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Please critique my Protools HD build

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OOPSS!!! I typed that "N" by a mistake... it's actually just the normal GA-H55-USB3, better go back and edit that response. Sorry about that.

Here's a link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128437

It has the 3 pci slots you need back to back, perfect for a ProTools HD3 pcix system, as the ribbon cables will easily cross between each pci slot. You still have to make sure you get a chasis that can deal with the length of the Protools cards. Honestly, this is "THE BOARD" to get for a ProTools HD rig, it's cheap and smooth as can be, can't say enough good things about it.... I've been running my main tracking room on it for professional work 24-7 and not one problem beyond initial setup and installation.

In reference to overclocking....I'm not the best at overclocking, but I did have my main system with an 875K bumped up to around 3.8ghz for a few months and it really had very little gains for audio from what I could tell. I don't think it's worth the trouble unless you like to have fun. Especially if you are using ProTools HD, combined with all this native power... you will have a very hard time maxing out your system. It's a great time for recording music, no more worries for us studio folks.
 
Leftbrain, I'm confused by your reply.
The Intel DH55HC has 3 consecutive PCI slots.
Why would I need a chassis?
I've measured the Digi cards and all 3 will fit with no obstruction.
Please expand on this for me.
 
When I said chasis, I mean't the "case" for your computer build, many of them don't quite hold the length of the ProTools HD cards. I personally have done a few builds in this server chasis, that worked out really well, it's 4u and has decent air flow for a rackmount:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811182566&cm_re=4u_rackmount-_-11-182-566-_-Product

In reference to your motherborad, I'm sure the Intel DH55HC might work well in the end as like you said... it does have 3 pci slots, but the DSDT files written and posted here are quite amazing in terms of the stability you get as a result. You don't need sleep, but all the P55/H55 gigabyte boards have DSDT files here, and thus I would suggest going with the H55-USB3... not to mention the fact that I have tested it endlessly and so have others. It's your best bet for an HD3 system. You could try the intel board, but you might want to grab a cheap H55-USB3 and hold on to it... they will probably be hard to find soon enough and it's a sure thing.

Hope that helps.
 
OK.
Yes, I'm using an iStar400-D 4space rack. Everything fits.
Too bad the Giga MB wasn't available when I started this build.
It has one more pcie slot and one more sata header ;-(
I'm going to check out the Intel SSD USB header for a boot drive.

BillieJo
 

Here's a link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128437

It has the 3 pci slots you need back to back, perfect for a ProTools HD3 pcix system, as the ribbon cables will easily cross between each pci slot. You still have to make sure you get a chasis that can deal with the length of the Protools cards. Honestly, this is "THE BOARD" to get for a ProTools HD rig, it's cheap and smooth as can be, can't say enough good things about it.... I've been running my main tracking room on it for professional work 24-7 and not one problem beyond initial setup and installation.

Leftbrain, you've got me rethinking my whole build here.
I've put an order in for the Gigabyte MB. The Intel MB only cost $94.
The Intel Hack is built and has been running for 12 days non-stop steaming HD video from 3 sites. No crashes. No overheating. No problems.
But I haven't put the PCIX cards in yet as I'm still working on a project on my old PPC.

For all those reading along... I can confirm that everything on the MB works (other than sleep). USB, LAN, Memory, Processor, Video (2 monitors) all read correct in the OS profiler.

OK, big question here...
Can you confirm with me that the 3 Digidesign PCIX cards will fit on the Giga MB without obstructing any of the sata ports, etc...?
I know that the Intel MB has the room as I've measured it all and I'm ready to stop and rebuild this whole machine based on your " this is "THE BOARD" to get for a ProTools HD rig".

BillieJo
 
You will need to route SATA cables up and down over the Digi PCIX cards. I've done it and everything works fine. I prefer this case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

Build quality is nice. Good intake fan, holds 5 hdd and 2 ODD. Make sure to get 24" SATA cables for easy installation.

Digi HD3
GB H55 USB3
GTX260
16GB
 
Thanks for the info about the Sata cables DJ. I'll order some long ones.
This Hack right now is dead quiet. Quieter than a Mac Pro sitting next to it. The video card and cooler fans are very quite as are the two PS fans and it will be racked in my whisper rack with 2 spaces above and below it. The iStar case has worked out nicely. I'm very happy with it. There's plenty of room inside and very good airflow. The basic 400-D model is completely empty so you can customize the interior to your needs. I've got 2 silent 80mm fans mounted on the rear for exhaust and their HD cage has an intake fan mounted in front to cool the drives. There's room on the opposite side, the PCIX card side, for another front mounted intake fan to cool the cards, so this Hack shouldn't have any heat issues. I'm stopping the build at this point to change the MB so I won't be able to post the stability of PT with this Intel board but no problems at all running SL 10.6.6
Very stable. Everything works fine. I could probably get the sleep issue sorted out but I'm not bothered with that.

BillieJo.
 
thanks for whoever digged this thread up from the grave... was looking forward to these questions and answers for sometime...

one question I want to know, what is the best mboard you can get for a pro tools build...

price is no problem to me, this pt rig i plan to build is going to be my next big build of a pc, i havent built a pc since 2003. and i plan this rig to carry me on for a number of years... it is only for the studio, I have no desire to be playing games or doing movies or internet. I just want great cpu drive and as much memory as possible to slot in...

thankyou
i will be back and i will start my build memoirs once i get an idea of where I need to be at the mboard... thankyou
 
Yaren, I'm building a PT HD3 Hack based upon the older PCIX cards.
I started out with the Intel DH55HC as it was the only MB I could find with 3 PCI slots in a row. On the advice of Leftbrain I'm going to switch to a Gigabyte H55-USB3. It also has 3 PCI slots. I had originally planned to build this Hack with a SuperMicro server MB with 3 true PCIX slots and dual Zeon processors. A much costlier build but it would have been incredibly powerful. 12 core. More Ram then you could ever use, etc....

The question is are your Digi cards PCIX or PCIE? Or are you going to build a new NATIVE system that only needs one PCIE slot?

BillieJo
 
leftbrain said:
OOPSS!!! I typed that "N" by a mistake... it's actually just the normal GA-H55-USB3, better go back and edit that response. Sorry about that.

Here's a link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128437

It has the 3 pci slots you need back to back, perfect for a ProTools HD3 pcix system, as the ribbon cables will easily cross between each pci slot. You still have to make sure you get a chasis that can deal with the length of the Protools cards. Honestly, this is "THE BOARD" to get for a ProTools HD rig, it's cheap and smooth as can be, can't say enough good things about it.... I've been running my main tracking room on it for professional work 24-7 and not one problem beyond initial setup and installation.

In reference to overclocking....I'm not the best at overclocking, but I did have my main system with an 875K bumped up to around 3.8ghz for a few months and it really had very little gains for audio from what I could tell. I don't think it's worth the trouble unless you like to have fun. Especially if you are using ProTools HD, combined with all this native power... you will have a very hard time maxing out your system. It's a great time for recording music, no more worries for us studio folks.
Click to expand...


Would you recommend this board for any recording and production desktop??
I use mostly Logic and Ableton with motu firewire audio and loads of plugs and was considering building mine based off of the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R board. Would you recommend the GA-H55-USB3 instead? Any reasons why? I also might like to run a UAD-1 card in the future. Thanks for any advice!
 
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