Wow ! Awesome build, awesome studio, awesome thread…
I was initially planning a build to replace my aging MacPro1,1 to use it with ProTools 9HD along with my not really good but trusty Digi002R. But asking the good questions round here, i've been told that i couldn't run SL (10.6.8) on recent Z77 mobo, and that i could even get into trouble with earlier 68s running on SL.
That was my initial plan because i noticed my PT9HD wouldn't run as smoothly on Lion (10.7.4)
installed on my MacPro as it would on SL (i eventually went back to SL), money was a big concern as well: buying a new MacPro ? Out of question ! Burning 1000+ bucks at the Avid online shop for an upgrade to PT10HD ? A pain as well as i already had to rob a bank to upgrade from PT8LE to 9HD as soon as i heard that it could run without HD hardware
, did it too early and therefore wasn't entitled for a free upgrade to PT10HD when it came out… Bad move
:. Consequently, i decided i'd keep my PT9HD and run it on a Hackintosh
! But now the available hardware (mobos) hardly support SL… Nuts!
That means i should build a Hack running on Lion (or ML), but in this case i will have to upgrade to PT10HD (in the mean time i was able to find it around 700 USD from various sellers on Ebay, which is far better than what Avid charges).
I'll have it built in a rack case (i already have it),
with proper PSU & cooling (any advice on that ?)
a 128GB SSD as a boot & apps disk (have it as well),
2x1TB HDs (one for sound libraries and the other as the main audio sessions disk),
32GB of RAM (cheap these days),
an optical drive (dunno which one yet, advice ?)
A descent trouble-free and silent GPU (any advice ?)
2x22" LED displays (i own)
an i7 3770K CPU (slightly overclocked i guess
)
I've not decided yet which mobo i'd buy but was seriously considering an Intel board (DZ77RE-75K) mainly because it has a Thunderbolt port and many SATA ports as well (using hot-swap disks feature of my rack case). And this is because i'm considering (not before next summer i guess) a move towards a next-gen audio interface, as sexy Thunderbolt based audio gear begin to show up (UAD Apollo and Avid PTHD TB interface). Can't stick with my DIGI002R and its annoying latency (although i manage to work with [around ?] it) and dull preamps (i do use outboard equipment for that though) indefinitely ! But until then there will be quite a few sessions, and good ole Digi will have to be up and running ! Which leads me to the FW problem, and i guess i'll buy the FW card you advised…
Hmmm… I must admit that this Apogee system of yours is quite tempting as well…
Ah ! Hard choice as i also like the UAD and its DSP-powered plug-ins (excellent btw, worked with them in a dream studio last summer and they're far more convincing than any other plugs i came across, be it TDM)...