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  #1  
Old 01-26-2007, 08:42 AM
ircswh ircswh is offline
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Posts: 41
Default Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

Will this run Pro Tools M-Powered Without headache? Or do I need more. Im tired of computers hanging up on me during recording. I dont want to just barely be able to use it. I use alot of plugins.

Specifications
PROCESSOR
Intel Pentium D 820 Dual-Core; 2.80GHz
800 MHz front side bus

MEMORY
Memory Installed: 1GB
Speed supported PC2-3200 MB/sec
Type 240 pin, DDR2 SDRAM
DIMM slots Four
Open DIMM slots Two

HARD DRIVE
250GB 7200RPM Serial ATA hard drive

MULTIMEDIA DRIVE
16x DVD-ROM drive
16x DVD(+/-)R/RW RAM (+/-)R DL LightScribe drive

VIDEO GRAPHICS
ATI Radeon x300se
128 MB DDR memory
I/O Ports: Composite, S-Video, VGA
TV tuner card with FM tuner


OPERATING SYSTEM
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005
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  #2  
Old 01-26-2007, 09:23 AM
Gunnell Gunnell is offline
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Posts: 144
Default Re: Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

Not compatible with Media Center.
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OSX 10.8
Pro Tools 10 / 11
Sapphire Pro 40
Mac Pro 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
10 GB 1066 MHz DDR3
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  #3  
Old 01-26-2007, 09:43 AM
ircswh ircswh is offline
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Default Re: Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

wow thanks didnt know that. Ok so if it were just xp home. Then it would be powerful enough?
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  #4  
Old 01-26-2007, 10:17 AM
Gunnell Gunnell is offline
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Default Re: Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

Looks good to me.
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  #5  
Old 01-26-2007, 10:22 AM
dillon99999 dillon99999 is offline
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Location: Atlanta, Georgia
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Default Re: Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

you need TWO hard drives.
one will be your "System" drive (where Win XP is installed / Pro Tools is installed).
the second one will be your "Audio" drive (where you store your sessions and audio).

for best results, they should be 7200 rpm drives.

also, do NOT expect to run a lot of reverbs (i.e. reverb on every track).
instead, you will probably be forced to use a reverb on an aux track, and bus your track(s) to that.
you may be able to get away with a couple reverbs, but it depends on what other plugins you are running.
i have found this to be the case even with large amounts of ram - because the reverbs eat up a lot of cpu (not really ram based).

if you want a real "polished" mixdown then consider getting a UAD-1, PowerCore, Liquid Mix, or Duende.

with UAD-1, you can have up to 9 mono RealVerb Pro plugins running, with no load on your cpu.
you can put up to 4 UAD-1's in a single computer.

if you consider using either UAD-1 or PowerCore, then you need to be conscious of how many PCI / PCIe slots you have on your motherboard.

Liquid Mix and Duende are firewire based and only contain "channel strips" (no effects - only eq and compression). but they contain "high end" channel strips, and you can run 32 of them (for 32-tracks of SSL grade channel strips) - all with no load on your cpu.

also, keep in mind that these technologies (UAD-1, PowerCore, Liquid Mix, Duende) - contribute latency to your signal when they are used, so they are not designed for "tracking" but rather, the "mixdown" stage of your projects.

they can really give your mix the professional edge though, and i would highly recommend them if you are not going to use a professional studio for mixdowns and mastering.

hope this helps.



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  #6  
Old 01-26-2007, 10:54 AM
ircswh ircswh is offline
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Default Re: Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

Ok this is really helpful. What processor would you you recommend for a plugin junkie ........lol.

Like A Core2Duo where I could run the rtas on on a separate processor.

Core2Duo like out of these would these be a better option. I currently use Sampletank, Miroslav, alot. But have no idea what the future holds. Could I get away with the core2Duo 1.8GHZ or no?

