Go to the DUC forum. In there is a complete help on what to use and not. Digidesign has published detailed specs on what hardware they have certified.

http://www.digidesign.com

Click on Forum, and look for the ProTools LE on PC forum.

G.

if money is not that much of a concern... go MAC... def... i am a pc user forever, i also am a happy alienware 7700 user but at the end of the day i have found that a) you will want specific apps that the professinal community is using and you wont get them on the pc and b)the g5 systems are easier to trouble shoot because of the limited manufactuers it uses... plus when they test software and hardware, it has waaaaay less variables and will yield more accurate results which usually means a more stable system which then makes yor clients happy... as well as you :)

these are the reaons why i just chose to get a dual 1.8 g5 instead of genelecs, apogee mini dac, uad, ect running on my p4 3.2

quality over quantity :)

if not, then just make sure every little piece is compatible with each other...

I've been writing a spec for ProTools (native) PC to use at my radio station studios. Then, Sweetwater came out with their Creation Station PCs which use the same motherboard, key pieces, etc. You can build one for a few hundred less than their retail price. You'll want to change the video card from dual-head to triple-head. Personally, I'd recommend a Plextor, vice Lite-On DVD. But, these things are fully compatible with ProTools and all the other main PC-based systems.

Check them out, if nothing else, it will give you a better than great starting point.

For PT LE and PCs I would stick with AMD processors. I have a Compaq GX5050 $2199 (cdn) and works 100%.

for PT LE i agree cheap amd XP processor 2 harddrives (no raid)
and you're done.

the duc has some decent specs for below $1k

Scott
ADK

OK First off, you like PC's get a PC. Don't be fooled by the MAC/PC thing. They both work just as well as each other.

Multi monitor - If you want 3 mons then Matrox Parhelia 128. Aint cheap, but will support more than 2 mons. (Why three btw???)

If you can build it yourself - it's not too demanding.

My machines are monsters 'cos most of my work these days is with video. but there's no need to go overboard.

Here's my humble opinion.

If you want to use PT - go Intel Chip and MB, AMD are fine but don't bother with 64bit, it won't make a hoot of difference with PT - there's no need for Multi Processor, i use them because of video work. A good 3Gb P4 will do fine.

Stuff it full of RAM - minimum 1024, better with 2056

Get a really good quality case with accoustic treatment sound absorbtion and bigger fans which run at lower speeds and nice big chunky heatsinks. Don't liquid cool, far too much can go wrong.

Go for good quality HD's. Seagate have pretty good SATA drives.

Don't treat the machine as a 'general' computer. In my experience, the more you have on there the more that can f*** up. Try and keep it for music and that's it.

DVD RW for backup and CD-RW for a second drive and 'cos their cheap.

If your planning the whole deal i.e. PT TDM, go for at least 96k converters. I use Digi's own, but am thinking of upgrading to Apogee or Prism 192k soon.

If your just thinking of PT LE, then either just get digi 02 and away to go, or think about digi02 rack with a digital board such as the yamaha 01V.

Anyway have fun!

o2x is right there is no advantage to using a Mac in a PTLE, system. except for some Mac only RTAS plugs.

It sounds like you are building for a TDM system, since you want more than the PTLE 32-track limit.

TDM systems on the other hand are less problematic on a Mac from my experience. ( Microsoft migrated to Windows TDM systems, they ended up going back to Macs ).

8)