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.

[gdoubleyou]

Brad G, I wouldn't even bother recording to the internal drive of an iBook. They are only 4800rpm, and have a small disk cache.

Drive speed is the primary factor for track count, after surpassing 60 24bit tracks with an external firewire I got bored.

The limiting factor is the speed and size of the cache chip.

Been an electronic tech for over 20 years I don't buy your inner outer ring theory. Especially for multitracking, seems to me it would be slower caching multiple audio files because the drive heads have move a greater distance.

Anyway a 7200rpm drive with 8Mb cache would make it a non issue.