Intel® Core™2 Duo E6300 1.86GHz/1066MHz/2MB L2/Dual-core/VT

Intel® Core™2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz/1066MHz/2MB L2/Dual-core/VT

Intel® Core™2 Duo E6600 2.40GHz/1066MHz/4MB L2/Dual-core/VT ]
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  #7  
Old 01-26-2007, 11:00 AM
dillon99999 dillon99999 is offline
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Default Re: Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

if you plan on running VST instruments (especially sample based ones), you need RAM.

1GB is not really sufficient.
2GB will get things going.
4GB is best.

not all motherboards can handle 4GB - so that will influence your motherboard choice.

avoid running the samples in a "streamed" mode if you can - load them directly into RAM if your software allows it - because the streaming can create latency and timing issues. when the sample is loaded into RAM - it has a near instantaneous playback.

i think spkguitar has a system that has QUAD processors in it - and he says he runs anything and everything he needs / wants on that.

he doesn't need UAD-1 or any of the dsp based technologies, because the cpus can handle the load.

personally, i like the quality of the uad-1 plugins and what you can get out of them.

i will let him comment on his quad system himself.

also, if you are planning on running vst's under pro tools, you need to purchase fxpansion's "vst to rtas" software (it creates the vst as a "wrapped" rtas plugin).

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  #8  
Old 01-26-2007, 11:47 AM
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spkguitar spkguitar is offline
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Default Re: Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

Quote:
i think spkguitar has a system that has QUAD processors in it - and he says he runs anything and everything he needs / wants on that.
Indeed. Specs are in my signature under the "Gear" link.

The only time I have ever maxed out this system is when I was TRYING to. Under normal tracking and mixing circumstances, I have not bogged it down once, and I tend to throw a lot of plugins at it during the mix phase.

Not only that, but my studio system is now really a "dinosaur" in the dual-dual core world, with some of the intel duals on the front line of things. If you want "bleeding edge" the Dell Precision 690 might be a really good bet right now; it's qualified to run with PT, and you can start off with two dual-cores and upgrade to two quad-cores later.
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  #9  
Old 01-26-2007, 11:48 AM
ircswh ircswh is offline
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Default Re: Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

The computer i was looking at holds 4gb, (I had plans to upgrade to at least 2gb. Ill definitly take notice of that. The quad is waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy out of my range but im sure its pretty amazing. Hmm desicions , descisions. I might do better getting a barebones system and just add on as I go. Thanks

Im going to look into that, Dell Precision 690.

If anyone has any experience with the Core2Duo Processors please let know. Thanks you.
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  #10  
Old 01-26-2007, 12:53 PM
dillon99999 dillon99999 is offline
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Default Re: Will this PC be enough for M-Powered?

if it's any help, i run the following:

Pentium D 920 (2.8 Dual Core - has 2MB cache vs. 1MB on the D 820)
4GB 667/PC5300 RAM
80GB Sata2 Western Digital (2 of them)
Audiophile 2496 (two of them)
ATI X300 (Dual Video)
UAD-1express
Intel Motherboard (DG965WH)

i bought it (the barebones case, cpu, motherboard) from Portatech.com
the hard drives came from newegg.com
video card and 2496's came from ebay
the uad-1 was purchased from samash.com
the ram was purchased from buyaib.com (ouch!)

i prefer the audiophile 2496's because of the following:
1. there appears to be less problems / more stability with pci vs. firewire (ymmv)
2. you can put up to four 2496's in a computer (and pro tools recognizes all of them)
3. each card has it's own digital in / out (i have a lot of digital gear - and prefer to use digital when recording signals because there is less noise)

before going this route, i was using the 1814 - but it fell short of my expectations as far as a professional system.

other users may have better luck with the 1814, but mine wasn't all that good.

while not being completely dissatisfied, the main reason i choose the 2496 was because it was less costly, and allowed me the extra digital inputs i needed.

if you run a lot of digital gear, you can only have one spdif on an 1814. and pro tools will recognize only one 1814. so that is very limiting IMHO.
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