i7 Build seeking feedback - PT 10 - Eleven

[explorationx]

Digi 003 Factory
Pro Tools 7.4
A.I.R. virtual instruments bundle (Structure, Strike, Velvet, Transfuser, & Hybrid)

I play guitar so I want to rid of the 003, get Eleven Rack (w/Pro Tools 10) and the Pro Tools Instrument Expansion Pack. This will be my home studio system, and I will be using it for gaming too (mostly Wow). Either way, I built my current pc (running XP|pro) in 2006, so it is time.

This very insightful sticky: i7 Builds - Specs and Results has been helpful. I want a great system to last me into the future, but I don't want to "overkill" and spend too much unnecessarily (like this 1st "rough draft" maybe does?).

i7 Build:
MOBO:ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel

CPU:Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W

HEATSINK:COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO

MEMORY:G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

VIDEO CARD: GeForce GTX 680 2GB

SSD (Win7Pro) DRIVE:Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW180A3K5 2.5" 180GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State

DATA DRIVES: (2 - recording, samples)
Trying to decide between these two:
Western Digital WD Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"

~ or ~

Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"

POWER SUPPLY: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX750

CASE: Corsair Obsidian 550D Black

DVD BURNER: LG Blu-ray Burner

Please reply with suggestions that will help me save money and/or avoid headaches . Thanks!

[guitardom]

to save money:

i see NO reason to have a video card of this stature myself. i typically spend between 40-100$ on a vid card depending on what i am after. on top of that i go with silent models to reduce noise. plus with PT still being a 32 bit app, the 2gb vid card will really hurt your system performance. until it goes 64 bit i personally will not go over a 512mb card, but a 1gb card is prob fine for most.

the ssd drive, while it may be nice, in no way necessary.

for the question between the 2 drives:
the WD's have had a better record for us the last 5 years or so.

be sure to fill up some of the extra fan spots on the case.

[explorationx]

Yes definitely looking at case fans like this one: Noctua NF-P14 FLX 140mm Case Fan

I will not be getting Eleven or PT 10 immediately. Does anyone know how soon PT will go 64bit yet? I could wait til 2013 for PT 11 or whatever it is they do to get us to 64bit, I don't mind. But I want to get the computer now. Is it even possible to build my Windows system now so that it is very likely to be stable and compatible when everything goes 64bit?

I just want to build a system now so that when the "new" 64bit PT thing happens I can jump right in. Or is that a bad idea?

[guitardom]

No we don't know when it will be released. They are still servicing PT10 and haven't said anything about 11. We could guess next year sometime???

Build your computer, even w a cheap video card it will be fine. If you are concerned about future proofing, I would probably say to go ahead and get Windows 8 pro as it has no choice but to be the focus. I built my I7 (one of the first here) will be 4 years ago in February. Have NEVER kept a daw this long. Typically 2 years max for my last 3-4 daws. Modern computing power is amazing!!!

[explorationx]

PT LE comes with Eleven Rack purchase or? If so, and it uses RTAS format for plugins, it wouldn't be very efficient at using VI's etc... correct? Using RTAS plugins?

PT 10 currently isn't 64-bit, but I read that the RAM Cache function is already 64 bit allowing u to assign as much RAM as you want in your machine to the RAM Cache. Is this only for PT HD? or?

I have also read that Avid released the AAX format for plugins which will utilize 64-bit when Pro Tools becomes 64-bit. They say that more suppliers are coming on board with the AAX format, but some have also stated that many users will rage because half of their old Plugin's are not supported by AAX in any form and may never be... I'm a little confused about all this.

About the video card... the Avid website leads one to believe they must have a high-end professional video card. I want to have a strong computer for gaming too, so...

*Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by explorationx

Yes definitely looking at case fans like this one: Noctua NF-P14 FLX 140mm Case Fan

Fan looks good. I used similar low DB-low speed fans in my build, and love it. Those soft rubber mounting plugs are great, too.

Originally Posted by explorationx

Does anyone know how soon PT will go 64bit yet?

No. Only speculation.

Originally Posted by explorationx

I just want to build a system now so that when the "new" 64bit PT thing happens I can jump right in.

My two cents:
Trying to anticipate future hardware/software needs is a crap shoot. If you build now, just get PT 10. With a little luck, your build should be future-proof for PT 64-bit. If you'd rather wait for PT 64-bit then wait on the build too, as build options change over time.

[CME]

Originally Posted by explorationx

PT LE comes with Eleven Rack purchase or? If so, and it uses RTAS format for plugins, it wouldn't be very efficient at using VI's etc... correct? Using RTAS plugins?

PT 10 currently isn't 64-bit, but I read that the RAM Cache function is already 64 bit allowing u to assign as much RAM as you want in your machine to the RAM Cache. Is this only for PT HD? or?

I have also read that Avid released the AAX format for plugins which will utilize 64-bit when Pro Tools becomes 64-bit. They say that more suppliers are coming on board with the AAX format, but some have also stated that many users will rage because half of their old Plugin's are not supported by AAX in any form and may never be... I'm a little confused about all this.

About the video card... the Avid website leads one to believe they must have a high-end professional video card. I want to have a strong computer for gaming too, so...

*Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

There is no more pro tools le. There is se, but it's very limited from my reading. Basically there is pro tools 10 and pro tools HD 10. And I do believe you get pro tools 10 with new purchases of an 11r.

Without trying to confuse things too much, Pro tools HD is only sold with HD cards. It has more features than regular pro tools. To get these features you can also buy the complete production toolkit for your regular pro tools license. It adds all the (non-hardware related) features of HD. Disc cache is one of the HD/CPTK features.

That said some people end up with extra HD licenses and sometimes sell them. You can use an HD license with any hardware. But upgrades (like from pthd9 to pthd10) cost a lot more than regular pro tools. So factor that in also.

Yes the next version of pro tools will only use AAX plugs. There will still be native and DSP versions. But they use similar code and should be easier to port between DSP and native. So maybe there will be less that only run on one or the other. But I believe most plugs will eventually be AAX native, as they will run on any pro tools "11" system.

And yes RTAS VI's are inefficient. AAX is the way forward into 64-bits and should be much more capable. Especially on the VI front. So if you want to be ready for 64-bit pt, start checking out the sites for your favorite plugs and see what they are doing. I have personally moved to plugs that either already are or soon will be AAX.