Dual 1 Gig G4 vs. Dual 1.8 G5

mchimes · Post by **mchimes** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:05 pm

My Quicksliver is getting a little "long in the tooth," but I am discouraged at the reports that the G5 dual machines don't provide all that dramatic of a performance boost.

For those who have used both machines, what is the skinny on the difference?

Would a UAD-1 get the G4 in the same performance range as the G5?

I am running audio only (no VIs) on 10.3.5 with 4.5

Thanks,
Mike

newrigel · Post by **newrigel** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 9:43 pm

I don't know... I had a Dual 1 GIG MDD G4 and my Dual 2.0 G5 smokes it! I was using a UAD-1 also (on the G4) and I could only use 1 stereo instance of Altiverb with an EQ on each track.. (about 12 tracks or so) anything over 1 instance of Altiverb would kill the processors....

I think no matter what your using for hardware, you really have to keep pre-production aspects in mind. How certain naunces and techniques can be achieved is where the strengths of a DAW engineer and producer really come into play.... The axiom of "why play it in 10 notes when you can say it in 3" are VERY prevalent in these types of applications he-he...

waterstrum · Post by **waterstrum** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 1:18 am

Going from a Dual 800 to a Dual 2.5, I had a major improvement.
It still isn't enough for VIs to breathe free.
I don't have UAD-1, so I don't know.
Bottom line, more power is good, but no panacea.

zandurian · Post by **zandurian** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:54 am

keep in mind that the UAD-1 doesn't free up any resources, it just sort of carries it's own weight. In fact, it puts a little MORE drain on your system just to have the card in there, but the concept is that you will then be able to get more plugs going because of it's onboard processing. DP won't be any snappier with the card -

kwiz · Post by **kwiz** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:47 am

mchimes wrote:My Quicksliver is getting a little "long in the tooth," but I am discouraged at the reports that the G5 dual machines don't provide all that dramatic of a performance boost.

For those who have used both machines, what is the skinny on the difference?

Would a UAD-1 get the G4 in the same performance range as the G5?

I am running audio only (no VIs) on 10.3.5 with 4.5

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

I got a dual 1.8 last year upgrading from a dual 800. The G5 made a big difference in screeen redraw speed, waveform processing speed and VI and plugin instances. I recently put 85% of my VI's on a second dual 1.8 and use that as my stand alone VI machine, and the first machine is almost exclusive to audio only. The audio only machine also has a UAD-1 card, and both machines have 2 gigs of RAM. The more RAM you have for VI's the better, but so far 2 gigs are enough for me.

If you don't have to sell your Quicksilver, keep it. Multiple CPU setups are becoming the norm in DAW based studios. Eventually (crossing fingers) MOTU will adapt a "NODE" type of scheme for DP in order to link multiple machines together for enhanced CPU power. Hey you might start using VI's one day, and the second machine will come in handy.

mchimes · Post by **mchimes** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 6:47 am

Thanks so much for the fast replies!

I would like to keep this machine . . . and for the price I would be able to sell it for, I probably should.

Yeah . . . the main problem is just plug-in processing. What is weird is that the CPU meter is actually hovering around 40-50% but it's the spikes that are killing me.

My goal with the UAD-1 would be to offload some of the plug-in processing to the UAD-1 via using there comps and EQs over the native ones I have (Sonalksis, Waves, and Tritone)

I'll have to spring for a G5 soon though.

Thanks,
Mike

builder · Post by **builder** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 12:22 pm

I have an original 2GHZ G5 with a UAD-1 card. I am happy with the way it works though I read that I could get more plugins if I had a PC or a G4, but I don't really know what I am missing. I just did a song with 3 LA2As, 4 1176's and two pultecs and that maxes the card out.

Word

zandurian · Post by **zandurian** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:10 am

Yeah, what's up with the less performance from the UAD in the g5?

zandurian · Post by **zandurian** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:14 am

Yeah, what's up with the less performance from the UAD in the g5?

Siryne · Post by **Siryne** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 3:17 am

I have the dual 1.8 G5 (June 2004) with 4GB RAM and I run 2 UAD1 Cards. My mixes run around 40 tracks of audio (44.1/24) with UAD1's maxed out and 5 Instances of Altiverb plus many other plugs and I have not gotton beyond 50% on the meter, usually less. Hope it helps a bit.
Peace

I should say I am useing DP 4.5.2 and Panther 10.3.9. It is VERY stable and I am a bit nervous to U/G. I have Tiger and all but this setup is so stable. I guess we'll see.

