PT 6.4 Mix on Intel quad core?

[kama]

Hi,

I'm thinking of turning to a quad-core XP machine for Pro Tools. I'm running PT 6.4 Mix system with an 882 on a Mac G4 Dual 1Ghz - great but it's light in terms of RTAS power. I can't afford HD; I can't use Mix in a G5; and LE is a step back for latency and guranteed tracks. I use a separate XP laptop currently for Ableton and soft synths, but this won't run the big sample libraries.

I would prefer a single powerful XP system to run PT Mix, lots of RTAS and sample based instrument libraries - based on a quad core XP machine with 4Gb RAM, SATA II drives etc.

- Anyone tried this or know if PT 6.4 Mix would run on the newer technology and if it would use all 4 cores?
- Regardless of whether the application uses all the cores, would at least the RTAS plugs use them all running within 6.4?


All help appreciated
Kama

[sunburst79]

No one to my knowlage has actually tried this yet.

6.4 is single core only, multicore support wasn't introduced until 7.0

You SHOULD be able to set the Processer Afinity to one processer for PT 6.4 and be on your merry way.

Any plugs that will run on multicore should be fine and take advantage of the new technology.

Very uncharted territoy here as far as 6.4 goes. By setting the processer affinty to one however this should work.

The question would be is it going to run better on a Intel Quad with one slower but more effcient processer or would it run better on a faster single core Athlon64 system? I tend to think that even one modern Intel core running at 2.4 GHz is going to hammer a dual 1GHz G4.

Disclaimer: I don't know squat about Mix, B4 my time. I also don't now if 6.4 mix supported multi core under windows, LE didn't.

This also assumes that the PCI slot voltages will work with Mix.

It would be great to have a answer to this.

[kama]

Hey, thanks for your builds - my gut feeling was that PT wouldn't support multi-core, but would be great if you're right and it could just run on one core and have other RTAS stuff on the others.

Very interesting points re the Athlon64 and PCI voltages - hadn't considered them and something I'll look into. Cheers!

Anyone else tried this?

[sunburst79]

Something changed with the PCI voltages on the Mac, That was the main reason Digi discontinued the 001 as they had promised to support it on both platforms equally. Or so I have read.

Bears looking into.

Something else to keep in mind is PCI slot type and spacing. I have no idea if MIX is PCI or PCI-X. A lot of the newer Mobos have a mix of PCIe and PCI slots.

[ProtoolsJoe]

I haven't tried the exact combination you are suggesting but I have got a D24 & DSP farm with an 882, running PT6.4 on both a 733MHz G4 and a 3Ghz Intel Dell PC. In terms of RTAS plugs the PC can handle a heck of a lot more, in a typical 32 track session I seem to have compressors and EQ on just about everything.... as well as reverbs and delays set up on the aux bus's. Only loading things like Autotune on several vox channels will cause the system to complain. So you could give your mix system a useful boost by switching to an older P4 PC.

Check the PCI slots though, my Dell only has two slots that support older PCI cards in terms of the correct voltage. Although the cards will fit in the other slots they won't work in them!!

[kama]

I checked out the Athlon64 - a dual core may work well given one core could be assigned to PT and the other for handling the system and other stuff. But if it could, it seems as though anything working with dual core will work with a quad (no?), in which case an Intel quad could to work as well and offer more grunt.

I found http://archive.digidesign.com/compato/xp/mix/min.cfm for the mix PC compatibility. PCI spec must be 3.3v with 2A.

ProtoolsJoe - out of interest which mobo are you using in the PC so I can look at for comparison re PCI voltages with the latest boards? Thanks.

[ProtoolsJoe]

It's a Dell Dimension PC, so Dell's own board but probably made by Flextronics originally. I've not checked but I seem to remember the older cards like D24 & Mix core / Farm etc need a 5V rail on the PCI slot as well as a 3,3V

[kama]

Been doing lots of searching and thinking about options.

In an about turn to my original post, given the world of possibility for PT Mix not to work with a quad (and no-one else seems to have tried it), I'm wondering if I don't just drop the Mix system altogether and get a top flight quad PC and run Pro Tools M-powered (I've got a Fast Track Pro for my laptop - and I don't need lots of I/O) or get 2nd hand Digi002. Native PC power now does seem to be better that PT Mix on a dual G4.

Out of interest, I downloaded the PTMP demo on my laptop which only has 512 Mb and a Pentium M 1.7Ghz and I could half load the CPU with about 12 stereo EQs & Dynamics, plus multi-band comp and L2 on the master. It ran like the proverbial dog with so little RAM, but the processor was holding up.

Now thinking to just build the PC and try the PT Mix as a long shot - if it doesn't work I can at least hook up the M-Audio and be on my way (help fund the PC by selling the Mix & 882). Gonna scan the M-Audio and LE threads to see who's getting what from their systems. If you have experience of making such a switch be glad to know...cheers.

[Sugarnutz]

Here's the motherboard I bought (same vendor) and it runs like a champ:
D845EBG2 S478 400FSB DDR ATX A WB

It also has six PCI slots. You could put togather a nice rig for about $400, use your quad-core for VSTis/effects.