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Which G5 to buy?
Just looking at upgrading to the Dual G5. Not entirely sure which one to get (obviously $$$ is a bit of concern otherwise I wouldn’t be asking).
I work predominately in After Effect with PS, Invigorator, and Illustrator thrown in. I’m going to start off with 2GB of RAM, but not sure how much of a difference:A/ The processor will make (2, 2.3, 2.7) to actual working and render times?
B/ The Graphics card: Radeon 9650 VS Nvidia 6800? (I’ve read that the Nvidia will only boost 3D apps and gaming – I only use Vig and not too often)
I’ve read all the specs on the apple.com site, but wanted to hear from anyone who has first hand experience.
Thanks,
JAK -
21 Replies
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Please do not flame me, but I have heard that PCs running Windows operate After Effects much more fluidly and, to be frank, faster, than the G5s. Thats just my 2 cents though…
-Greg
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I run AE on both Mac and Windows, and switch between them all day. With respect to running AE, I’ve found no appreciable difference between the two platforms on comparable machines.
Steve
(except that bloody cmd/ctrl confusion …) -
Sooo… if there is no appreciable difference in performance between PC and MAC what would be a good deciding factor on what to purchase? Hmmm… Oh, I know! PRICE!!! You could either have a Mac, and less money left over for extra hardware goodies, video apps and plug-ins, or you could get a PC and money to spare for more memory, bigger monitor, bigger HD, more plug-ins and more apps! Of course, you would earn the universal derision and condescension from 90% of the media professionals out there who eat, sleep, and dream nothing but MAC.
Famous quotes are for people who can’t think for themselves. (And you can quote me on that)
-C13
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Greg,
I haven’t heard that PCs running AE are faster…. but, I have heard that previously about using 3D programs. I believe that most use PCs in the 3D world. However, we are now talking DUAL which would be like having 2 PCs linked together I think.
Here is where I got my info on the Apple site about performance: https://www.apple.com/powermac/performance/
It appears in the tests they did that the Dual Macs are faster than the PCs.Steve, what are the specs of your mac systems?
I’ve used my friends Dual 1.8 G5 and it’s faster than my G4 (too be sure), but I’m wondering in AE if I’m going to see a huge difference between the 2.0GHz and the 2.7GHz processors (also the difference between the 2 graphics cards Nvidia 6800 and Radeon 9650). We’re talking a difference of several $1000. Am I REALLY going to see that difference? or is just having a DUAL 2GHz going to be pretty amazing without going up to the 2.7GHz.
The price difference (in Canada) is $1300 from the Dual 2 to the Dual 2.7 (with the 2.3 in the middle)
And the upgrade to the Nvidia 6800 is $600 more.
For what I’m predominately doing, worth the extra $$$$? -
I have a second-gen dual-2 G5 (the middle one), 2GB RAM, ATI9600, Medea RTR array, Decklink SP card, previous-gen Cinema HD display on the mac side, and a new Dell XPS Gen2 notebook with 2GB of RAM on the Windows side. Lots of external FW and USB drives help warm up the office. 🙂
Don’t ever get the bottom Mac if they’re offering three. You’ll be limited.
I don’t know about the extra juice of the 2.7. I’d put the money elsewhere, into RAM or apps or a bigger monitor.
My 2 cents,
Steve -
Hey Steve. Thanks for your 2 cents.
Regarding the RAM. I heard somewhere that AE can only use a max of 2GB of RAM and that’s why I was going to start off with that (with the idea that I could add more later to be able to have more apps running at the same time).
Another thought I had. If I do end up saving $$$ and going with the 2.0GHz G5 would I be able to add another G5 (like a 2 computer render farm) to harness more power than if I went with the 2.7GHz G5 now?
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[TobyStud] “Of course, you would earn the universal derision and condescension from 90% of the media professionals out there who eat, sleep, and dream nothing but MAC”
Most of the platform bashing that is done in this site — and I know because I get every single post that goes up in the Cow sent to my inbox — is from the 95% of the market who feel that anyone that doesn’t follow them is an idiot. Thankfully, most of our members are artists who realize that regardless of the brush you use, it’s the talent and determination behind the keyboard that really gets the job done.
Keep your platform bigotry and religiosity to the “Platform Warriors” forum — that’s where we quarantine useless posts like these.
Thanks,
Ron Lindeboom
creativecow.net -
Also, I just did some research on the graphics cards. Seems like the Nvidia 6800 Ultra and the ATI X800 XT are pretty close. Although in the gaming world it seems like the ATI card is better. (check: https://barefeats.com/radx800.html)
Anyone want to throw their opinon in on this?
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Yep, you can network render using AE’s Watch Folder feature or Gridiron. I haven’t used either of those yet. If you want, you can search the COW posts on those subjects for more info.
Steve
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By the way, this may be off-topic, but Steve said something about GridIron…. EVERYONE PLEASE download the GridIron X-Factor for AE6.5 Proffesional. It is free and it will eliminate the 100% CPU bug. Link: https://www.gridironxfactor.com/download/
JAK- I’m liking this 2 G5s Render Farm idea.
-Greg
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