Best Desktops for Pro Tools LE

[Allen Hallada]

Originally posted by Schlagzeuger:
Thanks for your help with the DIMMs, Allen. I just ordered all of the parts to make the $700 system with the exception of the HD's, which I got 40 for system and 80gb for audio (both QuietDrives) . However, one of the places I orderd from just told me that they ran out of A7M266's and T-Bird 1.4 Ghz processers. Can anybody out there recommend another pairing of motherboards/processors that will work well with the above configuration? Maybe something a bit faster, also? Thanks!!!!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">You could go with the A7V333 and the XP2200 processor. Some guys are liking the MSI motherboard too. See the PT Performance thread.
Allen

[Stenchmatrix]

Thanks Allen! I am on my way to PT. I am currently using VST and I am pretty happy with it but its not industry standard for me.. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Thanks again!

[markus44uk]

Allen:

I read somewhere that the system drive HAS to be attatched to the IDE on the mobo. Will there be any potential problems with my using the Promise controller for both the system and audio drives or should I consider running the system drive off of the mobo and the audio drive off of the Promise card?

Thanks

[markus44uk]

One other thing....

I have read a lot on the Internet about Windows ME and how absolutely HORRID and unstable it is! If I am going with Allen's $700 super system, is this the best software to go with? I am unsure about the XP upgrade since there appears to be still a bit of bugginess with PTLE. I have 98SE and XP Home already on two other business PCs.

HELP!

[Allen Hallada]

Originally posted by markus44uk:
Allen:

I read somewhere that the system drive HAS to be attatched to the IDE on the mobo. Will there be any potential problems with my using the Promise controller for both the system and audio drives or should I consider running the system drive off of the mobo and the audio drive off of the Promise card?

Thanks

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">That is BS. You can run them both from the Promise controller.

Allen [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Allen Hallada]

Originally posted by markus44uk:
One other thing....

I have read a lot on the Internet about Windows ME and how absolutely HORRID and unstable it is! If I am going with Allen's $700 super system, is this the best software to go with? I am unsure about the XP upgrade since there appears to be still a bit of bugginess with PTLE. I have 98SE and XP Home already on two other business PCs.

HELP!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Seems to be motherboard and CPU dependent. WinME runs great on my A7M266 and AMD processor. I've seen problems with some P3 systems and WinME stability. I'm waiting for plugins to catch up to WinXP before I migrate to XP, but that is definitely the way to go in the future. I run both WinXP and WinME on two different computers and for PTLE there is very little difference at this time.

Allen
[img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Allen Hallada]

Originally posted by BassWear:
Allen. It looks like there are two routes to go building two different systems. One system would be; the A7M266 with 1.4Thunderbird (I will be using Windows XP). Since the A7M266 is only ATA100 it would be useless to pay more for ATA133 hard drives or Promise controller right. Asus says that motherboard supports processors up to 1.33 gig. Wouldnt it then be useless to purchase a XP 2000+? Some threads have suggested an Asus board with updated bios for XP and a XP 2000+ processor yields awesome track counts. Does the updated bios bring the board up to the above 1.33 gig specs? The other route would be; The A7V333 with Win XP, AMD XP2000+, ATA 133 drives and promise controller and support for faster ram(if that helps any). Is that a correct sumerization? I want those 32 plus 24 aux DAVEC results. Three months ago I built your sytem around the Gigabyte GADX7 board. We started using it for office stuff. It went together like a breeze... so I want to build a new CPU thats bigger and badder dedecated to Pro Tools. Thanks for your advice.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I have some clients that are getting those results with the A7M266 and the XP 2200 CPU. There is a bios for that motherboard that recognizes the XP processors. I believe it started at version 1005 and is now at 1007. I doubt we will see anymore updates though as this board is being discontinued. Great board for the money though and definitely my favorite.
The hard drives I listed are about the same price as the ATA100 drives and the Promise card is $7.00 more than the old ATA100 card. I figure that the minor price difference you might as well have the most current technology so if you do upgrade in the near future you can take advantage of them. My next move is to get the new AMD coming out this fall which will probably require a new motherboard. Good luck,
Allen

[BassWear]

Allen. It looks like there are two routes to go building two different systems. One system would be; the A7M266 with 1.4Thunderbird (I will be using Windows XP). Since the A7M266 is only ATA100 it would be useless to pay more for ATA133 hard drives or Promise controller right. Asus says that motherboard supports processors up to 1.33 gig. Wouldnt it then be useless to purchase a XP 2000+? Some threads have suggested an Asus board with updated bios for XP and a XP 2000+ processor yields awesome track counts. Does the updated bios bring the board up to the above 1.33 gig specs? The other route would be; The A7V333 with Win XP, AMD XP2000+, ATA 133 drives and promise controller and support for faster ram(if that helps any). Is that a correct sumerization? I want those 32 plus 24 aux DAVEC results. Three months ago I built your sytem around the Gigabyte GADX7 board. We started using it for office stuff. It went together like a breeze... so I want to build a new CPU thats bigger and badder dedecated to Pro Tools. Thanks for your advice.

[markus44uk]

Thanks for the feedback Allen.....let you know how it all works out...

[Mocha]

anyone of you guys using the Intel counterpart of the A7V333, which is the Asus P4B533-E. If so how are you configuring it.