Help Me Pick a PowerMac G5 for PTLE!! Please Help!

[JasonGough]

I've finaly got enough money together to get that PowerMac G5 i've been after for so long. My [bleep] PC just doesn't cut it, can't get more than 15 tracks with a few plugins each before it runs out of juice.

The problem i'm having is, i don't know just how powerful the PowerMac G5s are in real world Pro Tool LE use.

I don't want to buy a Mac that isn't powerful enough to comfortable run all 32 tracks with a good amount of plugs per track, also, i don't want to spend alot of money of a mac that is so powerful i never get more than 50% CPU use.

I know PT7 is going to be even better for PowerMacs, with Dual Processor support, but how do your systems run now? Ever wish you had more power, or do u always have some more to spare?

I don't know if i should pick the Dual 2, Dual 2.3, or go super crazy and get the Quad 2.5. I think the later may be overkill, but it would realy fly!!

Please help me out, cos i will be buying one soon, and your valued experience and knowledge can help me make the right decision.

thanx very much in advance, future mac head, Jay

[tele_player]

For PTLE, there's really no such thing as overkill. I'd wait until somebody else reports back on performance of the quad 2.5 with PTLE, and if the budget allows, go for it.

[16yearsjeff]

buy the fastest one that you can afford.

i bought a dual 867 g4 a few years ago when there were more powerful ones out there. now i have the slowest machine around (in fact i think i have the slowest one that ptle supports)

[JasonGough]

i understand the idea of getting the most powerful one that i can, since PTLE relies entirely on your CPU for plugins and everything, however, i don't want to spend £2k on a Quad G5, if the Dual 2 G5 can run a full 32 track mix with 4 waves plugins per track.

If you guys can please give me an idea of just how powerful your Dual G5s are, and how much they can run, that would realy help me out alot.

thanx again!

[Squint Music]

I've got a Dual 1.8 G5 mk1 with 2.5 Gig RAM and I often run out of juice when all 32 tracks are on the go. I'd assume the Dual 2's arent much better so go for a dual 2.3 at least.

[ilulilu888]

I've got a Dual 1.8 G5 mk1 with 2.5 Gig RAM and I often run ou
t of juice when all 32 tracks are on the go. I'd assume the Dual 2's arent much better so go for a dual 2.3 at least.

i dont under stand , i have a G5 1.8 single with only 768 Ram i run out of juice after 32 tracks with 45 plugins!!!! how can it be?
i see allot of guys here who comlpain they dont have power with thier dual 1.8 machines.... i have the single 1.8 and maybe it was stroked by lightning otherwise i dont under stand nothing

[tha k man]

[QUOTE]

i dont under stand , i have a G5 1.8 single with only 768 Ram i run out of juice after 32 tracks with 45 plugins!!!!

Yeah, but what sort of plugins are you running ? Free pluggo's, or Digirack's? Try running a few Soundtoys, Sony, TL|Space etc. We'll have you full in no time.


I'd advise this guy to get a PC - and before I get flamed - I'm one of the biggest Mac advocates you'll find, (since way back in the Nubus days.)

These machines are just a stop gap measure until the Intel's are released. You're buying into a form factor with a very short lifespan.

[btdvox]

well when talking about all your tracks being ran out, when you compare DaveC scores, you gotta undernstand a) there only putting the simplest algorithims ( just the old Digi rack stuff) not even EQ III, on Davec scores, but even more, i know from expereicne when running my 002 almost every time i go to record i have to fu*** fix something before i can even record, its just stability and compatability thats why so many people use Macs' and it goes to show, now im not saying every PC is like this, PLus the price to build a DualCore PC is almost the same if not more at times then buying a DP Mac, Lots of people are forgetting that Pro Tools LE7 will enable Multicores and therefore even the worse DP compared to a really good single core will probably run better ! Hopefully this help you out

[ilulilu888]

im running waves and bomb factory , not pluggo and not digi rack , i have tried sony and other then the reverb (and even the d verb is heavy on any cpu ...) and all the sony worked great . if you mind most of the world are using waves and not other toys

[3JDamon]

I'm also a former Mac user of 10 years, for the dual 2GHz range Macs are unyieldingly expensive which is why I'm currently on an AMD box, but the quad G5 is actually a good value, only serious competition is a quad 2.4GHz Opteron, which costs more, comes up short, and isn't supported by Digidesign. My recommendation these days is for 24/44.1 get a dual-core Athlon, but if you're thinking 88.2/96kHz, go for the quad G5.

As for the platform's lifespan, I've seen a Powermac 7500 running Tiger on a G4. I'm not worried. Meanwhile my Athlon has no substantial upgrade path and is damn near worthless at 2 years of age, not that it owes me anything.