UAD-1 on a 2.5GHz PowerMac with PTHD question

[PBenz]

Hello,

I am seriously considering upgrading to HD but I am concerned about the PCI bus in my 2.5GHz G5 PowerMac (model M9457LL/A). I currently have 2 UAD-1 cards and 1 slot free. According to the UAD site, this model of PowerMac, which uses the AMD-8131 PCI chipset, is less than optimal. Does anyone out there have a similar configuration? My needs are not overwhelming - I will rarely if ever record 8 tracks at a time, and my projects rarely go over 32 tracks, but I do rely heavily on the UAD-1 plugins and I'm worried that adding an HD card to the mix will be problematic.

Any advice on this will be much appreciated.

[TheHopiWay]

I don't know about running the cards in the G5 but I run a G5 dual 2.3 with a PT hd2 7.3cs1 set up and in the 3rd pci slot a host card out to an old Avid/magma flat ribbon PCI chassis (200 bucks on ebay). In The Magma I have 4 UAD-1 cards and a TC Powercore MKII. The TC acts up from time to time but all 4 UAD cards are rock solid in conjunction with the HD2 cards. I can easily run them all day at 92-95% load.

An added bonus to the magma chassis solution for UAD cards is that it negates the controller chip issue in the G5 models that have that problem. I actually chose the Dual 2.3 (2nd model/8 gig ram potential) over the Dual 2.5 as UAD techs said it was one of the non-problematic models.

The combination of PTHD and the UAD plugs is pure heaven.

[PBenz]

TheHopiWay - thanks for your response. I'll have to consider the Magma option. The other thing that dawned on me was that I think my 2.5GHz G5 has 2 PCI busses. If that's the case, then keeping the UAD-1 cards on their own bus (slots 2 & 3) might work out just fine for my limited needs.

Your "pure heaven" comment pushed a button with me. I'm a Logic 8 user who decided to give Pro Tools a shot, so I went out and picked up a M-Audio Lightbridge to use with my Fireface 800. So far I really like PT, but the lack of ADC in M-Powered is the single biggest drawback, hence the idea to upgrade to HD. I just can't see myself putting up with it, and I can't live without the UAD plugins.