New Pro Tools HD Build - [GUIDE]

[e.fiocco]

HI everybody, i'm new here, does anybody had success with GIGABYTE GA-P75-D3 mobo running protools hd cards?
I'm planning to buy one of these for my first hack project.
Thanks!
E

 

[squizo]

"confirm that the heatsink was in the way of installing an HD3? how did you get around that issue?
Thanks,
g\"

Genzai, its really the first two PCI slots that are close to the heatsink, the cards have that little one inch piece that sticks out....so the worst case scenario, you get a vacuum and plunge cut with a dremel tool into the heatsink (whilst vacuuming the metal shavings so as to not cause 'shorts' later on) but i believe it can be done....10.8.2 using UNIBEAST made this board FFFFFFLLLLLLLYYYYYY! and that was with just an i5 processor! all the PCI cards were recognized and from what i gather, Pro Tools HD 8 - Pro Tools 10 will work in ML, so i think this is a great option if you dont mind getting a little dirty.

Heck, the heatsink might actually screw OFF of the board, which would be nice as you could just mark it, pull it off and cut it on a bench away from the main assembly.

These boards are on ebay all day long for $70 free shipping (for us in the USA) so the investment would be minimal....i can confirm though that EVERYTHING works on the board with 10.8.2 with very little tweaking at all.

 

[freddarr]

My New Protools HD System with GA-P75-D3

Hello guys it’s been a while.
Last week my Jetway NAF92-Q67 blew away. I bought the GA P75 D3 v1.1
I Have it running with 10.8.3 and Protools 9.5.
This machine has light speed and stable.
I had to reduce some parts of the heatsink so the HD cards don’t hit the heatsink.
Only you can run 3 HD cards on this board. The battery won’t let you put a fourth card un less you cut the contacts of your PCI card
First thanks to Tonny, Macman and Squizo for tip on the heatsink

My Rig
GA-P75-D3
I7 2600K
16 GB Patriot G Series Sector 5 DDR3 1333
EVGA GT-520 2Gb
Corsair H80
OCZ Vortex 3 SSD
WD Caviar Black 1Tb (x2)
Seagate Barracuda 1Tb
Sony DVD Rom
Cooler Master HAF-922
Protools HD 2
UAD 2 Solo
196 I/O
Presonus Digimax D8

This is my guide

Important Bios F9
Disable Intel Virtulization Technology
Sata mode AHCI
Super IO Cofiguration Disable Serial Port and Parallel

Boot from Unibeat USB 10.8.2
Install OS
Update to 10.8.3 and erase the AppleTyMCEDriver in S\L\Extensions if don’t erase it you will have PK.

Multibeast 5.2.1
UserDSDT or DSDT-Free
887Audio\Realtek\WithoutDSDT\ALC887\888b
Trim Enabler\ 10.8.1 if you use a SSD
Network\Realtek - Lnx2Mac
Bootloader\Chimera
System Definition\MAcPro 5,1

Restart

GT 520 oob in 10.8.3 and the sound is working.
Had no problem installing protools 9.5 It works awsome.
Here is a video I made
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-CbC8U7X_w
I hope this might help.

 

[BillieJo]

Is anyone running HD3 or HD4 with this board?
I have one and although my GA-HA-USB3 is running fine it is time to upgrade to an 1155 CPU.

I have no problems dremelling here and there.
FWIW, you can dremel away the extra teeth on the PCIx card that do not go into the MB slot.
This will not effect the card if you do it slowly and do not destroy anything else on the card.

 

[genzai]

Is anyone running HD3 or HD4 with this board?
I have one and although my GA-HA-USB3 is running fine it is time to upgrade to an 1155 CPU.

I have no problems dremelling here and there.
FWIW, you can dremel away the extra teeth on the PCIx card that do not go into the MB slot.
This will not effect the card if you do it slowly and do not destroy anything else on the card.

I think at this point both P75-D3 and NAF93 are confirmed working. To me NAF93 is an awesome PTHD rig, especially for those interested in HD4 setups. And as you noted P75-D3 requires modding either the board heatsink or the HD cards. But both have been shown to work.

On another note NAF95 has been announced but i don't see it for sale anywhere. It is Q87 and i actually don't think any of the 8 series, even business chipset versions have native PCI anymore so it is risky business. Plus i think overall the NAF93 is more capable, with 3 pcie plus 2 mpcie all usable at once for instance.

