Hardware upgrade

[Wolfgang Eller]

I have to go from my G4 to a 2x2,66 Intel Macpro.

Right now I have a HD2 PCI-X sytem which will be a HD3 system in future.

What should I do?
1. Buy an expansion chassis for my existing cards?
2. Swap my cards to PCI-E (which is the same price for me like buying an Expansion Chassis)?
3. Waiting for new hardware? (Does anybody know some news on AES?)

Macpro is already ordered.

Just want to know what´s your opinion for a more future proof decision (if there is any).

[Wolfgang Eller]

pump

[JFreak]

I think your best bet would be to wait until the next generation of TDM cards is released. The problem is, nobody knows how long you would have to wait. That is the cheapest option, and the most rewarding one if the new cards are coming sooner rather than later.

But if you really need to begin using that MacPro right now I think your best option would be to buy the expansion chassis, because once you upgrade to the next generation you can always sell that chassis to get some of the money back. If you cross-grade to PCI-express cards now, then that money will be lost for good.

[Jeffrey Talbot]

While waiting on new cards might be a good idea, at some point moving to PCIe is something your going to have to do. Ever hear of NuBus? It's gone. And sooner or later, so will Digi's support of PCIx as well. Yeah, it may take a while, but keep in mind that if you make the investment now in PCIe, in a year or two.. or three or four, those cards will most likely give you a higher trade in value on new cards than your current PCIx cards do.

I think I was one of the first to trade in PCIx for PCIe, and have had no regrets. At the time, I had the money, and the handwriting seemed on the wall for PCIx, even then. The ability to upgrade computers and not worry about compatibility, at least for me, was worth it.

[sirpucho]

I agree completely I think these things run in 4-5 year product cycles and HD II (or whatever it ends up being) is, with the MacPro's power, long over due.

I'm in a similar situation to you, I'm just trying to hang on in there just that little bit longer with my dual G4 and HD PCI untill the new version arrives and it has to come some time soon with Logic Studio Pro.

I'm lucky in that I don't need a lot of VI's right now but my G4 is creaking with 7.3 if it bit the dust and I had to get a Mac Pro I would go expansion chasis the crossgrade is a lot of dough to end up with just PCI(e) version of old gear.

Get the chasis but regard it as a stop gap but a lesser hit than crossgrading the whole rig to then just have to upgrade almost staright away

Best of luck with whatever you do

[rmccam]

Hey Wolfgang,

I'm in a similar situation, except I still have a Mix system. I was literally heading to upgrade to HD PCIe this week then they released Logic 8 and it got me to thinking... I know for me, working in 6.4 is annoying - especially since I use a lot of VI's - but that said, if I'm honest with myself I think that I can hold out for a bit longer... at least long enough to see what Digi's reaction is to Logic, and what happens at AES. Of course, as someone else mentioned, it may be a long wait.

That said, I'm wondering what the cost difference would be between upgrading from Mix straight to "Ultra HD", or whatever it ends up being called, versus upgrading from Mix to HD to "Ultra HD". Does anyone remember the original upgrade price for Pro Tools III to HD? With that in mind, does anyone want to guess at what the cost will be to upgrade a Mix system to the next generation of hardware?

Good luck with your decision Wolfgang!


Ryan

[bad jitter]

That said, I'm wondering what the cost difference would be between upgrading from Mix straight to "Ultra HD", or whatever it ends up being called, versus upgrading from Mix to HD to "Ultra HD".

Usually your best bet is upgrade as rarely as you can. If you upgrade at every step offered, you pay the premium price. OTOH, if you do that, you have always the latest hardware.

[Ginger]

That said, I'm wondering what the cost difference would be between upgrading from Mix straight to "Ultra HD", or whatever it ends up being called, versus upgrading from Mix to HD to "Ultra HD".

This assumes there will be an upgrade path from Mix to "Ultra HD" and I wouldn't count on that. Digi has been threatening to cut that path for a long time now and I would highly doubt they would continue the generosity to the next level. Going from Mix to HD PCIe is a no-brainer IMHO. They have been giving people way more credit than those cards are worth in the open market for a long time now.

As for the OPs situation, I personally have found that selling your Accel PCIx stuff outright and buying a new HD Accel PCIe is the best way to go. It's worth more on the street than what Digi is offering for a cross-grade and works out to be way more economical plus you get any additional bonuses Digi is offering at the time to new system purchasers i.e. bonus plug-ins, etc. It might be a little more work than upgrading but the extra several thousand dollars was worth it to me.

As far as the expansion chassis route, that's just a band-aid; a road to nowhere. It only buys you some time but when you're done with it what will the resale value really be? Probably very close to nothing. No one is making PCIx cards anymore. Why would you buy something that is totally obsolete before you even get it? I know someone is going to make some quip about technology always being that way but this is more extreme. Think about it. Say 3 years from now whoever still has PCIx finally has to get a new computer. Why would they buy a used chassis? By then their PCIx stuff would have a decent upgrade path to whatever DIgi offers next. Plus, who says the chassis is going to be qualified with every new computer that comes out between now and whenever?

Again, selling outright and buying new is the most economical solution in the long run if you must switch right now. At least it is in the states. Don't know what your price points are in Europe and that may make a difference. The basic upgrade formula is - if Digi is crediting you more for your old hardware then you can get for it in the open market then do the upgrade. If you can get more for it by selling it and the difference covers a significant amount of how much more a new one will cost then sell it. I'll leave it up to you to figure out what other combinations work best with this strategy.

Good Luck.

[Jeff Ulmer]

This assumes there will be an upgrade path from Mix to "Ultra HD" and I wouldn't count on that. Digi has been threatening to cut that path for a long time now and I would highly doubt they would continue the generosity to the next level. Going from Mix to HD PCIe is a no-brainer IMHO. They have been giving people way more credit than those cards are worth in the open market for a long time now.

As for the OPs situation, I personally have found that selling your Accel PCIx stuff outright and buying a new HD Accel PCIe is the best way to go. It's worth more on the street than what Digi is offering for a cross-grade and works out to be way more economical plus you get any additional bonuses Digi is offering at the time to new system purchasers i.e. bonus plug-ins, etc. It might be a little more work than upgrading but the extra several thousand dollars was worth it to me.

I can't see Digi killing a Mix to "Ultra HD" upgrade - if they do, they have likely lost all their current Mix owners for good. There are plenty of other (far) more affordable products out there now which may not have the same cache as Digi, but will get the work done. Dedicated processing hardware is nice, but no longer a necessity.

I agree with you on selling the PCIx stuff rather than crossgrading, which aside from emptying your wallet gets you little to no gain performance or feature wise. I definitely wouldn't recommend a chassis, that is money wasted - there is no guarantee it will even work, and you aren't going to recoup much if you sell it and have to upgrade anyway.

The best course is to sit tight and see what shows up next if you are planning on upgrading.

[axiom]

I am in the same boat. I am sure if I did crossgrade my HD3 to PCIe cards, there would be new PT hardware within the next few months. I hate having to wait and really want the MacPro for extra RTAS power. I think I am going to sit and wait as long as I can, expecting new hardware sooner than later.