Proposed ProTools HD Sandy Bridge Hack

[damndoe]

My recommendation? NO SANDY ... go x58... RAM is most important... its cheap to get 24GB ram with x58. do it, i didnt, my fault. GA-X58A-UD3R Rev 2.0 and i7 950 or 960 (or 970 if you have the bucks, 6 => 12 core)

 

[aero++]

My recommendation? NO SANDY ... go x58... RAM is most important... its cheap to get 24GB ram with x58. do it, i didnt, my fault. GA-X58A-UD3R Rev 2.0 and i7 950 or 960 (or 970 if you have the bucks, 6 => 12 core)

excellent advice

 

[o19MediaGroup]

Believe me, if I could find a 1366 based Mobo with 3 pci slots I would have already ordered it. I'm not excited about venturing into untested waters.

I'm trying to explore the option of a magma chassis. Pretty pricey as far as I can see. If im only spending 1200 on the computer, its a shame to spend 2k for a new PCI chassis...

 

[aero++]

Do you already have with you the PT hardware you need? what kind of PT you intend to use?

 

[leftbrain]

Another option would be to get a cheap older PCI-based magma chasis on ebay, probably run you about $200... that way you would only need one pci slot on your motherboard. Works just as well as 3 internal slots and opens up a lot of options in terms of which chasis and form factor you might want (matx, atx etc).

 

[o19MediaGroup]

Thats exactly what I'm looking at right now. Doing some research about these Magmas. PCIe or PCI to PCI or PCIx is not easy to find... and a bit closer to 400-600 range.

We already have the HD cards. They are PCIx

 

[salty dog]

Look out for one of the beige Avid (SBS) PCI chassis on eBay. You can get them pretty cheap but they are noisy as hell, PSU replacement is a must.

 

[mikonmac]

For protools Digidesign HD 2 & 3 my suggestion is for ASUS P7P55D or P7P55D LE if you don't need firewire.

 

[Rankel]

Hmmm, I got the gt240 working out the box for my buddies 10.6.6 hack. Worked like a charm. 285 would be the bes bet, thats what they put in mac pros.

Any of you guys know what the difference is between p67 and h67?

I'm not entirely sure about older mac pros, but the current version uses the HD 5770 or 5870, not the 285 or 240.

 

[tek720]

If you just want something reliable and future proof use the X58A line from gigabyte.
Put it this way PT lags about a year behind current Chips and stuff so no point using Sandy Bridge as PT won't care for a long time.
I've built 6 PT HD rigs using x58a-ud3r and 7r, depending on how manny slots I need.
This also works for PT Native HD.
Things that work..... with proper DSDT everything and then some (usb3).
-HD Core and expansion cards ALL versions (PCIE)
-HD native card
-All Black-magic Video Cards
-Atto FC cards (41es)
-Magma Expansion Chassis
-Matrox h264 encoder card

-Gt120 (from Apple Store).
-9600
-9800
-ATI 5000 series (Gigabyte Batman)
I've got 3 HD systems running solid for over a year (the rest are new but I expect the same).
Additionally very nice for LE systems (or native now).
All together over 3 years I've built 67 hackintoshes, Avids, Protools, FCP, Adobe, etc.
All use Gigabyte MBs, just a couple of weeks ago I finally had a bad MB out of the box, one out of 67 an't bad.
Only other issues I have are normal application issues the exist on real Macs.
I always stay a bit behind in new stuff, It's just easier. I can build one up from parts in less then an hour, including OS and Apps.
Good luck!