I need A new Setup for PT my computer keeps crashing!

[gmorey]

I am currently running PT M-Powered on a MacBook Pro 2.33 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4 GB of RAM. I use lot of midi instruments and plugins.
I am thinking of purchasing new computer/protools/ or both.
Some of the questions I have are:
[LIST]
1. Should I invest in a Mac Pro and not use the macbook, or is there a way to use both so that I don's have to purchase a monitor?
2. Invest in a Mac Pro and change to PTHD?


I have looked through some of the posts and read about a HD card that can be connected to a macbook, but this would still not solve the problem of my system overloading.

Any advise or suggestions.

[OddsAre]

well a few questions pop up, you have the money for a Mac Pro and Pro Tools HD, but if you go the LE/Mac Pro way you don't want to spend the money on a Display? That is confusing... a really nice 22" Samsung Display is like $200.

Second, what "crashing" are you talking about, explain. Is the program crashing? Is it overloaded when you have big sessions? Overloaded with smaller sessions?

How much work do you do in a year that you get paid for? Does it warrant the cost of an HD system? Are you realizing how much the total investment would cost for an HD system? Plugins alone.... yikes!

If you have the money, and you aren't a fully functioning commercial studio, my advice is a Mac Pro, non-Apple Display, Firewire 400 PCIe card, at least 5GB of RAM, an OWC Mecury FW400 external drive, and a used 002R/003R. (or new if you have the dough). If you are contemplating spending the dough for an HD system, then this should come in WELL under what that would cost. Again it depends on your situation... Throw in an Apogee Rosetta 800 and you have a great 16 input system, and down the road you already have the Mac Pro and 8 ins and outs if you decide to go HD.

My guess is that if you have to ask, then PTLE will be enough for you. HD typically is a decision made by necessity, where you know every single limitation of LE and it is holding you back. People's advice will differ quite a bit on here...

[DigiTechSupt]

Your system should not be crashing. If you give us some details, we can likely determine what's causing it. I personally run a MacBook Pro on a daily basis without crashes and we have several other techs doing the same.

See the Help Us Help You and General Troubleshooting threads for details about what we need to know...

[flommer]

Originally Posted by gmorey

I am currently running PT M-Powered on a MacBook Pro 2.33 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4 GB of RAM. I use lot of midi instruments and plugins.

I have looked through some of the posts and read about a HD card that can be connected to a macbook, but this would still not solve the problem of my system overloading.

Any advise or suggestions.

Post more specs about your system and the kind of sessions that are causing you problems. List your PT and OS versions, plugins used, hard drives you are using, number of tracks, etc etc..

Maybe there are some optimizations that will make your current rig work better or maybe someone will notice something that is being done incorrectly that even a new system would not fix...

[Ken Burk]

MacBook Pro can certainly handle PTLE if you are looking to upgrade in that direction. I wouldn't upgrade just because things are not setup properly - only if you've reached the upper boundary of the M-Powered system.

[gmorey]

Thank you for the replies.

Digitech: I will check on the help us help you section.

OddsAre: If I upgrade to PTHD I would have to take out a loan because I don't have enough money coming in to justify an investment like HD yet, and like you mentioned the Plugins alone not to mention everything else...
You mentioned "Firewire 400 PCIe card, at least 5GB of RAM, an OWC Mercury FW400 external drive". I connect the PCIe card through a firewire 400 right? and the I have a terabyte external HD that is connected with a firewire800, is there something that the OWC Mercury has that would make it a better choice?

Ken Burk and Flommer here are more specs:
I am using PT M-Powered version 8, on a Macbook Pro OSX with M-Audio Fast Track Pro. I have read through the thread about how to configure the computer to maximize the performance yet I will be in the middle of a session and the session freezes and PT shuts down.

I usually have under 48 tracks that I use.

I have most of the plugins and Vi on a external hard drive connected with a Firewire 800. The Ocean Way is connected with a Firewire400, the ilok and two other dongles for the VSL and Arturia connected with a multi input USB.

If possible I would rather not spend the money on the PTHD if its not necessary.. Is there is a way to use the Macbook Pro and somehow connect it with the Mac Pro and run PT though its processor. Is switching to PTLE going to make any difference or is the problem more with the Computer?

Here is a list of some of the VI ad Plugins that I use:
-Vienna Symphony Library, Symphonic Cube with various extended libraries
-MOTU Mach 5
-Synthology-Ivory Grand Piano
-Arturia V-Collection
-Sonic Reality Ocean Way Drums Platinum
-East West Sounds: Goliath, Ministry of Rock
-SoundToys Native Effects V3 RTAS/AU
-Waves Mercury Native
-Sonnox Elite Bundle for Native Systems
-Pro Tools MPTK 2
-Logic Pro 8

[Litemup]

4000 for the 003 with ctk 128 mono and bus
3000 for new mac pro an some nice 24" monitor not from apple
knowing the difference between work an a hobby priceless

[DigiTechSupt]

-MOTU Mach 5

I would suggest pulling that plug-in, trashing prefs and testing again. We've had a couple reports that stability got much better when not having Mach V installed.

-East West Sounds: Goliath, Ministry of Rock

If you're using the PLAY engine, that may also be causing problems. Pull it, trash prefs, test again.