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Which dual-core G5 for Uncompressed SD & DVC Pro HD?
I definitely need to upgrade from my Mini and these are probably the 2 formats I’ll be working with over the next year or two. I’ll also be using, at least on occasion, things like After Effects, Boris Red, and probably Motion (though I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet). For storage, I’ll probably be adding an eSATA RAID 0 with 4 drives (leaning strongly towards doing this externally rather than inside the G5).
Generally, I hate it when people ask these nebulous questions about what product to buy, but here I am wondering how much benefit I’d be getting from the G5 Quad as opposed to the dual-core 2.3. So, any thoughts on which would be better suited for these purposes? Part of my query lies in that I don’t know where processing power becomes limited by storage speed. For example, I can render uncompressed 10 bit SD project on my Mini and my Firewire drive, but I can’t play back more than say 5 secs w/o stopping.
Sorry for the nebulous question and so early in the game, but the Mini is driving me crazy and I’d really like to upgrade in the next month or so. So, any advice or thoughts are greatly appreciated! -
6 Replies
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Any of them would be fine for what you are doing. Of course the Quad would be better…the fastest is ALWAYS better. But even the low end G5 will suit you fine for the formats you will be working in.
Working on a Mac MINI? Well, this will be a world of difference.
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[mus man] “For example, I can render uncompressed 10 bit SD project on my Mini and my Firewire drive, but I can’t play back more than say 5 secs w/o stopping.”
You can’t use FW400 or FW800 for Uncompressed 10bit SD. FW 800 will just barely work, but not recommended. My 17″ Powerbook can work with 8bit Uncompressed footage right now with a G-RAID so your Mini is also capabable if it had a FW 800 port.
Personally, I would look at the current crop of G5’s as they are sure to take a major price drop and you have the most Capture Card options for those machines. Heck I’ve been editing uncompressed HDCAM materal all the way back to my Dual 533 G4’s and am working on Dual 2.0’s right now. AJA did come out with the Kona LHe today.
The new machines are completely untried and tested so if you’re earning money with your system, it’s a scary thing to put something completely new into a revenue generating situation. I’ve got two Dual 2.0’s running beautifully with Kona 2’s and am happy to sit and wait for the first Intel boxes to shake out before moving up, unless a specific project dictates the need for a Quad. Personally I’m not really excited about either “Dual.”
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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I’m wondering how does the dualcore 2.0 and 2.3 compares to the dual 2.7 ?
-chrispy
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[Walter Biscardi] “Personally, I would look at the current crop of G5’s as they are sure to take a major price drop and you have the most Capture Card options for those machines. “
Hi,
On the other hand if you purchase a PCI-X capture card for the older model it is much more likely to become obsolete the next time you upgrade your Mac.
Best Wishes,
Mitch
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So, under that scenario, he’d be buying a PCI-x capture card knowing full well that it won’t work in the machines of tomorrow (literally-not some time in the future tomorrow-the quad 2.7 is shipping now) BTW, ATTO doesn’t even have a product for the PCIe slot. I like your idea of waiting for the Intel versions. (Maybe one less upgrage step-software is bad enough when you’re on a production schedule, but upgrading hardware i/o’s are nighmares.)
Richard Boghosian
Bogh AV Productions -
ATTO does have a line of PCIe FC HBA and the newly announced PCIe UL5D dual channel U320 SCSI card. The PCIe FC HBA are the dual and quad versions and available only in 4Gbit. If you need a PCIe 2Gbit FC HBA, Apple has one.
-chrispy
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