|
Avid Pro Audio CommunityHow to Join & Post • Community Terms of Use • Help Us Help YouKnowledge Base Search • Community Search • Learn & Support |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Power Mac G5 Upgrade Advice...?
Hi Guys,
I've been using Pro Tools 8 on an old Power Mac G5 (system described below). My startup drive was not booting so I took it to Apple where they wiped the drive and reinstalled OS 10.5.8. The computer starts up ok but now EVERYTHING is excruciatingly slow. Maybe the old boy is ready to be retired. Rather than replace the drive I'm considering replacing the Mac (Mac Pro Quad Core?) and upgrading to PT 9. I'm assuming my cards, audio and midi interfaces need replacement? I'm afraid I'm clueless as to current products and what I need to replicate my current setup. Any advice, similar experience, tips on different, more economical ways to go, etc., will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Peter Dual 2Ghz Power PC 8Gb DDR SDRam 512 L2 Cache 1Ghz bus speed Pro Tools HD 2 1 HD Core Card 1 HD Accel Card Appian 2000 Dual Monitor Card Digidesign 96i Audio interface Digidesign Midi i/o (discontinued?)
__________________
__________________________________________ Pro Tools HD 2 TDM System, Digidesign 96i i/o interface, Magma Expansion Box with 1-HD Core card, 1-HD Accel card Pro Tools 10.3.8.378 Mac Pro 2x2.4 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon 32 GB ram, 250 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD sytem drive 1TB WD Media drive OS 10.8.5 |
#2
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Power Mac G5 Upgrade Advice...?
Hi,
Before you do anything i would put a new drive in the G5 and install the operating system fresh. you might find its all good to go again. The options are a new macpro and new PCIe cards or keep your PCI cards and buy a Magma PE6R4 Chassis. or maybe find a good G5 Chris
__________________
PT MAC Troubleshooting... http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=54888 Producer, Engineer, UKmastering Mixing & Mastering Blinders_Columbia top 40 UK album charts Slow Readers Club Joy Of The Return #9 UK album charts www.ukmastering.com PT10.3.10 Mountain Lion HD6 accel Magma PE6R4 D Command 32 MacPro 12 Core 3.46ghz UAD-2 Octo x2. Manley Vari-Mu, Manley Massive Passive, SSL VHD, ADL600, Grove Tubes ViPre, Tube-Tech CL-1B. Hafler TRM active monitoring. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Power Mac G5 Upgrade Advice...?
Midi I/O has 9 drives
I would get a new WD Black HD for a new system drive first also (if it doesn't help, you can use it in the Mac Pro) I'll assume you don't have the last gen G5 that was PCIe. Chris's advice is good but depending on what you do HD Native might be an option (you lose TDM plugs but gain not eating up voices to use RTAS on an Aux or after a TDM plug on a regular channel)
__________________
... "Fly High Freeee click psst tic tic tic click Bird Yeah!" - dave911 Thank you, Craig |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Power Mac G5 Upgrade Advice...?
Thanks Chris and Craig.
I brought the G5 back to Apple today and they said that OS 10.5.8 is probably what's causing the sluggishness, ie, the G5's architecture is old to deal with the much newer OS. Makes sense, I guess. Now my options seem to be to go back to an earlier OS or move up to a new computer. I wonder what most Mac users here are using, ie, Mac Pro, Mac Book Pro? Any G5's here still performing well? Thanks again Gents.
__________________
__________________________________________ Pro Tools HD 2 TDM System, Digidesign 96i i/o interface, Magma Expansion Box with 1-HD Core card, 1-HD Accel card Pro Tools 10.3.8.378 Mac Pro 2x2.4 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon 32 GB ram, 250 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD sytem drive 1TB WD Media drive OS 10.8.5 |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Power Mac G5 Upgrade Advice...?
My HD rig is powered by a G5. It's over five years old, and still going strong. That being said, I haven't upgraded to a newer Mac because of the price. As soon as I can afford it, I'm going to buy a new Mac Pro. Not necessarily because of performance, but more for the ability to upgrade everything in the future. If they were still writing CS upgrades that were compatible I'd probably stay with this system.
__________________
Due to budget cuts the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off until further notice. http://www.gidakdigital.com |
#7
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Power Mac G5 Upgrade Advice...?
Quote:
I very much doubt it! many of us have and some still do run Leopard on G5's and they worked just swell. i used a dual 2g G5 for years and it rocked on Leopard and Panther. anyway Panther should work great on a G5 so i would with that! What version of PT are you using? What sort of sluggishness are you experiencing? Chris
__________________
PT MAC Troubleshooting... http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=54888 Producer, Engineer, UKmastering Mixing & Mastering Blinders_Columbia top 40 UK album charts Slow Readers Club Joy Of The Return #9 UK album charts www.ukmastering.com PT10.3.10 Mountain Lion HD6 accel Magma PE6R4 D Command 32 MacPro 12 Core 3.46ghz UAD-2 Octo x2. Manley Vari-Mu, Manley Massive Passive, SSL VHD, ADL600, Grove Tubes ViPre, Tube-Tech CL-1B. Hafler TRM active monitoring. |
#8
|
||||
|
||||
Re: Power Mac G5 Upgrade Advice...?
I am using a Dual 2.5 G5 PPC Mac OS X 10.5.8 along with ProTools 7.4.2 without any problem. Rock solid system.
__________________
Camilo Orozco Like us on www.facebook.com/artedigitalestudio www.estudiodegrabacion.com.mx |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Power Mac G5 Upgrade Advice...?
Quote:
10.5.8 was the quickest and most trouble free OS I had on that machine. I would definitely look at your OS drive though.... Just a heads-up, on the G5, the cables which the drives attach to can get worn (where they have to be manipulated out to allow for two drives to be seated).... It lead to a few issues for me where occasionally the machine wouldn't boot properly.... Perhaps check that...? Otherwise, a new drive would be the most sense to try first (you can always stick it in a MacPro if you go that route, as has already been mentioned) Look at that first before spending thousands upgrading your computer and cards.... That being said, when I moved to a new MacPro, I wished I'd done it years ago! If you use a lot of VI's it's a massive step up from the G5. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Re: Power Mac G5 Upgrade Advice...?
Until a couple months ago, I was running a G5 dual 2.7 with Protools 8. Everything was certainly solid. But I was able to pick up a new 2009 Mac Pro they were blowing out at $2k and the latest Magma chassis used for about half price. I couldn't be happier. Currently running PTHD 8.11 and it seems as solid, if not more so, than before. And everything is so much quicker, snappier & responsive. I booted up previous mixing sessions that ate up 80-90% of G5 power due to various RTAS stuff I was running. THe new puter loafs at 20%. I'm sure the new Westmeres would have even more power. I guess you don't realize how much the software upgrades take a toll on the processor speed until you compare to something newer. Don't know about upgrading to PT 9 tho. I still see too many people in the forums having challenges running that version.
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Need advice on using Eleven Rack with tube power amp plus a 4-12 cab | mick828 | Eleven Rack | 8 | 10-05-2011 05:18 PM |
Need some more power. Advice wanted. | SixChurchStreet | macOS | 6 | 01-01-2011 07:50 AM |
Advice on building Computer for protools M-power | chips mmmm | Pro Tools M-Powered (Win) | 2 | 01-15-2009 05:07 AM |
upgrade 7.3 M Power | cap | Pro Tools M-Powered (Mac) | 1 | 12-21-2006 10:32 AM |
Digi 002 power supplies and shop advice! | ozzydave | 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) | 4 | 04-02-2004 07:32 AM |