Help with my New PT PC build please!

[JayStyles]

Hey Guys
So here's the scoop... I'm builidng a new PC for PT. I will probably be running audition on it as well, and perhaps Microsoft office. Windows 7 64bit as the OS. My studio is currently setup like:

Tascam DM-3200 > 002R via ADAT (PT 8.0.4)

Right now I can record 8 mics (through the board) into PT, but I'd like to expand, and with PT9 being able to use any audio card, I'm considering dumping my 002R out of the mix, buying the IF-FW/DM MKII card for my DM-3200 alwoing me to run 32 channels of I/O straight into PT via Firewire.

So that all being said here's what I'm currently looking at for a setup:

-Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 w/ Dual DDR3 2133, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, CrossFireX / SLI Motherboard
-Intel Core™ i7-2600K Processor, 3.40GHz w/ 8MB Cache processor
-GSKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB PC3-12800 Dual Channel DDR3 Kit (2 x 4GB) RAM
-2 X Western Digital 500GB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 32MB Cache (sessions/RAID)
-1 X OCZ Vertex 2 Series 2.5 in SATA II Solid State Drive, 80GB (OS/PT)

So a few questions
1) Anyone running SSDs for PT and OS? If so how are they? I've read a few posts with mixed reviews saying that AVID say "no" but others saying they're running with em and are working fine.

2) Is overclocking a must in the world of PT? The reason I ask is I can go with a slightly cheaper motherboard if I don't have any need to overclock my processor, and save a little cash.

3) Any other suggestions looking at this?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer up.
Cheers
J

[albee1952]

RAID is not supported with any version of Pro Tools. But I would go with the same set of drives and setup the Caviar Blacks as recording and sample libraries/backup. There are 2 kinds of SSD and I don't remember which is the recommended type(someone will offer that up for sure). Having said that, how much $ are you willing to pay for faster boot time(really all you will get for the extra money spent on the SSD)? Personally, I would skip the SSD and get 2 more Caviar drives(maybe go with 1TB/64MB cache). And get a SATA/USB docking station like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-066-_-Product ), and a SATA drive cage like this: ( http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...5058&CatId=285 ). Leave 1 hard drive out and slide it into the docking station and clone to it once your system drive is loaded up and working good(makes it simple to recover from a virus, a total crash or an update that turns out bad). Acronis True Image Home 11 is worth every dime, and I would also use it to save drive images of your C: drive at several stages of your build(like an image with just the OS installed and tweaked, another with Pro Tools installed and tested good, and a 3rd image after ALL your software and plugins are installed and tested good. This may sound like a lot of work, but it really is not, and it could save you hours of building from scratch if something goes sour on you.

BTW, the reason I suggest the USB version of the dock is; Acronis will identify a drive in the dock as USB so you don't confuse sata drives and clone in the wrong direction(like I did, which ruined a perfect system drive setup).

[JayStyles]

Thanks for your advice Albee

So I went in and picked up my new PT machine this aft. Here's what I went with

-Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 w/ Dual DDR3 2133, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, CrossFireX / SLI Motherboard
-Intel Core™ i7-2600K Processor, 3.40GHz w/ 8MB Cache processor
-Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 4GB) RAM
-OCZ Vertex 2 E Series 2.5in SATA II Solid State Drive, 120GB PT/OS
-Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III w/ 64MB Cache Sessions/Loops ect...
-Windows 7 Home Premium addition 64bit, which came with a free
Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.12 SATA III Hard Drive which, after I install my OS and PT, plan on making an image of my C drive on, and keeping it as a backup via the docking station you suggested.

Dropped about $1200 on the setup now just need to get it all put together, and everything installed. Can't wait! I'll post my results after I set it all up. I plan on doing the Dverb test once I get it setup and overclocked ect...

[albee1952]

Should be a great build. What video card did you go with? Just remember, your recording drive should not do ANYTHING else. Don't use it for sample libraries, or partition it(thinking it will make it perform better). You could partition it just to help you keep track of things, but that won't affect performance in a good way. Many of us run 3 internal drives(or more as I run 4). System, recording(sessions) and sample libraries. My 4th drive is also for recording, and I will copy any important session folder to BOTH, as well as an external drive(all you need to do is lose 1 session that you needed, and you will become a backup maniac)

Re overclocking, I doubt you will need it(and NEVER do it with the stock cooler). What you want more than anything else is for your system to be stable and dependable

[MikeLip]

I'm running a Vertex 2 for C: which holds Windows and the ProTools app. I love it - boot up times are crazy fast and Pro Tools loads amazingly fast (depending on which plugs I have active of course).

If I were using lots of Samples I would use my SSD for Samples rather than sys drive. But I dont so I use a normal hdd for samples and my ssd for sys.

Two things to note on your SSD.

Dont use the SSD for win pagefile as the longevity of the drive is based on writes to the ssd. So put the pagefile on a non-audio physical hdd.

There are two types of SSD's which are generally classified as 'consumer' (Flash) and 'enterprise' (DRAM). But this is not really the case anymore as folks such as Intel have built on Flash SSD to bring it up to enterprise speeds, reliability, and longevity. The term 'consumer SSD' has stuck though, and refers to SSD's which are based on Flash and dont have the fancy tech you find on enterprise level flash ssd's. With consumer grade SSD's just make sure you minimize writes; backup often; and realise the drive will fail at some stage unlike a physical hdd which can keep writing and reading daily for over 10 years.

Oh, a third thing, never defrag an SSD.

Mike.
Edit: Overclocking: Originally I was going to o/c my rig but decided against it as I'm not running out of power and the system is mighty fast. I do o/c my game pc and my HTPC though.

[SKI]

I just hope you checked into people using the 3200 with PT 9 and saw desirable results before starting this endeavor.