can PC's run PTLE well?

[superburtm]

Let me start by saying I have been a MAC guy my whole life! But they are so freakin expensive!! and I am looking at needing a new CPU. I have an old mac dual 1.25 g4 that is starting to choke. I am running PTLE 7.3.1..is there a good PC option to the MAC PRO's? THanks Slutz

[superburtm]

c'mon guys! fess up

[manning1]

mr super.
why be limited by LE ??
and track counts ??
keep an open mind mate.
my recommendation.
reaper (cockos.com) running on a quad core pc intel q6600 processor.
(2 gigs ram and two 7200 rpm 16mb cache drives.)
seriously....check it out.
total cost , around a g note. includeing reaper unlimited tracks,
and god knows how many fx.
if u doubt me , go ask on the cockos forum for more details/references.
tis a new fresh daw world mate.

[Jay M]

It's important to remember that you get what you pay for. A mac isn't that much more expensive than a PC of equal performance and quality.

Avid, Pro Tools, Cube, Venue, and a few other high end systems usually use an HP or Dell workstation class of computer- not what you can get for $700 at Best Buy. Even if you build your own with parts of proven quality, the price won't be much less than a Mac of equal specs.

I can't answer you specific question about LE on a PC, but XP is stable. As long as your software works well on it you will be fine. It's not usually the OS at fault, it's crappy software that causes problems. Most software isn't very good at being dual platform.

~Jay

[Jay M]

Originally Posted by manning1

keep an open mind mate.
my recommendation.
reaper (cockos.com) running on a quad core pc intel q6600 processor.
(2 gigs ram and two 7200 rpm 16mb cache drives.)
seriously....check it out.

I just started playing with Reaper last night. It could very well be the BEST daw money can buy. IF they had a huge marketing campaign and charged $4000 for the software people might give it a serious look.

I think it is missing a few key features - OMF and Surround mixing.

Reaper sort of combines my two favorite DAWs,- It has the power of Nuendo and the speed and ease of use of Vegas.

But it seems to be very fast and flexible, and built in network expansion! That is amazing- Unlimited DSP if I understand it right.

~Jay

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by manning1

mr super.
why be limited by LE ??
and track counts ??
keep an open mind mate.
my recommendation.
reaper (cockos.com) running on a quad core pc intel q6600 processor.
(2 gigs ram and two 7200 rpm 16mb cache drives.)
seriously....check it out.
total cost , around a g note. includeing reaper unlimited tracks,
and god knows how many fx.
if u doubt me , go ask on the cockos forum for more details/references.
tis a new fresh daw world mate.

I kinda HAVE to use PT..alot of my clients have PT..I need the compatibility. Thanks for the heads up though on reaper thumbsup

maybe the answer is keep PTLE running on the crap MAC for sessions that have to have PT. And A PC runnign another less restricted program like REAPER? Hmmm..

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by Jay M

Avid, Pro Tools, Cube, Venue, and a few other high end systems usually use an HP or Dell workstation class of computer- not what you can get for $700 at Best Buy. Even if you build your own with parts of proven quality, the price won't be much less than a Mac of equal specs.

~Jay

dang it

[lblstudio]

You can do it just fine. I am running a PC with an AMD X24400+ with no issues. It has two gigs of RAM and will run Pro Tools LE for days.

I also have a powerbook g4 and love Mac OS, but I can understand the question on price.

That being said, my next new studio computer will be a Mac Pro.

[Mike Derrick]

super,

I ran PTLE on a PC for years, no problems whatsoever, (expcept for the obvious user-"duh"-things,...overloading plugins etc)

I started on a Mac and switched to PC, so I know both, no problems with either other than, my PC was a step up for speed etc than my older Mac, and my PC was alot cheaper than a Mac. In fact for the money I got selling my older used Mac I was able to get a brand new custom built (faster, more-everything) PC, pretty much to the penny. My PC was custom built to run DAWs.

