Hyper-Threading.

[mmccarrell]

I just bought a new computer and Pro tools, and have up-graded and have everything running smoothly now. But, I'm having problems. Why does the hyper threading have to be dis-connected as per protools? The manufaturer, HP, says it can't be disconnected, so what happens now? I'm getting errors with pro tools mixes, and having problems recording. There was no warning on the M-box about the Hyper Threading having to be disconnected, it says it will run fine with windows XP, and I can't afford a MAC, so am I screwed? I bought this product in good faith, and now I can't get it right, what should I do?..
Mark.

[tele_player]

what version of ProTools do you have? I'm pretty sure 6.1.1 is safe with HyperThreading.

[mmccarrell]

Yes Thanks. I have the newest version 6.1.1, just got it a couple of weeks ago, however, the Mbox book says it MUST be disconnected,,what's your opinion on it?..Thanks...

[Aoede]

Just go in to the Bios and you can toggle Hyperthreading on or off. I'm not sure why HP says that it can't be disabled ( unless they locked it). If you restart your machine there is a small window of opportunity to get to the bios set up screen and probably an option to toggle it on or off.

[Bazzle]

I think it was an issue for 5.3.3 and P4s check out this entry in the ANSWERBASE

[murph16]

That's a strange answerbase response because the compatibility documents on Digidesign's website still say "hyperthreading must be disabled" for 001 and 002 on Windows XP 6.1.1

[Gil Lopez]

Pro Tools LE is a host processor which means it reserves a certain percentage of the CPU. When you enable hyperthreading, windows xp pretends the processor is two seperate processors. So for example, when pro tools goes to reserve 80% of the cpu, it's really only going to 'theoretically' utlize about 40% of the cpu. Pro tools wasn't designed to use multiple processors. If you use have dual processors you can tell pro tools to just use 100% of a single cpu while leaving the other available to the OS.

I'm pretty sure they did this intentionally. If we can buy dual or quad processor machines and have pro tools use all the processors, a lot of people won't bother to upgrade to HD. That's money that goes to the pc manufacturers instead of digidesign.

As far as not being able to disable hyperthreading that seems strange. You should be able to do it on the BIOS at system startup. You might have to go through your manual in case HP just shows some splash bootup screen with no instructions on how to get to the BIOS. It's usually one of the function keys or the insert or delete keys.

[nikki-k]

Hi!
HT is recommended to be disabled by DIgidesign currently with all PT versions thru 6.1.1.

I have personally seen it work while enabled on some systems, and not others. No benefit is gained from having it on, so *most* currently disable HT when using PT for safety/stability.

As far as Digi doing this to *prompt* HD/TDM sales...well, sorry but wrong answer.
I own Nuendo2, and could easily go grab a nice dual Xenon or dual AMD64 board, cpu's and load it up with RAM and feel like I own the world. But after owning an HD system for quite awhile now, and using it as well as Nuendo2, I can say that FOR ME there is no comparison. When I can easily have over 100 tracks of audio streaming effortlessly, and have over 200 plugins running without fully taxing my TDM DSP, and the cpu/system looks at me and yawns, that piece of mind was worth every penny to me Biggest factor to me is the damn PCI buss, and the architecture used currently. Yes, in a couple years we may see something to equal what a nice HD4 system can do today, but even then, what can be done with that system will have my HD cards in there adding just that much more.

But, it isnt for everybody I can see why people prefer other apps, and think it is awesome that technology has come far enough to provide them with ample power for their needs- very cool!

[mmccarrell]

Thanks guys for the help, but I went into the Bios and there is not an option to dis-able the Hyper threading, and after I got a tech man on the phone, he also assured me that it could not be by-passed, so I don't know what to do,,,,is there another route I can take to dis-able the HT , or another trick getting into the bios to disconnect the Hyper Threading? I really appreciate everybody taking time to help out,

[Bazzle]

This is the link to the compatabilty page for Mbox, unfortunately there is an entry regarding HP Pavillion computers at the bottom right of the page COMPATABILTY PAGE