Protools running laggy after format

[Chombo]

Hi everyone, i have had a problem with thespeed of my computer and was wondering if anyone could help me out. im running m-powered on windows xp

its a dell dimention 4600,
2.5 gbRAM
2.4 single processor P4
ATI radeon HD3850 512mb GFX

last summer i mixed a 12 minute short film, in the end i had 3 IR reverbs, 48 tracks, and compressors and eq's on every track and only until the end did my computer start slowing gown and getting choppy.

recently i reformatted (1 week ago) to get rid of all my bloatware and basically start fresh. i followed the sticky where one of the mods writes a list on how to get max performance. And i have used Tuneup Utilities and
Uniblue powersuite to get all latest drivers and further max out my computer for performance.

However after i did all of this i mixed a 4 minute short film, and could barely use 3 noise reducers and 1 IR Reverb over 10 tracks. im not really sure what to do as i have a project due soon and i can barely mix anything anymore because pro tools is running soo slow and laggy.

does anyone have any suggestions on what is going on? i cant really figure this one out.

thanks in advance

[dave911]

Need a sandra report on your system.
Just from what you have listed the video card is too big for xp32 bit, leaving you very little memory for everything else.
If that is the WAVES IR reverb you are using you should try something else for this system, convolutional reverbs a resource intensive by nature.

[Chombo]

Thanks dave thanks for the reply, ill post a sandra report.

im not quite sure what you mean about my graphics card, i would have thought the upgrade from my previous stock card (nvidia geforce 4 mx440 AGP 8X) would have made working with video much smoother. can you explain how it would use more resources? also is there anyway to configure how to make it use less?

Edit: and about the convolution reverb, i used 3 different ones with 48 tracks previous to when i formatted, now i can barely get 1, doesnt seem right to me.

[TOM@METRO]

What version pf PT are you running?

[Chombo]

Here is a sandra report, i was running a defrag on C drive if that matters









SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 4600
Workgroup : MSHOME
Host Name : steve-qo7nmgk49
User : Steve

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz
Speed : 2.4GHz
Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Integrated Data Cache : 8kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 4-way, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector
L2 On-board Cache : 512kB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector

Computer
Mainboard : Dell 02Y832
BIOS : Dell Computer Corporation A03 07/21/2003
Bus(es) : X-Bus AGP PCI IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 2.5GB DIMM DDR

Chipset
Model : Dell 82865G/PE/P, 82848P DRAM Controller / Host-Hub Interface
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 133MHz (532MHz)
Total Memory : 2.5GB DIMM DDR
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 166MHz (332MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Kingston K 256MB DDR PC1-2700U DDR1-332 (2.5-3-3-7 2-10-0-0)
Memory Module : Patriot Memory PSD1G400 1GB DDR PC1-3200U DDR1-400 (3-4-4-8 2-12-0-0)
Memory Module : Kingston K 256MB DDR PC1-2700U DDR1-332 (2.5-3-3-7 2-10-0-0)
Memory Module : Patriot Memory PSD1G400 1GB DDR PC1-3200U DDR1-400 (3-4-4-8 2-12-0-0)

Video System
Video Adapter : ATI Radeon HD 3850 AGP (PS3.0, VS3.0 669MHz, 512MB DDR3 2x829MHz, AGP 3.00)
Video Adapter : ATI Radeon HD 3850 AGP (PS3.0, VS3.0 669MHz, 512MB DDR3 2x829MHz, AGP 3.00)

Storage Devices
IBM IC35L090AVV207-0 (80GB, ATA100, 3.5", 7200rpm, 2MB Cache) : 75GB (C:)
IBM IC35L090AVV207-0 (1TB, USB/ATA100, 3.5", 7200rpm, 2MB Cache) : 932GB (D:)
IBM IC35L090AVV207-0 (80GB, USB/ATA100, 3.5", 7200rpm, 2MB Cache) : 75GB (E:)
SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616T (ATAPI, DVD-R, CD-R, 512kB Cache) : 543MB (F:)
SONY CD-RW CRX216E (ATAPI, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (G:)
YDGNOJU 4XYV4HMF45E3 (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R) : N/A (H:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 75GB (NTFS) @ IBM IC35L090AVV207-0 (80GB, ATA100, 3.5", 7200rpm, 2MB Cache)
Expansion (F:) : 543MB (CDFS) @ SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616T (ATAPI, DVD-R, CD-R, 512kB Cache)
Optical Drive (G:) : N/A @ SONY CD-RW CRX216E (ATAPI, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (H:) : N/A @ YDGNOJU 4XYV4HMF45E3 (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R)
3.5" 1.44MB (A:) : N/A
LaCie (D:) : 932GB (NTFS) @ IBM IC35L090AVV207-0 (1TB, USB/ATA100, 3.5", 7200rpm, 2MB Cache)
USB_HDD (E:) : 75GB (FAT32) @ IBM IC35L090AVV207-0 (80GB, USB/ATA100, 3.5", 7200rpm, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Intel 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : SMSC LPC47M172
Audio Device : Dell SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio
Audio Device : Creative Labs Creative SB Live! Series
Serial Port(s) : 2
Parallel Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Dell 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) EIDE Controller
Disk Controller : Dell 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller
USB Controller 1 : Dell 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1
USB Controller 2 : Dell 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2
USB Controller 3 : Dell 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3
USB Controller 4 : Dell 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4
USB Controller 5 : Dell 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB 2.0 EHCI Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : VIA VT6306 VIA Fire II IEEE-1394 OHCI Link Layer Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Network Adapter : Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter #4 - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 54Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Home 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)
Platform Compliance : x86

Performance Tips
Tip 2546 : Large memory modules should be ECC/Parity.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

[Chombo]

Tom, im running PT 7.4

also i have:

Audio Device : Dell SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio
Audio Device : Creative Labs Creative SB Live! Series

Disabled in system hardware, and im using a M-audio Fast Track Pro as my main audio card

[TOM@METRO]

Try pulling out those Kingston RAM modules and see if that helps.

Where is your non-USB audio drive?

Turn off the wireless when running PT.

[Chombo]

All of my mixing has been done on my USB_HDD (E:) drive and i have never had problems, also i have always done my mixing with all 4 RAM Modules in place, I have never had a problem until after i formatted my C drive a week ago, just so you know, but, ill pull out those Kingston Modules out and transfer my session file to my NON-USB, internal drive and let you know how it goes, Tanks Tom!

i have to be at work soon, but ill post how it went in a bit. any other suggestion are welcome if anyone has had problems after a fresh OS install! or is something doesnt look right in my Sandra Report

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

Try pulling out those Kingston RAM modules and see if that helps.

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

Where is your non-USB audio drive?
Turn off the wireless when running PT.

.

Originally Posted by Chombo

All of my mixing has been done on my USB_HDD (E:) drive and i have never had problems, also i have always done my mixing with all 4 RAM Modules in place, I have never had a problem until after i formatted my C drive a week ago, just so you know, but, ill pull out those Kingston Modules out and transfer my session file to my NON-USB, internal drive and let you know how it goes, Tanks Tom!

Sadly a working system going south is a common story. We need to begin with the known issues before we can move on to the more remote possible culprits.

[Benoni]

Are you using USB hard drives?

Your ram is mix matched. You need the same brand with the same timings or you can cause alot of problems.

P4 is pretty old, my advice would be to search around the net for a good core Duo or core 2 Duo if strapped for cash. If not then a Core 2 Quad would be even better with an i7 being the best.