Buying G5 for FCP: details?

[Jeff Carpenter]

Here are my suggestions…a lot of this is opinion, so if someone else has a good reason for ignoring some of this, go ahead and listen to them!
But this is what I’d do:

* Non-ECC memory is fine

* But the Mac with the minimum RAM and then go buy four 1-GB chips from somewhere else and add those to the 512 it comes with. (Refer to the manual! Placement of RAM matters in a Powermac!) 4.5 GB is MY suggestion, although you could get away with 2.5 GB if you’re looking to save some cash. (Crucial.com is a good place, but there are others.)

* At any point in time, for best value-to-performance pick, I usually suggest the “middle” selection on Apple.com. Right now that is the dual-core 2.3 gHz powermac. I think that would be fine for you and you shouldn’t worry too much about the quad-mac.

* Think about upgrading the video card a bit if you think you’ll ever use Motion or you have a large monitor. Otherwise the GForce 6600 is probably fine for what you want to do right now. Apple’s OS X.4, Tiger, shifts a lot of work to the video card so putting a few hundred dollars in to a higher option might be worth your while. No matter what you do, keep it to something with 256 MB of video-RAM. That’s most of them, but I thought I’d mention it anyway. (You’ll eventually have to buy some other capture card in additon to this if you want to get into HD work, BTW, so keep that in mind too.)

* Shop around on hard drives. I’d suggest keeping the 250 system drive it comes with and using it for Applications and maybe small, long-term media like company logos, iTunes music, etc. (I think it helps to not have a huge, full drive as the main drive so that Final Cut can access itself easier without getting bogged down or having to look around a lot.) Shop around for a 400 to 500 GB SATA drive for the second bay and use that for things like DVD making, compression projects, a photoshop scratch disc, small DV-projects that won’t require lots of drive space, and things of that nature.

* I’d suggest getting external storage now as a main Final Cut media drive even before you start doing HD. I don’t have a wide-range of experience here, but I know that people love the HUGE systems and the external-SATA G-Tech drives too. Whether you want to get something small now and then expand it later or something large enough now to last awhile is up to you. You should get more opinions on this subject from other people, though.

[Bob Cole]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate your explaining the advice as well as giving it.

[Jeff Carpenter] “Think about upgrading the video card a bit if you think you’ll ever use Motion or you have a large monitor.”

I’ll probably be using the Dell 2405.

— BC

[Ed Dooley]

Bob,
Definitely buy the memory elsewhere, Apple’s is way too expensive. Check out Crucial, as Jeff said, they seem to
have the best reputation, or one of the best. If you’re working with DV, one media drive should be fine,
but for Beta, are you doing 8bit uncompressed? If so, you won’t get by with a single drive, a raid is
necessary. Jeff already recommended something for that, but I’ll add that there are various internal
mounting options for additional drives (ProMax has one, I think Wiebetech too), as well as a bunch of external options for SATA drives. Newegg.com
is a good source for drives.
Ed

[Stu Siegal]

Hi Bob,

I’m in a similar situation. Just got the g5 quad core 2.5, with 512 RAM and a 250 SATA. Shopped around a bit and bought 4 gigs of gigaram from newegg.com. Gigaram got a good review at anandtech, and the price was right – $370 for 2 (2×1) kits. I went with the Geoforce 6600, as the 7800 seemed overkill – I dont do heavy duty motion graphics, figure the 6600 and the quad core should be able to handle modest stuff. Haven decided on an external SATA array yet, leaning towards the Promax SATAMAX, check it out. Might add a second internal SATA for firewire/dv editing, but I own a bunch of external firewire drives which should suffice for now. For monitors, went with 2 Dell 1905fp’s, based on recommendations I read here and elsewhere. None of it’s here yet, so I can’t say how any of it performs 🙂 hope the RAM tip helps anyway.

Stu

[Bob Cole]

I’ve heard that “after” the annual Mac show (coming up soon) you can get better deals on Macs because new models are introduced. I’m not so sure that this will be true this year due to the mid-year Intel switchover.

True? If so, how long after?

— BC

[Bob Cole]

Looking at Apple’s refurbs — is buying the AppleCare plan ($249) worth it?

It covers the hardware and the consumer software, but not, I imagine, FCP support.

[Jeff Carpenter]

I bought my last Mac at a discount once the new ones came out. From the same area of the Apple site that has the refurbs on it, although mine was brand new. They have those in there too sometimes. I often buy Macs this way. I only work with DV so for me it makes sense to save money and be 6-months behind the curve.

But no, I don’t usually see those show up at the announcement. It’s usually after the new ones are already being sold that you see stuff like that come up. And I don’t expect any Powermac announcements in January, so I don’t think it’s a concern. But hey, it’s only a few days away. If you can wait, you might as well, just to see.

For me, I always get Applecare for laptops but never for desktops. But that’s me…It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it for you. Since you’ve indicated that you’ll be new Mac user that might be a good reason to go for it. Out of any random 100 problems I probably know how to deal with 98 of them. For yourself, that number is likely a lot lower so having extended phone support just might be worth the price.

Granted, you can always come here for help for free but sometimes we don’t answer right away! Being able to get help instantly or simply go into any Apple store with your computer and get it looked at can really be worth a lot. (You can, of course, get all of this from Apple or 3rd party shops without Applecare, but any major problem will end up costing more than if you had Applecare.) Really, it’s kind of a gamble, so no one can really advise you one way or the other.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Bob Cole] “I’ve heard that “after” the annual Mac show (coming up soon) you can get better deals on Macs because new models are introduced. I’m not so sure that this will be true this year due to the mid-year Intel switchover.

True? If so, how long after?”

Yes it IS a good idea to wait on Apple if they’re shows are coming up in January and June. But as for what they will announce and what kinds of deals you’ll get, well everything is rumor until Apple makes their announcments. If you can wait a few weeks, then wait and see what comes out. If you need it today, then purchase today.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Walter Biscardi]

[Bob Cole] “Looking at Apple’s refurbs — is buying the AppleCare plan ($249) worth it?”

Absolutely. I purchase AppleCare on all my computers and monitors now as it actually works.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Gary Taylor]

I am also looking to buy one of the new Macs. What has Apple’s turn around time been when you guys have problems with your desktops in the past?
Thanks,
Gary