Dual Core or Quad - G5

[KenNickels]

Mac G4 - DP 4.12

I was thinking of getting a used G5 to use with the newest DP and also Mach5. I'd like to hear recommendations of whether to get the quad core or is a dual fast enough to handle these 2 apps.

Thanks

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I'd say get the fastest machine you can afford - maybe a little more than you can afford. G5s are kind of sluggish and even a low level Mac Pro can be had these days for not too much money.

[KenNickels]

I'd say get the fastest machine you can afford - maybe a little more than you can afford. G5s are kind of sluggish and even a low level Mac Pro can be had these days for not too much money.

Not too much money is a relative thing ...

I notice that you have a dual G5, using both DP and Mach5. What is your experience? Is it really so 'sluggish'? Please elaborate. Thanks

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I just bought a Mac Pro 8 Core and guess why? I cannot load more than a few instruments w/o problems on the G5. Plogue Bidule (about $75) was a great stop gap but even there, the VIs have become CPU intensive and I can still only load about a dozen on the G5.

Another stop gap was to go back to my external MIDI modules and keyboards since MIDI data doesn't clog the G5 at all. But I don't know of any way around the issue. You might also consider getting as much RAM as you can on whatever machine you end up with.

Finally, freezing and bouncing tracks you are happy with and disabling those VIs is another trick to consider. There are certainly ways around a sluggish G5, but they are tiring and time consuming. Good luck with finding a new machine. There are plenty out there right now and when Apple releases their next series of machines.

[mikehalloran]

I have to agree. A bottom end Mac Pro is better than the best G5. Like MLC, I recently retired mine. It was a great machine in its day but its time is past.

Yes, you can run DP 7.24 on a G4 but that doesn't mean you should if you want to explore its capabilities. On a G4, it's like a digital tape recorder with a few effects. On a G5, you can do a bit with VIs. On an intel, you can stretch out and move.

Heat is a big concern for longevity and nothing generates it like the G5 core. I joke that my AC bill savings paid for my iMac. I'm not so sure but my electric bill is lower this year... Most quad-core G5s used liquid cooling systems that are starting to fail due to age and corrosion so I would avoid. My 1st gen 1.8G Dual is still going strong in an unheated office in Santa Cruz belonging to a customer and will likely last even longer. He does not use it the way that I did.

For my needs, the new iMac is the right machine. I may outgrow it someday but that 'someday' won't be here for a while. The same thing in a Mac Pro would have cost me a thousand dollars that I didn't have last year. I'm ok with that.

[KenNickels]

I just bought a Mac Pro 8 Core and guess why? I cannot load more than a few instruments w/o problems on the G5. Plogue Bidule (about $75) was a great stop gap but even there, the VIs have become CPU intensive and I can still only load about a dozen on the G5.

Another stop gap was to go back to my external MIDI modules and keyboards since MIDI data doesn't clog the G5 at all. But I don't know of any way around the issue. You might also consider getting as much RAM as you can on whatever machine you end up with.

Finally, freezing and bouncing tracks you are happy with and disabling those VIs is another trick to consider. There are certainly ways around a sluggish G5, but they are tiring and time consuming. Good luck with finding a new machine. There are plenty out there right now and when Apple releases their next series of machines.

Thanks guys, this is great information. I never used Mach5 but had always heard that it's a power hog. I thought that multiple cpu's would help, and maybe refinements in the latest version. Outside of the power problem, do you like Mach5? I'm judging from your posts that you would prefer not to print MIDI tracks until the final mix, for maximum flexibility, hence the need for a beefy machine.

Also, what about putting it on a separate Mac and use it as a MIDI instrument? Is this viable?

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I love M5 but only for certain things. For realistic articulations I tend to go with Kontakt or Garritan, with GPO having better solo instruments for the most part - at least the way I am using the (for mock ups).

The UVI player is a good inexpensive, CPU friendly app with a lot of very decent sounds as well. M5 is more my go to for sample manipulation and very specific sounds that are out of the mainstream acoustic / orchestral realm.

[Todzilla]

I have a G5, circa 2003, dual core 1.8GHz G5 with 3.5G of RAM.

It can handle up to 50 tracks @ 48/24 as long as I'm not running many VI's or processor intensive plugin effects (more than one instance of ProVerb and it's problematic). This proved to be adequate, as long as I was willing to do some work arounds and wait a while for screen redraws.

But I'll be upgrading soon, since the growing pains are increasing. To wit: Bounce to Disk subtly leaves some tracks out when it can't process everything. That's pretty bad. I'd rather have an error warning.

I hope this real world example helps you find a sweet spot between what you can afford and what you need.

[Kubi]

I completely concur w Mike, forget the G5s and get the best Intel machine you can afford. PPC is old technology, pretty much unsupported at this point, and the difference in power between any G5 and any Intel is mindblowing.

[mikehalloran]

>But I'll be upgrading soon, since the growing pains are increasing. To wit: Bounce to Disk subtly leaves some tracks out when it can't process everything. That's pretty bad. I'd rather have an error warning.<

I forgot about that one. My workaround was to re-boot and do that only before firing up any other app. It only happened a couple of times but, man that was annoying.