003 Rack - Windows 7 - New Build

[lowlights]

My new i7 build with Gigabyte EX58-UD3R mobo is in the works (bad motherboard had to be sent back - wouldn't ya know)?

Bought OS - Windows Vista 32-bit, of course, with a free upgrade to Windows 7 (which launches today or tmorrow I believe).

Seriously - should I load the Vista, go "back" to Windows XP, or grab the Windows 7 and install.

I thought I read some stuff about Windows 7 (at least in Beta) not recognizing the 003 Rack. But W7 sounds SO much more stable.

With the 003 Rack, what's the smartest, tightest move. You guys were great with the hardware - help with the OS? --Rex

[albee1952]

Just an opinion but I would load up XP and start recording. I see no sense in Vista(assuming you HAVE a copy of XP). I would not install Win7 until DIGI posts that it is supported(unless you have the skills to troubleshoot it). From what I understand, some have Win7 working with USB interfaces, but firewire is another story. You can try the Legacy firewire driver and see what happens. I had no luck myself. I decided to cross my fingers and hope for DIGI to release a 64 bit compatible version, which they are working on as we speak. When that happens, I will go Win7 64 bit(but I will have a backup plan and suggest you do the same, no matter what course you chose).

[lowlights]

Fine and dandy - I think I'll go with a trustworthy XP unless Digi announces in the next 48 hours.

[petersrin]

And even when some of us ARE able to get USB PTLE working on W7x64, it uses 2x the CPU as XP. I've been using the w7 rc for quite some time, though, and I'm going to upgrade the instant Digi comes out with W7x64 compatible PT. Can't wait for the day. I check Digi for an announcement literally every day... maybe that's because I'm getting ready to upgrade to a shiny new Quad core system :)

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by lowlights

Fine and dandy - I think I'll go with a trustworthy XP unless Digi announces in the next 48 hours.

Good choice.

[takingthefly]

I'm also planning on ordering a new system to run my 003 Rack and Pro Tools LE 7.4 with. What do you guys think of using a Velocity Micro Edge Z30 with an i7-860 CPU hyperclocked to 3.2 GHz?

The only problem is they said they would be shipping it with Windows 7, but could install the 32-bit version if needed. I would rather continue with XP for a little longer as mentioned here, but with the Z30 it sounds like I would have to re-install it myself.

I am also running firewire on my existing system and would like to continue using that on the new system as well. The Z30 recently got editors' choice from CNet and PC magazine and seems to be priced great.

[Shan]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Just an opinion but I would load up XP and start recording...

Yep. For now, stick with XP when using Pro Tools. I would do a dual boot of XP and W7 so that you're ready for the future.

Shane

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by Shan

Yep. For now, stick with XP when using Pro Tools. I would do a dual boot of XP and W7 so that you're ready for the future.

Shane

+1

[albee1952]

+2

[lowlights]

I'm back - finally (we replaced the chip, AND the motherboard, before we realized the power supply was at fault - nice waste of time). Anyway, it runs now.

I did a stripped down Pro Tools hardware profile per Digi's optimization tips, but I have not yet attacked the manual RAM settings in the BIOS.

I did open a session and saw a SIGNIFICANT drop in CPU (RTAS) - from 45-50% to about 5-6%.

I did get one error opening a different session - a "Could not complete the Open Session because Access Violation occurred. Unable to read location: 0x14EA4000 at address: 0x781474AO in module: MSVCR80.dll while translating tracks."

I hit Close and then tried again, and the session opened fine (still it was disturbing and I got the "Disc allocation change - do you want a detailed report" notice). Is this merely because I've moved my sessions to a brand new (Caviar black) drive?

Also - in using the Setup to drop all non-Microsoft devices, one of the settings it drops is "Digidesign MME Refresh" - is that right?

I also noticed that when I got that MSVCR80 error - I went to Task Manager, and even though I was running a stripped profile with stripped "services" - a couple AVG tasks were still going (which I assume still belong to AVG, though I had neither the Internet or AVG running in that profile).

Thoughts? Suggestions? High-fives? Stern, admonishing looks?