cpu upgrade ??

guitarsark · Post by **guitarsark** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:37 pm

is it worth it to upgrade my cpu or should i consider a new computer? i only do home recording, nothing major, but i can only run one track of amplitube in a project and plug-ins are definitely an issue as well. my setup is listed below as my signature.
thanks

WSVP · Post by **WSVP** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:22 pm

I have never been a fan of CPU upgrades.

Here is a thread discussing the issue.
http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... ht=#211101

In addition your desire to use Virtual Instruments and Amp modeling plugins will require at the very least a dual processor G5 or an Intel Mac. These two types of plugins/apps tend to be very CPU hungry.

guitarsark · Post by **guitarsark** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:01 am

thanks

sdemott · Post by **sdemott** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:10 am

CPU upgrades are a tough sell for me. On one hand, yes you get a boost at a reasonable price, but the CPU is only one part of total system performance. You are still limited by the initial design of the old system, which usually means a slower front side bus (FSB), a slower memory bus and possibly even a slower interface bus (ATA vs. the newer SATA).

Once you figure that all in - the CPU upgrade really only addresses a small part of the total system performance and doesn't seem like such a great deal anymore.

At least that's how I see it. Others may disagree...and in the end, the bank account gets final say in all these matters.

emulatorloo · Post by **emulatorloo** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:57 pm

To me you would be a lot better off putting the money towards an intel core 2 duo imac or Macbook.

Even a core duo Mac Mini would beat a G4 cpu upgrade in performance.

Just in case you wonder, I have bought G4 upgrades in the past. Contrary to what you may hear, the ones I have have been EXTREMELY reliable and trouble free.

But in terms of today's price / performance ration I would not do it again. I'd get an iMac or MacBook. Those machines kick ass, they are faster than even the old dual G5 towers.

This place tracks best deals on macs:

http://www.pcprices.net

daniel.sneed · Post by **daniel.sneed** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:12 am

I agree with what emulatorloo wrote.

My 1.83 Mhz Macbook core duo is an audio rocket by my standards.
I've just set in some 2Go ram and a faster Seagate 100Go drive.

Widely more than needed currently for my biggest projects.

By the time I took the plunge, this piece was the cheapest Apple Intel on the market.

Guitar Gaz · Post by **Guitar Gaz** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:02 am

Having just ordered a Sonnet 1.8ghz upgrade card for my spare G4 Quicksilver I of course disagree ! I already have my main G4 with a Sonnet 1.4ghz card and it works really well.

It depends what you want - the Mac Mini while nice has few expansion possibilities, and the real upgrade would be to a Mac Pro (again the i-Mac is limited in internal expansion). Thats a lot of money.

My G4 has soundcards , additional USB 2.0 socket PCI card, additional Firewire socket PCI card, and 2 extra internal hard drives. So if you are going for an upgraded CPU card like a Sonnet, you get to keep all the expansion cards and internal drives without shelling out even more money (the Mini is limited to one internal drive and a limited number of USB and Firewire sockets).

The only doubt is the Duet dual processor card is twice the price of the single processor 1.8ghz card - at about £400 in UK prices. But you still might think this is worth it - unless you can make the jump to a Mac Pro. I have thought about this a lot and decided the Mini would not be good enough and therefore I bought a backup G4 Quicksilver on e-bay. I will have to stick with these for a while so that was my decision based on a lot of thinking and talking to people.

emulatorloo · Post by **emulatorloo** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:42 am

Guitar Gaz wrote:Having just ordered a Sonnet 1.8ghz upgrade card for my spare G4 Quicksilver I of course disagree !<SNIP>So if you are going for an upgraded CPU card like a Sonnet, you get to keep all the expansion cards and internal drives without shelling out even more money (the Mini is limited to one internal drive and a limited number of USB and Firewire sockets).

One thing we agree on is SONNET is top notch. I have had several Sonnet CPU upgrades. Gigadesign is good too if they are still around. I had ZERO problems* with my G4 cpu upgrades, starting with sys 9.2 and through all the iterations of OS X.

guitarsark seems to be in a different position than you or I are with our G4's.

If you take a look at his sig, his audio interface is firewire and everything seems external. So that's why I took the "ditch the G4 get an imac" approach.

I haven't priced CPU upgrades recently but I just saw that 20inch aluminum imac again at 1149.00? Very nice.

----
*actually I did have a problem with my dual 1.2 G4 from gigadesigns. One of the CPU's failed. They were FANTASTIC -- they ***immediately*** drop shipped a replacement. THe product had a 5 year warranty.

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 12:02 pm

CPU upgrades are certainly a viable option, particularly where the CPU is the biggest problem.

Bus and RAM speeds remain, but that's the trade-off for the most economical upgrade approach.

I also agree with e-loo (good ol' e-loo!) about the iMac being an option with the external peripherals. I would hope, however, that Apple might up the FW bus speed/bandwidth on the iMacs the way they did on the latest towers. That would really make the iMac a formidable all-in-one box.

Guitar Gaz · Post by **Guitar Gaz** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 6:28 am

guitarsark seems to be in a different position than you or I are with our G4's.

If you take a look at his sig, his audio interface is firewire and everything seems external. So that's why I took the "ditch the G4 get an imac" approach.

Yes you are right - its a choice if you have all the internal stuff - if not then you might as well go for a Mini .

It is all down to money - if I had my choice I would go for a Mac Pro (I have been advised by several Mac gurus that this is the best and most reliable Mac for a long time). Its a couple of years before I need to go that route so this current cpu upgrade backup will keep the G4 option going till then. I think a Mini would be a halfway house in my position - but others may find them the best value option.

guitarsark · Post by **guitarsark** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 7:20 am

thanks everyone. i think imac is the answer as well.