What Mac to get for a solid PCIe system?

[digidesigner]

Hi! I'm on a G5 and have no plans to upgrade, that's why I haven't really followed the hundreds of threads about new macs. But now there is a company I am helping to get an new system up an running. What would be a good stable mac to have these days? It's not that important how many hundreds on Dverbs it runs, it should rather be rock-solid. The system will be a tape-machine alongside of the Venue system.

[crizdee]

Originally Posted by digidesigner

Hi! I'm on a G5 and have no plans to upgrade, that's why I haven't really followed the hundreds of threads about new macs. But now there is a company I am helping to get an new system up an running. What would be a good stable mac to have these days? It's not that important how many hundreds on Dverbs it runs, it should rather be rock-solid. The system will be a tape-machine alongside of the Venue system.

Hi,

I can only recommend the mac i'm using. Harpertown 8-core. they've been out for about 20 months now and haven't heard any horror stories from any one yet.


Chris

[digidesigner]

Originally Posted by crizdee

Hi,

I can only recommend the mac i'm using. Harpertown 8-core. they've been out for about 20 months now and haven't heard any horror stories from any one yet.


Chris

I looked at the stuff the local mac dealer offers... I see quad-core computers does quad stand for 4-core?

[digidesigner]

I also looked at the everymac.com and as far as I see the 2008 "eight core" computers have 2.8 GHz processors while newer 2009 "eight core" mahines have only 2.26GHz does that mean the newer are actually a downgrade?
Is it something like with the newer Macbook Pros that are actually not so good than the older models? (no exp slot etc)

[BradLyons]

With PTHD, it really doesn't matter as it has its own processing. Now if you're using native plugins such as softsynths and VI's, then the better you have...the better you are. But in case of the Venue console, the only real issue is RAM---depending upon how many tracks you're doing. Chances are, the basic 4-core is more than adequate.

[digidesigner]

I already got an quote on the 2008 8 core 2.8 machine and it's less than the new 4 core so I guess getting that would be foolproof?
Would 6gb be ok for ram? They will be doing 64 tracks max, maybe more if they get another HDx card in the future... I have 4Gb in my G5 all is well but never tracked 64 tracks at once that's for sure.

[drenkrom]

My only recommendation would be to avoid the current Nehalem MacPro models. They're truly half-assed machines. All Harpertown models, the 2008 ones, are very very good machines, available at lower prices than the newer lemons. The next MacPro's should be awesome, though. Once Apple gets around to building a computer around Nehalem, watch out!

[BradLyons]

Originally Posted by digidesigner

I already got an quote on the 2008 8 core 2.8 machine and it's less than the new 4 core so I guess getting that would be foolproof?
Would 6gb be ok for ram? They will be doing 64 tracks max, maybe more if they get another HDx card in the future... I have 4Gb in my G5 all is well but never tracked 64 tracks at once that's for sure.

I have that same MacPro w/6gb Ram---regularly deal wtih 100 or so track sessions using (2) Glyph GT103 hard-drives. It works fine....my system is a PCIX system running in a Magma chassis.