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Seeking some learned advice.
I am in the decision process of getting a new or refurb G5. My reasons are that I do lots of video/audio and feel I need the horsepower of the big mac but have been told I could do just the same with a mac mini or imac.
I currently own two big macs. Both power pc’s, circa 2005. One is a dual quad with 8gb of ram and worked fine until it died a horrible death. The other I bought as a replacement from mega macs and I was misled into believing: 1. it would work and, 2. it was as powerful as my first. I was told I could move the ram from the old one. Also told it was a dual quad. Neither was correct. The replacement, when it is working, is very slow. It crashes quite a lot and is generally a potential boat anchor.
Part of my decision process it whether or not to fix my original mac or start saving up for another, or, investigate the smaller, less expensive alternatives. I should mention that I have two beautiful 26″ displays and want to keep that arrangement, whichever route I take. I’m currently using a mac book pro which is going on three years old and, fingers crossed, is working fine. 2.4ghz core duo with 2gb of ram. It is, however, a 15″ display and editing video or audio can put quite a strain on these tired old eyes.
Thanks for your time and advice.
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6 Replies
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In order to give sage advice, I think we all need some more info.
What format do you shoot and edit? Do you have a capture card like a Kona card or Matrox box, etc.? Which version of FCP are you running?
The latest computers would ALL be faster than any G5…
I’ve a new MacBook Pro 17″ 2.2 machine which is 30% FASTER than my 8 core intel 3 gig machine. Let alone a G5… a mac mini would process faster than any G5.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer, Producer, Writer, Director Editor, Gun for Hire and other things. I ski. My Blog: https://blogs.creativecow.net/Jerry-Hofmann
Current DVD:
https://store.creativecow.net/p/81/jerry_hofmanns_final_cut_system_setup8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO2 with MAX – Cinema Displays I have a 22″ that I paid 4k for still working. G4 with Kona SD card, and SCSI card.
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Look for a Mac Pro, not a G5. The G5 was PowerPC, the Mac Pro is Intel.
Benefits of a Mac Pro over an iMac or Mac Mini are:
– expandability via PCIe slots (video I/O cards, eSATA, Fibre Channel, etc.)
– four internal drive bays
– more cores available for applications that can make full use of multiple cores (Compressor, After Effects, etc.)
– higher RAM capacity
– more graphics/display options
If your main concern is rendering speed in FCP 7 or earlier, then a Mac Pro won’t necessarily be an advantage over a new iMac due to FCP’s resource utilization limitations. For anything else, especially for multicore-aware applications like AE or Compressor, the Mac Pro will stomp the iMac and Mac Mini.
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Thanks in advance to all who replied. I may not have provided enough information judging from the feedback thus far.
I’m still in the dark ages of shooting; DVX 100B. It has, however, helped to add a few more potatoes to the pot now that more jobs are coming in. I offload everything onto external drives; (2) iomegas and a G tech. My MBP intel has a small drive and given its age, feel safer doing things this way.
If I upgrade it would be to a mac pro intel or one of the other choices I mentioned. My software is FCS 6 which may or may not be of any use with the newer models. I have an old copy of AE 7 which I think can be upgraded. Also using Photoshop CS3. If they will all be compatible I may lean to an upgrade. If not, I may be considering fixing up the original G5 so that the software and cinema displays can still be used. Right now, for me, the current versions serve my needs.
I gather from the replies that anything I get will be faster than my dual quad. I just want to be assured that my Apple cinema displays, which are still perfectly good, will be compatable with machines like the mac mini or the imac, or for that matter, the mac pro. I even understand I may be able to use this MBP with some gizmo attachment.
I’m not a zillionaire quite yet and must, like most everyone else, try to buy the most for the least. But I’m not a penny pincher either. Can’t afford the top of the line mac pro but was eying the $2.5k model. Still haven’t been to Apple’s refurb site lately but will by day’s end. Got this MBP there, BTW and it has been a real blessing. The other concern is shipping; St. Croix is still considered international even though we are a US Territory. Hope Apple, if I go that route, will honor that in their free shipping fine print.
Again, I would appreciate your thoughts on which may fit best and whether or not my current software will work with the newer intel machines.
Thanks once more.
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Thanks Alan,
Forgive my ignorance on this but my old G5 with 8gigs would do everything I asked in a relatively short time. I’m confident the newer mac pro units would leave mine in the dust.As per my previous reply I offload onto several external drives.
Any other thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Thanks again.
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There are upgrades to FCP 7 still on ebay and Amazon.. might want to upgrade to it if you’re going to be running Lion.
Also you might want to wait just a bit if you can. It’s pretty likely a new line of Mac Pros are just around the corner. Likely within 45 days I’d think. They might be what you want, but if not, the prices on the current machines will drop to clear inventory all over…
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer, Producer, Writer, Director Editor, Gun for Hire and other things. I ski. My Blog: https://blogs.creativecow.net/Jerry-Hofmann
Current DVD:
https://store.creativecow.net/p/81/jerry_hofmanns_final_cut_system_setup8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO2 with MAX – Cinema Displays I have a 22″ that I paid 4k for still working. G4 with Kona SD card, and SCSI card.
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Thanks Jerry,
Someone just wrote that the newer models will not accept any of my software. True?And I will wait for the ‘dump table’ discounts once the new models showcase.
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