Peace

mchimes · Post by **mchimes** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 5:04 am

That's good to hear about the stability of 4.5.2 and 10.3.9

I have been even more cautious than you . . . afraid to move from my stable setup of 4.5 and 10.3.5

Thanks

Tim · Post by **Tim** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:23 am

zandurian wrote:Yeah, what's up with the less performance from the UAD in the g5?

Something about a different PCI buss chip in the G5 (except some dual 1.8s) that makes the UAD-1 way less efficient. It's a big drag, and it doesn't seem like it'll ever be fixed.
http://www.uaudio.com/webzine/2005/may/index5.html

eriknorlander · Post by **eriknorlander** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:39 pm

newrigel wrote:I don't know... I had a Dual 1 GIG MDD G4 and my Dual 2.0 G5 smokes it! I was using a UAD-1 also (on the G4) and I could only use 1 stereo instance of Altiverb with an EQ on each track.. (about 12 tracks or so) anything over 1 instance of Altiverb would kill the processors....

I made this same jump -- Dual 1GHz G4 to the new (non-PCI-X) Dual 2GHz G5. I ran 2 UAD-1 cards on the G4, but their overhead does tax the processor as has been rightly stated here. Also, in projects with LOTS of soundbites (100+), the G4 would really slow down. Folks here have recommended closing the Soundbites window in that case which did indeed help me.

When I bumped up to the G5, I lost a PCI slot (the G4 has one more than the G5 ... geez!). So I bought a used Magma chassis, and while I was at it, a third UAD-1. Now I've gotten so into the UAD-1 plug-ins working without noticeably slowing down editing in DP that I recently picked up a fourth UAD-1 card in order to run more UA plugs. I'm using almost exclusively UA plugs now, and I am freaking delighted. I honestly don't think the G4 would have been able to run this configuration at a workable production speed. I do a lot of editing, and when that beachball spins, man does that bum me out!

RAM is also a good thing. I went from the maximum 1.5 GB in the G4 to the maximum 4 GB in the G5. I think that makes a pretty significant difference as well. Hope that helps!

Best regards,
Erik

eriknorlander · Post by **eriknorlander** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:46 pm

Tim wrote:
zandurian wrote:Yeah, what's up with the less performance from the UAD in the g5?
Something about a different PCI buss chip in the G5 (except some dual 1.8s) that makes the UAD-1 way less efficient. It's a big drag, and it doesn't seem like it'll ever be fixed.
http://www.uaudio.com/webzine/2005/may/index5.html

I studied this really carefully before buying the G5. As noted in the link above, it's apparently a problem with the "PCI-X" slots that are used in all but the lowest model of G5 which uses the old-style "regular" PCI slots. With PCI-X there is a reduction in the number of UAD plug-ins you can run. That wasn't acceptable to me as I like to pile on Pultecs and LA2s, so I sacrificed a little processor speed (Dual 2.0 instead of Dual 2.7) in order to have the UADs run as best they can.

And I agree, it doesn't look like it will ever be fixed. But I sure do love those UADs. I guess it's the old story of "Doctor, it hurts when I hold my arm this way." Doctor: "Then don't hold your arm that way."

Best regards,
Erik

mchimes · Post by **mchimes** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:14 pm

eriknorlander wrote:
Tim wrote:
zandurian wrote:Yeah, what's up with the less performance from the UAD in the g5?

And I agree, it doesn't look like it will ever be fixed. But I sure do love those UADs. I guess it's the old story of "Doctor, it hurts when I hold my arm this way." Doctor: "Then don't hold your arm that way."

Best regards,
Erik

Man . . . I wish the UAD-1 was truly compatable. I sold one in 2003 because I just couldn't take the manual delay compensation. And at that time MOTU and UA were blaming each other for the problems . . . man what a headache!! And now it's just something else . . . PCI-X slots!!!

I may have to get a dual 1.8 G5 and be done with it.

Thanks,
Mike

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Dual 1 Gig G4 vs. Dual 1.8 G5

Dual 1 Gig G4 vs. Dual 1.8 G5

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