Pro Tools 2020 on an upgraded 4,1 Mac Pro worth the upgrade?

[tbone63]

Hello, folks, thanks for your time, wisdom and advice. Truly appreciate it. I’ve been holding off on purchasing the new 2019 Mac Pro, and w the present quarantine economy, I’m waiting still. For sheer stability reasons, I continue to go back to PT 10 HD on an 2009 Mac Pro (of course upgraded to 5,1, w an upgraded processor and RAM). I do have PT 12 on the other boot drive, and we do have PT 11 and 12 on laptops, but I’m HDX so PCIe slots are desirable. I’m still on SATA drives, not SSD.

My burning question: is it still worth upgrading the 5,1 with, for example, an Addonics SSD Adapter Card for SSD drives, and a Radeon RX-580 GPU, or is that a waste of $800 that would be better put towards a new MP 2019 tower?

If I stick w the 4,1 < 5,1 machine and go with these upgrades, will it run PT 2020 effectively? And will I have to upgrade my older blue Avid 96 i/o units (we actually use Metric Halo and Symphony converters but the 96 is our link to the HDX card and drives our headphone system.)

And any other suggestions for upgrading, GPU cards or SSD adapter cards? I am grateful for your experience. Thanks, folks! Cheers

T

*(I’m aware that there are threads about upgrading a 4,1, and upgrading GPUs and going SSD, but I’m not interested in the how presently, more in the “is it still worth it fiscally” and “end of life” issues, in your esteemed opinions. Thx!)

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Beyond the blustery lands of "I am right" and "You are wrong," there is a field. I will meet you there. -Rumi

[JFreak]

Blue interfaces continue working, that is all that is certain. Whether 2020 is worth it for you I guess you need to try it yourself

[tbone63]

Thanks, good to know the 96's will still work! I already own perpetual PT Ultimate licenses, so the cost of PT2020 Ultimate isn't the issue as I already own it. It's whether a 4,1 machine is so near "end of life" usefulness that it's not worth upgrading further. (perhaps $800 in total for a SSD card and GPU, but would that be better spent elsewhere?) *(and if these machines are powerful enough to run Ultimate 2020 with aplomb and verve.)

[huzzam]

Originally Posted by tbone63

Hello, folks, thanks for your time, wisdom and advice. Truly appreciate it. I’ve been holding off on purchasing the new 2019 Mac Pro, and w the present quarantine economy, I’m waiting still. For sheer stability reasons, I continue to go back to PT 10 HD on an 2009 Mac Pro (of course upgraded to 5,1, w an upgraded processor and RAM). I do have PT 12 on the other boot drive, and we do have PT 11 and 12 on laptops, but I’m HDX so PCIe slots are desirable. I’m still on SATA drives, not SSD.

My burning question: is it still worth upgrading the 5,1 with, for example, an Addonics SSD Adapter Card for SSD drives, and a Radeon RX-580 GPU, or is that a waste of $800 that would be better put towards a new MP 2019 tower?

If I stick w the 4,1 < 5,1 machine and go with these upgrades, will it run PT 2020 effectively? And will I have to upgrade my older blue Avid 96 i/o units (we actually use Metric Halo and Symphony converters but the 96 is our link to the HDX card and drives our headphone system.)

And any other suggestions for upgrading, GPU cards or SSD adapter cards? I am grateful for your experience. Thanks, folks! Cheers

T

*(I’m aware that there are threads about upgrading a 4,1, and upgrading GPUs and going SSD, but I’m not interested in the how presently, more in the “is it still worth it fiscally” and “end of life” issues, in your esteemed opinions. Thx!)

-------

Beyond the blustery lands of "I am right" and "You are wrong," there is a field. I will meet you there. -Rumi

For about $110 you can pick up a 1tb sata ssd (i like crucial mx500) and that will be a big improvement in throughput and General performance. You can use it for both os and seasons, no need to separate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tbone63]

Thanks, Huzam, I appreciate the suggestion. Cheers mate

[lae777]

I'm running big sessions (100's of plugins, 350+ tracks and multiple video files) with my 5,1 and PT 2020.3, and I rarely have issues.
I have a WD Black 7200rpm drive as my system drive.
This machine feels very stable and responsive.
I intend to keep using it for a while yet.

[Will Russell]

With business and the economy as they are right now with Covid I would be inclined to solve my problem spending a little money as possible. I run an upgraded 4,1->5,1 HDX rig with Mojave and PT 2020.3 and its runs fast and smooth.

[tbone63]

I very much appreciate your perspectives on this question, kind folks. I'll gather more information on which components make the most sense (ultimately I'd love to incorporate an ultra-wide monitor if possible) from all of your collective wisdom and experience, to lesson the downtime and troubleshooting issues.

Much gratitude, have a good "weekend" (do we have days now?) and cheers.

Tom, GBSRecords

[lae777]

Originally Posted by tbone63

(ultimately I'd love to incorporate an ultra-wide monitor if possible)

I have the following monitors connected to my graphics card;

BenQ GL2440H:
Resolution: 24” 1920 x 1080 (1080p FHD - Full High Definition)

LG M2362D:
Resolution: 23” 1920 x 1080 (1080p FHD - Full High Definition)

LG ULTRAWIDE:
Resolution: 34” 2560 x 1080 (UW-UXGA - Ultra Wide - Ultra Extended Graphics Array)

I also have a 42" TV running off the Intensity Pro video card.

No issues at all.

[tbone63]

Thanks, lae777... Truly very helpful. Cheers to all