[Matteran]

generally, I would say that a PC is faster. However, maybe the Mac platform is more stable with ProTools, because they favor it.

My computer runs ProTools faster than the Mac Pros at the studio, and it cost me 1500 to build it over a year ago.

It also runs ProTools faster in OS X that the mac pros, which I thought was hilarious, because I was trying out OS x86 just to see if I could.

Macs are the best pre-built computers money can buy though, for sure.

However, if you're building your own PC, and build it smart and with some of the best components money can buy, it'll be rock solid (moreso than a mac in most cases) and fast. And in my case because the market was right, it was a lot cheaper too.

I suggest monitoring prices of the components you might want to get for a week or two and notice the trends of the price going up or down, and deciding if you want to wait a little longer to buy, or if it looks like the time is right to buy right now... I dunno, I've been doing it for years, it's kinda hard to explain.

[mds]

Firewire based PTLE runs great on PCs in my experience...I've had issues with mboxes...

[manning1]

jay M.
i seem to remember a thread on the reaper forum about a way to do surround.
dont quote me though. cos i skimmed over it as i dont do surround.
i think it involved useing one of the reaper plug ins.
but i might be wrong.
thus you might wish to ask about this on cockos forum.

as to unlimited dsp, as far as i understand it....
one is only limited by ones computer power.
which stands to reason of course.
as we move foreward to more and more cores in processor architectures
in the next few years,
some are saying hundreds of cores (in R n D labs being worked on),
this will allow of course a huge number of plugs/tracks.
i seem to remember a reaper user showing it running a crazy number of tracks
on an 8 core pc with 200 ssl plug ins if you scan the threads.
in my case i use no more than 50 tracks.
one handy feature is that rpr tells me if i have a plug in consuming a lot of dsp processing power.

Mr superburton.
if you DO check reaper out.
make sure you really delve into the over 100 included dsp plug ins.
some folks on seeing the plug in suite is free would jump to the erroneous conclusion
they might not be any good.
nothing could be further from the truth.
their breadth of features will amaze you.
includeing things like 1073 emulation etc etc.
in particular also pay carefull attention to the free included stillwell and loser plug ins,
as well as the cockos offerings.
why i like this environment is i need not worry bout dongles.

there has been a huge update with version 2 with even more goodies.
also pay carefull attention to reapers extensive routing capabilities.
which folks love.
really theres just so much.
so i would suggest spending at least a week delving into it.
includeing how you can incorporate external outboard gear mate.

[Jay M]

What I meant by unlimited DSP was that Reaper can run plugins and VSTi on other networked PCs so you are not limited to what your primary DAW can run.

ReaMote - CockosWiki

I think FX Teleport does the same thing.

~Jay

[tamasdragon]

I am using macs and peecees, and lately I prefer peecees. Protools run slighly faster, and very stable.
I have multiple machines. Built around intelq6600 quads with 2gb ram and asus motherboards. Flawless.
Tamas Dragon

[PoorGlory]

I run PT LE 7.3.1 on my new Athlon Dual Core 2.6 Gig machine with 2 gigs of ram running Windows XP. It is ****ing intense. Complete stability, and power for days. I had like 6 instances of Drumagog running on this one session and the CPU load wasn't even close to maxed out.

You do need to make sure you follow Digi's advice on what to disable and where the settings should be. There's an entire list of helpful hints on the LE portion of the DUC. Also make sure your mobo is compatible. Mine is an Asus M2NE, which works beautifully.

I got my PC for $600 at PCUSA.com

[Matt Hepworth]

PT likes my PC. Very stable. Athlon X2.

[DontLetMeDrown]

My computer is already getting old. I have a dual-core AMD Athlon 64 4800+ with 3g of ram and PT LE 7.3 runs great.

[superburtm]

Originally Posted by DontLetMeDrown

My computer is already getting old. I have a dual-core AMD Athlon 64 4800+ with 3g of ram and PT LE 7.3 runs great.

and what does a PC like that cost?

