Newbie to Protools/ need advice....

[eclips1]

I bought a protools TDM system. It was running version 4.0 on an old g3 mac w/ the 882/20 io. I believe this is a protools 24 system. I have a d24 card and a dsp farm card. But no mix cards.

I bought a dual proccessor g4 running os10.2.3 and upgraded protools software to 6.2.

My problem is trying to figure out the most cost effective way to get this system up to par. I started a mix session and I run out of DSP after adding 2 effects. I have plenty of CPU to run plugs as RTAS but I can't use certain plugs how I would like to(stereo sends) as RTAS. Not to mention I have the bare minimum for plugins. Also I can only do 16 tracks(stereo, 32 mono).

My question is what do I need to get more DSP power? I hear different names for cards and I don't know which is what? Farm mix card, mix core card, dsp farm card? Add to that I feel I would also need an 888/24 io.

That said I could also upgrade to HD1 or HD2. But I'm not sure which route to go. I'm already over budget because I wasn't expecting so many extra costs and I was naive to the different levels of protools systems. Now I'm just trying to figure out the pro's and cons of my different options and what will be the most cost effective way to get my desired results.

Any advice or responses would be appreciated. Thanks.

[guido #2]

Thats an older TDM system....Have you been to their site? http://www.digidesign.com/
Go there. Click on products -> pro tools systems -> legacy systems -> pro tools 24/mix . From there it will explain the architecture of the system