did you use for your P5WDG2 WS Pro build? Any suggestions for building a very powerful AND quiet system?

I used a rack mount case from servercase.com. The fans are not very quiet.
I don't have info on where to get quiet fans, but other users around here likely do.
My computer is located in another room, so noise is not a large issue.
The Asus motherboard and the Q6600 use a decent amount of power, so making this sort of computer very quiet would be some effort.

[Bob Nagy]

Has anyone gotten the PCI-E cards to work with no problems on their Win XP systems? I have an HD2 PCI-e x1 and I have crashes and errors all the time. I was considering trading down to regular PCI, but apparently I need to get a motherboard with 64bit PCI slots, which just seems outdated now. Any idea on when Digi plans to support us Windows folks?

A few people here have mentioned success with PCI-e, and there is also an old posting from a Digi employee talking about PCI-e. A search should turn these up.

A motherboard with 64 bit slots is definitely NOT needed. The PCI-X cards work equally well in a 32 bit PCI slot (although perhaps with some limitations in throughput when used with high track counts, high sample rates, etc. The Digi site should have info about this somewhere.)

I was running an HD3 PCI-X in an Intel motherboard with all 32 bit slots. It worked perfectly for about 5 years, until this computer was retired and a new Q6600 system replaced it.

[Paje]

I used a rack mount case from servercase.com. The fans are not very quiet.
I don't have info on where to get quiet fans, but other users around here likely do.
My computer is located in another room, so noise is not a large issue.
The Asus motherboard and the Q6600 use a decent amount of power, so making this sort of computer very quiet would be some effort.

Thanks Bob!

I've got my current build in a rack-mount case from boomrack. With the large fans and power supply, it is pretty noisy. I'm unsure I'd ever be able to (equitably) build a system quiet enough to record (via mic) in the same room.

I am going to build a system essentially the same as you spec'd (maybe more HD drives). I'll get some quiet fans just to see, but will be placing the system in a hallway closet that shares a back wall with my studio/control-room. I'll do a cable snake from there and should be able to insulate the computer noise 99.99%. Having a silent control room, being able to record, do takes, retakes sitting right in front of the console is very desirable for me.

I'll be ordering all the hardware straight away. Any last minute suggestions for the ideal rack-mount Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel Systems? Q6600 still the top (compatible) processor of choice for this mobo?

Cheers,
Paje

ETA: Here's my (initial) order:

1 Asus ATI Radeon HD3850 512MB 2DVI/HDCP PCI-Express Video Card AS-385_512 $199.00
1 Zalman ZM600-HP 600W Dual-Core Quiet Power Supply PS-ZM600HP $120.00
1 STT DDR2-800 2GB (2x1GB) CL4 Dual Channel Memory Kit T800UX2GC4 $51.50
4 Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 16MB Hard Drive HD-W50AAKS $107.00
1 Asus P5WDG2-WS PRO Socket775/ Core 2 Duo/ 975X/ FSB1066/ CrossFire/ A&2GbE/ ATX Motherboard MB-P5WDG2P $262.00
1 Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz 1066MHz 8MB LGA775 EM64T CPU, OEM Q6600 $244.32
2 Zalman ZM-F3 12CM w/Silent Mode Case Fan CA-ZMF3 $12.36
3 Generic 2con 18 inch Serial ATA Data Cable ST-SATA_18 $1.81
1 Asus DRW-2014L1T LightScribe 20X Double Layer SATA DVD+/-RW Drive (Black), Retail 2014L1T-R $35.75

I'm going to build this in my existing 4U rack enclosure.