Upgrade from G4/933 to MDD Dual 1.4 for Mix system?

[innerbooty]

Hi,
I'm still relatively happily running a Mix3 system here on an old G4/933 with Apogee converters. I take care with plugin delay issues and headroom, try to keep the faders at zero when I can, and it sounds great. I do get envious of all the new plugs and features. But the upgrade cost...?!
Meanwhile I just saw an ad for a Dual 1.42 MDD G4 tower in perfect condition. Wondering if this would be a sensible hedge for my old, groaning 933? Would my version of PT 6.4.1 be able to take advantage of the 2nd processor for RTAS plugs? Also, would I be able to just plug my OS 10.3.9 hard drive from my current G4 into the new one and have it run? Or would I have to setup the new drive and transfer everything? Any other issues should I be aware of? Is it even worth the cost / hassle...?
Thanks! - Steve

[John_Toolbox]

I wouldn't bother... If you were going from a 400mhz G4 or B&W G3, you'd notice a difference, but a 933 quicksilver vs. an mdd is not a huge jump in power. The mdd's, especially the dual 1.25 and 1.42 are LOUD AS HELL, and run very hot. I have run mix systems with both mdds and quicksilvers, there's not much difference. The only real gain you'll see is in the mdd there are 3 internal IDE busses instead of 2.... and one of them is an ATA-100(I believe the fastest internal HDD bus on a quicksilver is ATA-66). The system bus speed is also faster, but not that much faster

If your quicksilver is stable, but you'd like a little more power, I'd look for a sonnet CPU upgrade for it... they're probably pretty cheap these days... and there are more choices for the older G4s(The MDDs use a different processor socket than the quicksilver and older).

[John_Toolbox]

Also, to answer your question.. you would likely need to re-install the OS... The Mdd *might* boot off of your old drive, but I'd be skeptical of how stable it would be.

Also, be aware that the dual 1.42 will not boot in OS9... There were a few plugins in Os9 that did not make the transition to OSX like samplecell, lexiverb... etc.

If you have PT5.1, it's nice to have a dual boot G4/mix rig... it also serves as an option to get a session finished if you have problems with your panther/6.4.1 partition.