How To Optimize A G4 Or G5 For Pro-tools Hd, IDEAs for making a 'bitchin' fast DAW! Options

[cjhope]

Hi,
I've been running Pro-Tools HD on OS9 on my G4 867 for quite some time now, and I'm due an upgrade. However, I'm getting conflicting views from techs at the stores on what is best for me.

"The OS and drive set-up scenario. "

It was suggested by a enlightened tech at a post-production facility that I should have 3 internal drives - on the first have an 80Gig partition where I install the OS (I'm planning on going to OSX), on the second have an 80-250Gig partition where I install my applications and have a third internal drive for streaming audio samples for my Spectrasonics plug-ins for example.

The concept is two fold - it is supposed to be faster, and secondly if something goes wrong I can always re-install my OS and be ready to roll again no time.

Please understand, none of the above or what I am continuing to write is anything more than someones advice, and I haven't tried it yet, so I encourage you to give your knowledge and opinions on the matter so we can have an ultimate solution set!

So....The discussion I had on the drive set-up scenario becomes strange if it is for a G5, seeing as the machine is only set up to hold 2 internal drives! Which leads me on too the guys at the computer store... One tech gave me a carbon copy opinion of the one I have just shared from the guy at the post facility. The other tech at the same place was a polar opposite. He said 'Panther' HATES partitions and I should avoid them... he also said there was no speed benefit to having your applications running on one drive and the OS on another.

Any other ideas or advice out there?

yours in Music

C.

[BradG]

I do a bit of work on my iBook and have it's 40gig internal drive partitioned with an 8gig "recording" partition as the first partition, thus placing it on the outer ring of the drive. This is the fastest part of the drive. I record and rip everything to that partition and also have it designated as the scratch drive for all my apps that use one.

I have definitely noticed speed increases and, as a result, have adopted the same policy on my studio DT where my second, 80gig internal drive has the first 15 gigs partitioned as recording space. All non-current sessons are dragged to the larger partition and then deleted from the recording partition. I've tested the speed of this "outer ring" partition by copying large files to it and other drives and it's noticably faster.

As for the OS/Apps contoversy, keep 'em all together. With new OS's it doesn't matter and it's too much trouble and confusion spitting them up.