Pro Tools|24 & MIX Systems with PT 5.3.1 for Windows XP & 2000 — Minimum Specs & Known Issues

Minimum Computer Specification Guidelines & Known Issues

Pro Tools|24 & MIX Systems with Pro Tools 5.3.1 for Windows XP & 2000

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 (uniprocessor machines only)

  • Intel Pentium 4 or Xeon - 1.3 GHz and higher (recommended)
  • Intel Pentium III - All speeds (recommended)
  • Intel Pentium II - All speeds
  • PCI slot w/3.3 V/2 A power supply for each MIX Farm or MIX Core card. Presence of 3.3 volt power indicated with yellow LED on MIX Core and MIX Farm cards (Pro Tools|24 MIX Systems only)
  • 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 that use DDR RAM. Digidesign does not support chipsets in the 845 family that use SD RAM.
  • Motherboards with the VIA Apollo Pro133 chipset for Pentium III processors recommended
  • Intel SE440BX "Seattle" or Intel SE440BX-2 "Seattle 2" for Pentium II or Pentium III processors recommended
  • Dell Dimension: Dell Dimension must be configured with components listed on this Compatibility Document
  • BIOS must have multiple PCI bridge chip support enabled and PCI parity disabled

System RAM: 256 MB

Boot Drive: SCSI drive recommend for 32 track or higher performance. (Pro Tools|24 MIX systems only)

System Software: Windows 2000 Professional with Service Pack 2 or higher.

Display card:

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

Storage:

Monitor: Color required; 14" minimum; 17" or larger recommended at 800 x 600 (minimum) or 1024x768 (recommended)

SCSI Host Adapter:

  • ATTO ExpressPCI-DC (dual channel) with driver & firmware v1.66, available from www.attotech.com/software (Before upgrading to ATTO 1.66 driver and firmware, disconnect all drives attached to the ATTO SCSI controller card)
  • Digidesign SCSI6 Kit (with ATTO ExpressPCI-DC) with driver & firmware v1.66
  • Adaptec 2940UW PCI card with BIOS 1.3x

Known Issues - Computers & Components

  • MIX 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 MIX 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 SD RAM.

  • 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

  • The Asante "AsanteFAST 10/100" 590 PCI card card is not recommended for Pro Tools systems using Ethernet controllers such as ProControl or Control|24. If this 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.

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

Motherboard:
Many computer manufactures fabricate proprietary non-ATX style motherboards that utilize daughter cards for their expansion slots, for example:

  • Dell Optiplex: We have seen poor performance with Pro Tools Sessions exceeding 32 tracks
  • Compaq DeskPro: Currently known to not boot properly with Digidesign cards installed

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.