[johnjm22]

Originally Posted by superburtm

and what does a PC like that cost?

Well, If I were you, I wouldn't get an X2 processor. Yes they are cheap, and they run PTLE very well, but for a little exrtra money you can get an Intel Quad.

AMD X2 Dual Core
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800 $99
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 MOBO $135
4GB DDR2 800 Cosair RAM $196
80GB System HD $43
400GB Storage HD $100
ASUS EN7300GT Video Card $57
Antec True Power 650W Power Supply $130
LIAN LI PC-61 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Case 109.99

Total= $870

Intel Quad
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 $279
ASUS P5B MOBO $115
4GB DDR2 800 Cosair RAM $196
80GB System HD $43
400GB Storage HD $100
ASUS EN7300GT Video Card $57
Antec True Power 650W Power Supply $130
LIAN LI PC-61 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Case 109.99

Total=$1030


I've run both of these system with PTLE. No problems.

If you decide to get the AMD X2, make sure your MOBO is socket AM2. This will allow you to upgrade to the Phenom processor when it comes out.

[darkman2]

christ its nice to hear so many success stories on PC's..

mines a dual core from sweetwater and its is sweet.. power to spare..


..

[superburtm]

Wowo..thanks very much for the breakdown on the info..very helpful thumbsup

Originally Posted by johnjm22

Well, If I were you, I wouldn't get an X2 processor. Yes they are cheap, and they run PTLE very well, but for a little exrtra money you can get an Intel Quad.

AMD X2 Dual Core
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800 $99
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 MOBO $135
4GB DDR2 800 Cosair RAM $196
80GB System HD $43
400GB Storage HD $100
ASUS EN7300GT Video Card $57
Antec True Power 650W Power Supply $130
LIAN LI PC-61 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Case 109.99

Total= $870

Intel Quad
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 $279
ASUS P5B MOBO $115
4GB DDR2 800 Cosair RAM $196
80GB System HD $43
400GB Storage HD $100
ASUS EN7300GT Video Card $57
Antec True Power 650W Power Supply $130
LIAN LI PC-61 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Case 109.99

Total=$1030


I've run both of these system with PTLE. No problems.

If you decide to get the AMD X2, make sure your MOBO is socket AM2. This will allow you to upgrade to the Phenom processor when it comes out.

[DontLetMeDrown]

Originally Posted by superburtm

and what does a PC like that cost?

New, the processor and mobo together were about 1k. That was 1.5 years ago though. You can probably find it cheap really cheap now on ebay. Also there is still on open slot on the mobo where I can add another 1 gig of ram.

[jeremy.c.]

It's important to remember that you get what you pay for. A mac isn't that much more expensive than a PC of equal performance and quality.

That's totally not been my experience at all, I have never assembled a pc for more than $1500 to get the same performance as a similar Mac. Mac's aren't too bad until you start sticking in RAM and adding hard drives, then you're guaranteed to shoot over the $3000 mark. Macs are great, they're sexy and you almost never have to worry about build quality. If you take your time assembling your pc and get pieces others have tested you shouldn't have any difficulties either. My 2 cents.

[Jay M]

Originally Posted by olivia_nb

That's totally not been my experience at all, I have never assembled a pc for more than $1500 to get the same performance as a similar Mac. Mac's aren't too bad until you start sticking in RAM and adding hard drives, then you're guaranteed to shoot over the $3000 mark. Macs are great, they're sexy and you almost never have to worry about build quality. If you take your time assembling your pc and get pieces others have tested you shouldn't have any difficulties either. My 2 cents.

What I was refering to is a name brand computer like a Dell or HP workstation.

I fully agree that building it yourslef is a much better value if you are able to do that. I have built 5 computers for work, ordered one "Custom DAW", and we have been through many Dell's for digital audio here.

The Custom DAW was absolute junk, we got burned bad on that,The Dells take a bit of effort to get everything to work, but overall not bad, and the ones I made have been very good. The biggest advantage of building them myself is that I can make them to very specific specs. The biggest disadvantage to home made is when something fails, you need to be pretty sharp to trouble shoot it.

