Best Systems and Components for Win HD/TDM

[GuyPicks]

Originally Posted by anthumr

Can someone please help me out with a Pro tools HD2 PCI-E system setup. I want to build and i7 System that would best suit my HD2 PCI-E rig with no errors. Please let me know everything about your setup, greatly appreciated if someone can help me out.

Me Too.
I have an HD3 Pack and I'd like to put together an i7 system.
Thanks for any help offered.

[ladidida]

OK - I've not been around here for ages, but been following the thread for info regarding i7 systems...

I've taken the plunge to PC... PPC Mac just not up to it anymore...

I've got HD2 Accel on PCI cards, so needed a PC to work with these (no budget to upgrade to PCI-E yet). I wanted to go the i7 route and got this setup working so far:

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
i7-920 - Boxed CPU with standard cooler - very quiet - surprised...
6GB Patriot Viper1600 (3x2GB kit)
PowerColor(ATI) 4670 1GB DDR3 (DVI+HDMI)
Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA
500W "ProCase" PSU - nothing too special - fairly quiet
Samsung DVD-RW SATA
Vista 32bit Service Pack 2
PT HD 8.0

I don't have a dedicated audio drive yet - will probably go for another Seagate SATA.

My main mission was to first get everything to fit in - it was a TIGHT squeeze with the PT cards - but it's all sitting nicely now. Graphics card had to go into PCI-E slot 2... no other way...

Secondly - needed to check that everything started up (not a given) and nothing is overheating - so far, so good - running cool and quietly

PT installed fine and loaded and seems to run fine... stock standard installation - no 3rd party VIs or plugs yet...

Will start to do some serious testing and VI installations now - as well as HD8.0.1

Will post an update later this weekend...

[GuyPicks]

ladidida,

Sounds good so far for you.
I'm wondering if there is motherboard that has 3 PCIe slots for an HD3 system.
I've looked around and came up with nothing so far.

Does anyone know of a motherboard for and HD3 PCIe system?

[ladidida]

ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution (http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=WqMFKNkS6ZjDLx4S) seems to be good for PCI-E HD3 setup.

Just need to make sure the PT cards will clear the blue "workstation" cooler... but if the PCI-E versions of PT cards are roughly the same dimentions as the PCI PT cards, it should be fine.

There is another thread where guys are discussing i7 systems - check it out.

[ladidida]

Just some quick feedback on the ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 setup I've tested this weekend with HD 2 PCI cards - for those around who'd like to give their old PCI cards some more mileage...

PT8.0.1 is running fine. Apart from some plug-in compatibility issues (TC-Electronic MasterX3 not working on PT 8 on PC - does on Mac though...) there has been NO PROBLEMS AT ALL.

RTAS performance is staggering - really mindblowing - I had 60 McDSP ML4000s running at 128 samples buffer and the CPU was running at 60%... I can run 16 of these on an HD2 Accel setup...

This isn't supposed to be a benchmark test of any sorts, but rather to check if the setup will run reliably - which it does - very happy so far.

In short - going the PC route has cost me a tenth of the price of what upgrading to PCI-E PT cards and getting a new Mac would have cost... and I'll gladly spend a bit more to replace non-compatible or discontinued plug-ins - still WAY cheaper than upgrading the Mac setup.

[Third Eye Studios]

Hello Louis. It's good to hear of your rocking system, as I'm thinking of going the i7 route as well.

When you said that everything was a "tight squeeze", did you have to modify anything to get it all to fit? In my current set-up, I had to mod the chipset fan to get one of the HD cards to fit. Do you have a link to the exact case you've got also? You're running 32bit Vista correct? I'm thinking of going with 64 bit Windows 7.

Thanks for your time.

[anthumr]

Originally Posted by ladidida

Just some quick feedback on the ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 setup I've tested this weekend with HD 2 PCI cards - for those around who'd like to give their old PCI cards some more mileage...

PT8.0.1 is running fine. Apart from some plug-in compatibility issues (TC-Electronic MasterX3 not working on PT 8 on PC - does on Mac though...) there has been NO PROBLEMS AT ALL.

RTAS performance is staggering - really mindblowing - I had 60 McDSP ML4000s running at 128 samples buffer and the CPU was running at 60%... I can run 16 of these on an HD2 Accel setup...

This isn't supposed to be a benchmark test of any sorts, but rather to check if the setup will run reliably - which it does - very happy so far.

In short - going the PC route has cost me a tenth of the price of what upgrading to PCI-E PT cards and getting a new Mac would have cost... and I'll gladly spend a bit more to replace non-compatible or discontinued plug-ins - still WAY cheaper than upgrading the Mac setup.

WOW, 60 of the MCDSP ML4000s and the computer was still at 60% LOL thats awesome!! I'm building my i7 setup right now. Also, its great thaat you have a stable i7 HD2 rig setup going too. As for me, I have PCIE cards so Im looking into another motherboard, I hope all goes well for me. So the TDM ML4000 can only run 16 of those on a tdm effects on the cards? If you were to use all RTAS plugins and just leave the Accel cards to process pro tools 8.0.1 i would think your setup is amazing fast, I'm so jealous right now haha

[ladidida]

Originally Posted by Third Eye Studios

...When you said that everything was a "tight squeeze", did you have to modify anything to get it all to fit? In my current set-up, I had to mod the chipset fan to get one of the HD cards to fit. Do you have a link to the exact case you've got also? You're running 32bit Vista correct? I'm thinking of going with 64 bit Windows 7.

No - luckily no mods needed (for PCI cards) - the cards clear some components by 1mm! The case is some no name stock standard ATX case - sorry - just put in a fairly decent PSU.

32bit Vista for now - I've got 64bit Win 7 on another partition - so will try and install PT at some point when I've got some spare time...

[dawkab]

For those of us looking for a modern HD3 PCI solution, I thought I'd mention the ASUS P7P55D -

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_I...RFZ&templete=2

Its a P55 board with 3 adjacent PCI slots. A potential problem is the HD card clearance over the SATA sockets, but perhaps that can be solved with a right angle cable.

[GuyPicks]

I just found an EVGA MB here:
EVGA MotherBoard
This board looks really good. It's for HD PCIe cards.
It's a large board, you'll need an extra large ATX case.
I'll be checking more into this board.

Guy