newbie needs help---dual processor vs. single processor G4

[andtsorn]

hi all...

i'm a long time PC user that's making the switch to a G4, but i have a question...i want to use pro tools 5.1 rather than 6.0 due to plugin's issues, therefore, i cannot use one of the new macs because they only ship w/ os X...

therefore, i'm looking for an older G4. the only problem is the fastest i can find is a dual processor 867 mHz versus the single processor 1 GHz that i wanted to pick up (before i found out about the no os 9 issue)

so my question is how noticible the difference is between a dual processor 867 MHz computer and a single processor 1 GHz computer...is there any? should i worry? and does anybody know of any online stores to shop for older G4s that would have the option of booting up to both os 9 and os x?

any help would be greatly appreciated!

thanks,
andt
[email protected]

[carouzal]

Apple is still selling 1.25 Ghz Dual Proc machines that boot to OS9. Go to the apple store click on Power Mac and choose OS9 systems in the upper right hand side of the page.

Hope this helps.

JDevaney

[clockface]

PT 5.1 only takes advantage of one processor. But if you use other apps that take advantage of the second processor or plan to switch to PT 6 at sometime in the future and on the same machine, definately get the dual Mac. But like carouzal said, if you do want to spend the extra $$$ on a new computer, some of them will also boot in OS9.

[where02190]

Within a relatively short period(a year at best) it is my opinion that digidesign with resolve their issues with plug-in compatiblity and bugs in PT6.

Also, many software manufacturers already incorporate dual processor mac support, or are well on their way to.

bottom line is there is no disadvantage to getting a dual, and there will be many advantages shortly in the future.

Hope this is helpful.

[DIGIDUDE26]

why spend the money to get old when you can get new for a little more? Getting an older mac would probably cost you half of what a new dual one would cost now since the prices dropped, you'll get more for you buck and better performance........you're half way there might as well go for it (its what i did)

Also..........performance of PT 6 , is worth ditching the plug ins and "hacked" plug ins of 5.2.1 for, but thats just me. For all you Waves juckies out there incase you dont know........you can go to your nearest Waves dealer and hopefully find some old disscontinued versions of Waves plug ins like version 3.0 and up.......get them dirt cheap then upgrade them to 4.0 for OSX/ PT 6.0 for free............I saved a grip of cash doing this so far.

[EjA]

Hey Where,
It's almost getting tempting to make the switch to PT LE 6.xx. Still a lot of buggy things going on judging by some post here on the DUC. 'Specially MIDI problems.

Just wondering if you decided to dabble in it yet?

EjA

[HornedHorse]

antsorn,

Buying an OLD computer instead of a NEW one is rarely a choice you will be happy with for long.

I bit the bullet and shelled for the screaming dual 1.42G OSX only machine about a month ago - and yeah, it costed me about $375 to upgrade PT and plugins, but I would've spent more than that on the old Dual 1.25 machine anyway... and I can actually USE a lot more plug ins now - there is real added value to that compadre.

moral: faster is better (and far cooler).

[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] HH

[DIGIDUDE26]

1.25 old?..............it ain't that old. Im kickin ass with this machine. Hey horse.....have you done that DaveC test yet? Currious how much more you could run on that than I. Of coarse depending on how much ram u might have, but I would like to know.

[HornedHorse]

Allow me to clarify dude,

What I meant by "old" 1.25G was in reference to the units that would boot up in either OS9 or OSX... the "new" machines Apple released this year are of course OSX only and alot cheaper (with "classic"OS9 that doesn't work with PT).

What I was getting at is the cost savings for equivalent Apple processing will more than pay for software upgrade of plugins to OSX only.

[HornedHorse]

As for what the machine will do yet for plug-ins, I'm running 1.5G RAM and haven't run Dave C test... which I will only take the time to do if I "hit the wall" on plug-ins... which I haven't done yet (thank God, this system is kickin')!

[img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] HH