Examples of work computers I built:
-2 of them needed to be rack mountable, so I found a rack moutable case that was the best size for the location.

-2 needed to fit in a hush box designed for only 1 tower, so I used an Antec Aria case.

-My primary DAW is a dual opteron that has been rock solid. It is a bit slow by today's standards, but I will hopfully be able to upgrade the CPU, MB and RAM soon. I am waiting to see if AMD's quad core CPUs are as good as they promise them to be. If not I will either spend some big money on dual quad xeons, or be cheap and get a single core 2 quad with the understanding that I will upgrade sooner than later.

~Jay

[jeremy.c.]

Originally Posted by Jay M

What I was refering to is a name brand computer like a Dell or HP workstation.

oh yeah, don't buy those, just getting the crap they install in those off is a pain. that said though, I have been quite successfully using a Dell for almost 3 years now and after hard drive and RAM additions I hit probably around $1500.

The biggest advantage of building them myself is that I can make them to very specific specs. The biggest disadvantage to home made is when something fails, you need to be pretty sharp to trouble shoot it.

yeah, no doubt, a bad mobo or mismatched stick of RAM can turn a productive week of playing and recording into a tech nightmare and many trips to Fry's...

[JesseJ]

I would give it 0 points for running well. As it never even started on a brand new machine with a brand new OS with only the freshest supported drivers installed.

(I put a new machine together, installed XP SP2, ran all MS updates, installed the newest supported drivers for the m-powered supported audiodevice, booted, sound working, downloaded the PTLE m-powered demo, installed it and boom. Error n. Can not start.)

As I only do bug hunting if someone pays me, I do not do research for someone for free. I can only say that PTLE sucks and does not work at all on a PC. I can not recommend it.

Cubase runs spotless on my PCs.
Cubase / Logic 8 on the Mac.

- Jesse -

[Henchman]

If I'm correct, PT's is programmed on Windows and ported to OSX, which is why PT's is in fact very stable on the PC. At this point, probably more stable than on a Mac.
God knows, no matter what studio I've been working in, I continue to see sessions just "poof" closing. No warning, nothing. Just gone.

[Improv]

I love PT on the PPC G5's at work, very smooth, hardly ever crashes. Never worked as good at home on my PC until I built the "Quadzilla" from the DUC thread. Now, this system is already way outdated, performance-wise (dual dual-core Opterons @2.2ghz), but it still gets 190 dverbs and runs softsynths like a dream (my main home use... not that many reverbs though ). And I can do heavy multitrack drum editing @ 96k with ease... it will be enough power for me for years.

It's never crashed once either... and it's much peppier than the dual 2.0 ghz ppc G5 at work. Now, I know the new Mac Pros are pretty fast, but you see the bottom line on a PC quad these days... and it will be smoking... think 240+ dverbs. And that's before you upgrade it cheaply in a year or two to an "Octacore".... virtually limitless power.

Personally, I would build one of the newer quad builds described in sticky the Windows LE forum at the DUC. These are tested builds that use quality parts and will run PT flawlessly.

Don't fear the PC... what's your budget anyway?

[sardi]

Im a long time Mac & PT user, but I use PT on Win XP at work and I must admit it runs really well.

I even installed PT on XP under BootCamp on my MacBook and found I was gettng better performance that under OS X on the same machine. Bizzare.

One question I do have though. I am going to build an Intel Quad setup very soon and was wondering if I would be able to use the system's onboard GMA950 graphics card with Pro Tools. I know Digi reccomend using a dedicated graphics card, but some of the Mac's use this inbuilt card and don't seem to have any issues at all. Even XP on my MacBook is fine with this card.

Any experiences greatly appreciated.

[sardi]

Originally Posted by sardi

I am going to build an Intel Quad setup very soon and was wondering if I would be able to use the system's onboard GMA950 graphics card with Pro Tools.

Anyone??