Legacy User Nubie again Potential PC Build and New User
 

Hello everyone I am new here on the forums.
Any advice or help will be really appreciated.

My first encounter with digitial recording was in 1995
I purchased Session 8 with 882 Studio interface and it worked fantastic so much so that I upgraded to Pro Tools 4.1.1 a few years later. I used that system on an Apple Power PC 7100 80/AV until 2004 almost on a daily basis. Since 2004 the system has been collectiing dust and I was no longer recording. I recetly got the itch to record again so I fired up the old Mac and Pro Tools and guess what it still works it just needs some TLC though and Im not willing to invest in that old system so its time to move on! Looking into potential Pro Tools PC build . I see much has changed. Including my budget. Back in 1995 i paid $2000 for a 4GIG Seagate External Harddrive 7200 and now years later my entire budget is around $2000 including the Computer and Sound Interface. Looking into Apple again it will be way over my budget. My friend knows how to build hackintosh but I am not interested in that so he is currently building me a custom Computer for about $1100. That being said I am going to be on Windows OS not Mac OS. I am a Nub to Pro Tools on Windows.

The questions I have are as follows.

1. How much RAM does Pro Tools sessions actually use? And What will be the greatest benifit going from 16 Gig of Ram to 32 Gig of Ram

Example one of my DJ Mixes has 500 songs over 20,000 Edits tons of plug ins and 1000 wirtual tracks but with up to 20 playing at a time 72 min long.

I will mainly be using this system to produce my DJ mixes and Remixes of songs but will also be recording vocals composing new songs and tracks sequencing etc. I also want to get into Video Edeting DJ Mixes but be in HD eventually maybe I will need a more powerful system.

Will 16 GIG of ram be ok or should I go for 32 GIG now just in case?

2. I know I need a graphix card what would be recommended based on my compueter configuration?

3. What is a good interface that works perfect with Pro Tools 10 and has the functionality as far as I/O that my old 882 has.

4. The only other DAW I have considered besides Pro Tools is Cubase because I have been reading that Pro Tools does not work as good on Windows that it does on OSX

Are all the audio file editing the same?

Keyboard commands are differnent I am sure but is Functionaitly of the software any different and if so what exaclty?

What are the real limits of using Windows vs OSX with Pro Tools?

5. Will be build be future proof for Pro Tools 11?


Thanks you everyone for your help and please excuse any mispelled words :)



This is my exact build

G452-2363 ::GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H Intel 7 Series Motherboard - ATX, Socket H2 (LGA1155), Intel Z77 Express, 1600MHz DDR3, SATA III (6Gb/s), RAID, 8-Ch Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, PCIe 3.0, CrossFireX/SLI(3.25 lbs)

I69-3770K ::Intel Core i7-3770K BX80667i73770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.50GHz (3.90GHz Max Turbo), Socket H2 (LGA1155), 77W, Fan, Unlocked, Retail(0.85 lbs)

K24-2107 ::Kingston SH103S3/120G HyperX 120GB Solid State Drive - 120GB, SATA III, 2.5"(0.5 lbs)

TSD-2000AS4 ::Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB Serial ATA Hard Drive - 2TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gb/s(2.2 lbs)

C13-5706 ::Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 16GB Desktop Memory Module - 1600MHz, 4x4096MB, PC12800, DDR3, Non-ECC, Unbuffered(0.9 lbs)

M452-5022 ::MSI DH-18D5S 18X DVDROM Drive - DVD-ROM 18X, CD-ROM 48X, SATA (1.65 lbs)

C283-2071 ::Cooler Master SGC-1000-KWN1 Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case - ATX, Micro ATX, 4x Ext 5.25", 1x Ext 3.5", 6x Int 3.5", 1x 200mm Red LED Fan, 1x 120mm Fan, 2x USB 3.0 Ports, 2x USB 2.0 Ports, Black(21 lbs)

T925-8032 ::Thermaltake SMART M750W SP-750M Modular Power Supply -750Watt, 140mm Fan, 80 PLUS Bronze, Active PFC (7.6 lbs)

C13-2527 ::Corsair CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - Socket LGA775, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366, Core i5, Core i7(2.7 lbs)

C283-3028 ::Cooler Master R4-LUS-07AR-GP MegaFlow Case Fan - 200mm, Red LED(0.95 lbs)

L23-8135 ::Logitech MK520 920-002553 Wireless Mouse and Keyboard Combo - 2.4GHz, USB(3.25 lbs)

YYI1-PL0710 ::Gigabyte GC-WB300D - Network adapter - PCI Express x1 / Hi-Speed USB - 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0(1.25 lbs)

Bueller...

Bueller...

Bueller...

Re: Legacy User Nubie again Potential PC Build and New User
 

Personally, the only setup I would build today would be an X79 motherboard with a socket 2011 i7 cpu, 16GB(or 32GB) of quad channel RAM and a modest nVidia graphics card($49 210 will work fine). The rest of your list looks fine but I'm not sure I would bother with the wifi(which should be disabled when running Pro Tools anyway). As for the SSD, that's totally up to you whether the cost is worth the benefits(which I have yet to see here:(:().

BTW, quad channel RAM means 4 matching sticks:D and if a Mac is really what you wanted, don't ignore the Mini i7 server. Pairing that with the UA Apollo would be killer(but a bit over your budget). Other interfaces to consider should include the Focusrite Saffire LS56, Mbox Pro(3rd gen) and maybe the MOTU 828 Mk III.

Thanks for your reply no one answered earlier and went ahead with the build I hope I works I also changed to 2 Seagate 3T 7200 Sata. So now I have to focus on the right pro tools interface and graphics card

Yes the 16 gig ram is 4 sticks I had installed