Happy hacking,
g\

 

[BillieJo]

My New Protools HD System with GA-P75-D3

Hello guys it’s been a while.
Last week my Jetway NAF92-Q67 blew away. I bought the GA P75 D3 v1.1
I Have it running with 10.8.3 and Protools 9.5.
This machine has light speed and stable.
I had to reduce some parts of the heatsink so the HD cards don’t hit the heatsink.
Only you can run 3 HD cards on this board. The battery won’t let you put a fourth card un less you cut the contacts of your PCI card

*************

So I took one of my Accel cards out of my GA-HA-USB3 today to see just what's what with the GA-P75-D3 MB.
I was able to place the card in all four PCI slots without any problem.
Granted with the first two slots the card did sit within the heatsink fins but they do go in. And they did not touch anything
You can dremel the heatsink away or possibly just put some e-tape around the teeth on the card.
As for the 4th card. It fits over the battery without touching it.
The contacts on the cards do not extend to the bottom of the card. They are edge contacts so I don't see this being a problem.

I've been toying with the idea of going to the 2011 CPU and an HD Native card but now I think I will give this MB a try.
HD4 with 32GB of Ram. PT 11 is supposed to be a game changer. Lot's of great new features.
The i7-3770K has onboard graphics so that open a PCIe slot for an HD Native card if I choose to go that route.
I purchased one for the GA-HA-USB3 only to find out that it is a PCIe x4 card and wouldn't go in.
I've been using an RME HDSPe AIO card to access the native engine in the PT aggregate device set up.
That works like a charm and has enabled me to work in both TDM and Native mode adding extra ADC when necessary.

My main concern with building the new Hack is migration of all my apps and plugins.
How have you guys done this? Once the new HD is up and running will it see the old HDs in target disc mode?
Can you migrate that way or do I have to start from scratch?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[squizo]

Great to hear that everyone is having great success with the GA-P75-D3 board, im purchasing another one now to put together a little mobile rig of sorts. Im not really interested in PT 9/10/11....im just fine on HD8 honestly, everytime i use someones 9 or 10 rig its just a PAIN IN THE ASS! HAHA! but i digress. The Jetway board, even though will take HD4 cards (you realize that you dont get anymore voices past HD3 right?) doesnt have USB 3.0, which to me is a major dealbreaker. As of right now i have a GA-H55-USB3 1156 HD3 rig with just an SSD drive and i run all of my sessions off of external usb 3.0 drives. Im able to play back 24 track of edited 192/24 sessions and copy/archive in the background without a hitch. so no moving drives and just the PC fan....VERY COOL, VERY QUIET

 

[BillieJo]

As of right now i have a GA-H55-USB3 1156 HD3 rig with just an SSD drive and i run all of my sessions off of external usb 3.0 drives.

Are you getting USB 3.0 speed? My ports work but only at USB 2.0 speed. Did you update the drivers?
I can't figure out how to do that. Please tell us how. My GA-H55-USB3 is fully functional other than that and it does rock.

 

[genzai]

Great to hear that everyone is having great success with the GA-P75-D3 board, im purchasing another one now to put together a little mobile rig of sorts. Im not really interested in PT 9/10/11....im just fine on HD8 honestly, everytime i use someones 9 or 10 rig its just a PAIN IN THE ASS! HAHA! but i digress. The Jetway board, even though will take HD4 cards (you realize that you dont get anymore voices past HD3 right?) doesnt have USB 3.0, which to me is a major dealbreaker. As of right now i have a GA-H55-USB3 1156 HD3 rig with just an SSD drive and i run all of my sessions off of external usb 3.0 drives. Im able to play back 24 track of edited 192/24 sessions and copy/archive in the background without a hitch. so no moving drives and just the PC fan....VERY COOL, VERY QUIET

The NAF93 has USB 3.0. It also has several other features the P75-D3 lacks, like working onboard video and lots more i/o and card expansion options. It also costs twice as much, so unless you need/want the extra features the P75-D3 is the better deal.
I just think the NAF93 is a real badass PT10+ rig and is my main recommendation these days. Also better for anyone nervous about modifying the heatsink or HD cards to make them fit, though word that perhaps all that's needed is some e-tape may make that point mute.

Happy hacking.
g\

 

[BillieJo]

Have you gotten HD4 to work? I asked a friend in Japan to get me the GA-P75-D3P because of the lower profile heatsink.
When it showed up in the mail is was the GA-P75-D3. It's been sitting in my studio unused because I haven't heard of a successful HD4 build so there was no need to take my GA-HA-USB3 apart.
You are correct to point out that the GA-P75-D3 has limited i/o. That's another reason I've been slow to build it.
I think 1155 with Thunderbolt is the way to go but the 6 core 2011 would be a very powerful PT HD Native build.