The best DAW for Logic and big sample libraries... no more system overload

I'm planning on going big and getting the Mac Pro Two 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 16 GB of RAM and add two additional 1 TB drives, one for samples and one for projects. It's been suggested that I include a RAID 5 and that it will make streaming of the samples faster and also safer and more reliable for backing up data.
With my current setup I constantly have to freeze tracks of sampled instruments or I get system overload.
Do I need RAID or am I better off without it?

Gabe Garza wrote:
With my current setup I constantly have to freeze tracks of sampled instruments
I'm not sure why you consider this a bad thing.
Having to constantly freeze/unfreeze takes time and disrupts workflow. It's a good option to have if you need it, but much nicer if you don't.
Johnny,
I would strongly advise against diving straight in with 16GB of RAM. There are a lot threads around that discuss how much RAM Logic can even recognize, you should check them out. I don't remember the details very well, but I feel like 16GB was more that it can handle (maybe that was just for ESX...). In any case, don't buy a Mac pre-installed with all that memory; Apple charges way too much for their RAM, and you can find perfectly functional, guaranteed RAM from third-party sellers. I bought my Mac Pro with the base amount of RAM and have added as needed, and I recommend you do the same.
When you play your projects, look at your CPU window.
Look at the Audio and Disk I/O meters.
If Audio is peaking, you need more CPU's
If Disk I/O is peaking, a faster I/O on your hard drive is needed.
I would also recommend doing this. Are you getting "core audio overload" messages, or another type? If you get core audio overload messages while your System Performance meters aren't peaking (or getting close to it), getting a faster machine isn't necessarily the answer. Core audio overloads are kind of tricky--some people with slower machines get them rarely, others with very fast machines get them often. If you haven't read up on this issue, I recommend you do so.
I'm not too savvy on RAID arrays, but I have a few thoughts. How likely are you to need your PCI slots for other cards? The specs for the Mac Pro lists 3 PCI slots, which I believe means 3 empty ones, i.e. doesn't include the one that holds your graphics card. Do you expect to add a second graphics card? PCI based audio interface? Anything else like that? A RAID setup will occupy one of those PCI slots, just keep that in mind. Second, while a RAID 5 array is a pretty secure way to store your data, you ought to have an external backup drive anyway, so maybe it wouldn't be worth it ($700 for a RAID card, yikes!). Lastly, it's likely that any of the most popular 1TB drives (search barefeats.com for some articles on these) will be sufficient to do what you need them too. I don't know how involved your Logic sessions are, but I've never maxed out my disk I/O while using my Western Digital Caviar 640.

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