Affordable PC Pro Tools Rig
 

Hi all,

I am looking for an affordable pro tools windows system. My budget is about £600-£800.

I'm looking for a desktop PC to run the current version of pro tools.

I assume I'll need something like:

- 6 core CPU
- 32 gigs of ram
- Nvidia GTX 1650
- SSD boot and SSD media drive

I'll be using this pro tools system mainly for recording. I have an 8-channel zoom audio interface connected via USB. I have a separate system for mixing. I will not be recording with any Plugins. I will be adding those in the mix on my more powerful machine.

Any suggestions on what specifications I might need? Performance-wise, how will this affect my 8-channel recording session?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Affordable PC Pro Tools Rig
 

Given your budget(which is on the lean side), I would look at off-lease machines like the HP z620(check eBay). Those can be had with 6 or 8 cores, but you want to skip those that have speeds under 3GHz. Those machines are built like tanks. You also might consider a new Mac Mini M1 with 16GB of RAM. Based on reports, these machines perform way above their modest price.(and this advice is from a PC guy:o). Another plus for the Mac is Soundflow (something that Windows users can't get as of now).

You mention that you have a more powerful machine for mixing, so why not do it all on that(why 2 machines)? And, note that sessions will move between Windows and Mac without any issues to speak of. Either install Mediafour MacDrive on the PC and keep sessions on an external drive formatted for Mac, or use dropbox(or any file sharing utility) to move sessions back and forth. Using WinRar on my PC, I have moved dozens of sessions between platforms for several years.

Here's an example of the HP I suggested with dual 3GHz XEON's, 32GB RAM, nVidia Quadro graphics and a 1TB SSD(add your own recording/samples drives) for under $600US(not sure about shipping):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/18529080223...Bk9SR76AwJjlYA

Probably add a USB3 card for additional ports

Re: Affordable PC Pro Tools Rig
 

Hi,

Thank you for this advice.

I am unable to use my mixing machine for a recording machine as it's physically in a different room. I need a machine in my recording suite.

I have gone down the self-PC build route as I found it to be the most affordable option for the best specs.

I lOVE the HP Z series machines and I use them a lot on the post-production/video side of things, but in this instance, the HP Z620 is a prior gen machine with old tech, and I feel I would get better performance with an affordable self-built, but modern PC.

Thanks again

Re: Affordable PC Pro Tools Rig
 

*The* great thread for building your own Windows Pro Tools box is this one: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=238426

That is where you should be.

Re: Affordable PC Pro Tools Rig
 

I just use a cheap laptop and Microsoft's Remote Desktop to control my audio desktop when I'm recording.

Re: Affordable PC Pro Tools Rig
 

That "older technology" is way more capable than you think. When I had my commercial studio in Nashville, I started with a fresh custom-built PC that was a 9th gen i7 6-core with 32GB of RAM and thunderbolt and it gave me a lot of grief. I replaced it with an(Avid-approved) HP z820(dual 6-core XEON's @3.5GHz, 64GB of RAM, nVidia Quadro 600, Samsung SSD) that cost me $1100(shipped to my door) on eBay and it ran like a train. Of course, you are free to spend your dollars as you wish, but I don't see building a new PC with that much power for near that money(if you can, then by all means):D

Re: Affordable PC Pro Tools Rig
 

Well, two years down the line, I feel that I left this thread at a bit of a dead end...

I went down the custom-built route and configured my Pro Tools rig with:
- Ryzen 5 5600x 6 Core
- Nvidia GTX 720
- 32GB of DDR 4 RAM

It works very well for what I needed it for, perhaps even way overkill, as I could have gotten by with a much worse CPU. I'm only recording 8 channels at most, and I'm not even running plugins on the system.

Maybe I can find some money, sell off this custom-built rig and just buy another cheap HP Z420....

I also have an HP Z420 with a quad-core CPU and a beefy GPU, but that's Media Composer's side station. I Absolutely understood what you meant when you said the legacy tech is more capable than I initially thought...