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Any use for a G5?
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:00 pm
by Steve Steele
Is there anything, DP related, that I can use it for that I'm not thinking of?
I've got a G5 sitting here, with no monitor, but maxed with RAM (all 4GBs or whatever it has, I forgot), and a couple of 2TB HDDs, and it's doing nothing. (My current MP is listed below)
I can't run VE Pro 5 on it. And even if I can mix versions of VE Pro, it's probably a little too slow to host much. (I'm fully 64-bit, btw)
I don't need a server for any reason (although maybe I 'll do that anyway for some reason). The G5 PPC was a heck of a CPU (water cooled and all).
Thanks
Re: Any use for a G5?
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:08 pm
by HCMarkus
I still use my quad G5 for graphics and software that isn't Intel-compatible. Heats the studio nicely in the winter, too.
Re: Any use for a G5?
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:21 am
by James Steele
HCMarkus wrote: Heats the studio nicely in the winter, too.
Hahahahaha!!! So true!

Re: Any use for a G5?
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:53 am
by corbo-billy
I sometimes use in comparison to start Version 7 D.P. and you write . As progress has been made but these machines still turn a good time _

Re: Any use for a G5?
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:20 am
by mikehalloran
I got rid of my G5. The reduction in my AC bills paid for my iMac.
I do keep a G4 running OS 10.4.11. Sometimes I have to buy sheet music online and certain titles are only available from Hal Leonard using the Sibelius Scortch plug in which is still PPC only. Also I have some old church work in Encore - I'd have to convert it to 4.5.5 on te G4 before I could open it up in 5.0.6 on my iMac if I ever need it again. My wife has some work in AppleWorks that can't be opened in Pages till it's been converted... You know, crap like that. Then there was that DP 7.24 not opening all my old files... but 8 fixed that so its a non issue.
Re: Any use for a G5?
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:29 am
by stubbsonic
The G5 line is famously unreliable, so I wouldn't invest much in keeping it on-line. You can certainly try to keep it useful for as long as possible. I had a local shop offer me $90 for my dead one for parts.
I don't know where you are with plug-ins, but I have a G4 ("sawtooth") that holds my UAD-1 card and the plug-ins I bought for it.
From DP on my main computer, audio is routed via an aux send to the input of a small audio interface on the G4, I use an older version of DSP Quattro to host the UAD-1 plugs- then back out to a stereo pair back to my main computer. Works fine. The only drawback is the G4 isn't very quiet (not the leaf-blower model, mind you).
Also, I still have some education materials that I made in Appleworks, and now my G4 is the only way to access and edit them.
My next step is to figure out how to show the display of my G4 (running 10.4.11) on my current computer. I have some instructions, just haven't tinkered yet.
Re: Any use for a G5?
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:53 am
by MIDI Life Crisis
I gave my G5 to my brother in law. He loves it. He was on a used G5 iMac with a 500 GB drive and 1 or 2 GB of RAM. With 2 GB of HD space and 4GB of RAM, installing Cubase only, he's not at super speeds. And living Indianapolis, it comes in handy on cold winter nights.
I say give it away or sell it for what you can get.
Re: Any use for a G5?
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 10:37 am
by HCMarkus
One other important G5 function: It is my backup emergency DP computer if my Intel MP takes a dive just before or during a session. It still works great, famously unreliable or not, and has never failed me in the 7 years I have owned it.
Re: Any use for a G5?
Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 1:03 pm
by dosuna11
My G5 is for banking, email, word, internet,(checking this web site), and as an archive for old projects on DP5. This allows my quad intel to be only for DP recording. A totally clean machine.