Minimum Computer Specification Guidelines & Known Issues

For Pro Tools 6.1 and Pro Tools|HD 1, HD 2, and HD 3 Systems for Windows XP

Digidesign recognizes that some customers will want to build their own computer for use with Pro Tools. To help increase the potential for success, we are providing the following known system requirements.

However customers should be very aware of the following:

Digidesign can not provide full customer support as to the potential loss of performance for such systems. If a loss in performance is encountered Digidesign will assist customers by verifying the components of the system, to look for incompatibilities. If it is determined that the problem is inherent to a system component, a substitution to a different component may be necessary. Digidesign can not guarantee that all performance issues on these computers will be solved; however incorporating components from this compatibility document can help customers avoid problems.

Systems adhering to this specification are in no way certified by Digidesign to provide full Pro Tools functionality or track performance. While they may be able to operate perfectly well and provide full track count performance, they cannot be guaranteed to do so.

It is impossible for this list to comprehensively cover all possible options. We are providing details of known requirements and known failures based on our experience to date.

Supported Processors

  • Intel Pentium 4 or Xeon - 1.3 GHz or higher (recommended)
  • Intel Pentium III - All speeds
  • PCI slot w/3.3 V/2 A power supply for each HD card
  • ATX form factor
  • 2 adjactent PCI slots (required for Pro Tools Systems utilizing 2 PCI cards)

Suggested Motherboards:

  • Motherboards with the Intel 860 or Intel 850 chipset (or variants of these) required for Pentium 4 processors
  • With TDM systems (MIX & HD) Digidesign only supports chipsets in the 845 family (845/845E/845PE) that use DDR RAM. Digidesign does not support chipsets in the 845 family that use PC100 or PC133 SDRAM.
  • BIOS must have multiple PCI bridge chip support enabled and PCI parity disabled

Note: Dell Dimension 4500 and 8200 systems require Dell BIOS version A05 when used with Pro Tools|HD

System RAM: Minimum 512 MB

System Software: Windows XP Professional or XP Home Edition. Windows XP Service Pack 1 required.

Display card:

  • Recommended: Matrox G450 (dual ports supported) or G400 with latest drivers
  • Minimum: AGP card by ATI, Matrox, or NVIDIA

Storage:

Monitor: Color required; 14" minimum; 17" or larger recommended at minimum resolution of 1024x768

SCSI Host Adapter:

Known Issues - Computers & Components

  • When using a PC that contains 32-bit slots only, it is very important to check and see if any components on the motherboard will impede the seating of the 64-bit HD card. Please check the area immediately behind the slot and compare it with the extra tab of the HD card that will hang low behind the 32 bit slot.

  • HD cards require a case that is "mid-tower" or greater in size. Please check the specifications of your computer case to make sure it will fit a full length PCI card in all slots that you intend to use for HD cards.

  • The HP Workstation xw8000 is not compatible with Pro Tools|HD or Pro Tools|24 MIX systems due to a PCI card seating problem

  • Pentium 4 systems with HyperThreading technology must have "Intel HyperThreading" in the system BIOS disabled

  • Intel 840 & Intel 845 chipsets have been known to cause performance & system failures with some TDM systems. With TDM systems (MIX & HD) Digidesign only supports chipsets in the 845 family that use DDR RAM. Digidesign does not support chipsets in the 845 family that use PC100 or PC133 SDRAM.

  • Computers with motherboards containing SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) chipsets cause system failures with Pro Tools systems

  • AMD K6, K6-2 or K6-III, K7 processor based computers are not supported

  • Asante network cards are not recommended for Pro Tools systems using Ethernet controllers such as ProControl or Control|24. If an Asante network card is in your system, it can cause Ethernet controllers to go on/offline every few seconds, and you will not be able to maintain a decent connection to the ProControl or Control|24.

  • Many computer manufactures fabricate proprietary non-ATX style motherboards that utilize daughter cards for their expansion slots. On these machines, we have seen poor performance with Pro Tools Sessions exceeding 32 tracks and system boot errors.

  • The Digidesign WaveDriver does not support Avid Xpress DV or certain other DirectSound applications that require advanced DirectSound capabilities

Dual Monitor Systems

Pro Tools does not fully support true Windows "Separate Resolution" video modes for Windows systems with more than one VGA output. On systems with a dual port VGA card, the QuickTime Movie window displays an empty white box instead of the QuickTime Movie. However, Pro Tools fully supports dual monitor modes where Display Settings are routed to multiple monitors by the Windows operating system to create a single desktop. Consult your video card driver’s documentation on how to use dual monitor VGA cards without using "Separate Resolution" modes.

Video card:
Currently the following cards are known to be incompatible with Digidesign cards also installed:

  • 3DFx Voodoo Series: Voodoo Banshee, Voodoo3 Series and ATI Rage 128

Users of Phoenix BIOS may upgrade to the latest BIOS version, available from Phoenix, to resolve compatibility issues with these cards.

Digidesign Compatibility Documents Index