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Which G5 to buy?
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I just purchase a Dual 2.7 and it is quite and fast. What I really need is a better monitor now. My 17″ is just not cutting it.
AE 6.5 was written only to accept 2GB of RAM from what I have read. I know this to be somewhat true, because at work I have a G5 2.0 with 4GB and AE never goes beyond the 2GB limit. So I got my 2.7 with only 2GB for now. When AE increases that limit I’ll buy more RAM later (hopefully 1GB chips will lower in price). The 2GB I got were in 1GB modules.In terms of the NVIDA / ATI debate, I went with the ATI for cost and the fact I don’t see myself getting a 30″ display anytime soon. The specs between the two cards are close and I figure by the time 30″ are today’s 20″ LCDs (in price) graphic cards will be even stronger and do even better things. The ATI can run two monitors still and only takes on PCI slot, so when the time comes to get an NVIDA type card that takes two slots, I still have the room.
I haven’t got a “new” desktop since my old PowerMac 8600. I’ve run upgrade cards and stuff, but the old 8600 lasted me a long time. At the time it was the top of the line when it came out, so I did the same for the G5. I am hoping for the same longevity.
Maybe my decisions will help you.
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I’d go for the ATI X800 XT over the Nvidia 6800 Ultra. Performance is similar, but the ATI card only takes up one slot. This was big for me, because I only had one slot available after my Decklink and 2 SATA cards.
Personally I always go for the most machine I can afford, period. I think over time you benefit more from having your main work machine be as fast as possible than having an extra render machine that only really helps for renders. Theoretically X Factor would help here, although I agree with the above post that it is not that impressive in my experience and not worth the hassle. With that in mind, you should see a fairly linear increase in render times with an increase in processor speed, so I’d compare that to the cost difference and see if the ratio justifies the extra power.
I certainly would not question the financial motivations of others, but considering what animation costs these days, if you factor the savings you’d get on a new, less capable machine versus a top of the line machine over the life of these boxes, I think the speed advantage of the top end machine would actually save you more money (time=money) in the long run. That said, you can only buy what you can afford, so there you have it; I’ve solved nothing for you ; )
Good luck!
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Thanks Ken and Scott. Good insight. And descriptive. I think you guys might be right. Go with the high end G5 2.7, the basic ATI 9650 and 2 GB of RAM…. buy the Radeon X800 XT to install and wait until AE can handle more than 2GB of RAM. Sounds good. Render times have always been a big issue (generally my comps are pretty big), so the faster processor (from the tests on the Apple site and what you guys are saying) is worth the money.
Thanks.
JAK
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One more thing: Keep in mind that even though AE can only use 2 gigs of RAM, you might want to have some left over for other apps if you have several running at once, as I often do. If you have a bunch of apps running under 2 gigs of RAM, AE will not be able to use it’s maximum.
I also recommend not buying extra RAM from Apple, as they really inflate the prices.
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Yes. Good point Scott. I rarely have too many programs open when working in AE (generally, I do my work in PS or Illustrator or get the .movs from my partner – from FCP – AND then work in AE. Obviously, that’s not a hard and fast rule, as from time-to-time I forget or need to change an asset in PS or Illustrator. But, more of a generalization), but I may want 2.5GB to be safe.
Who do you recommend to buy RAM from?
(I’ve heard stories of people getting stuck with ‘bad’ RAM, and I just figured that Apple was the safe way to go.) -
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Just thought I’d share. I have been using a dual 2.0 gHz Mac and just bought a dual 2.7. The same file which rendered in 9 1/2 hours on the dual 2 rendered in 7 on the 2.7. I frankly was quite surprised as how much faster the 2.7 is and it is also considerably faster on ram previews. The 2.7 is a real joy to work with. I have 4 gigs of ram installed on both machines, running AE 6.5 on Tiger 10.4.1.
Suzanne
MaD Studio -
Have you run the Total Benchmark test on your 2.7? It would be interesting to hear the results.
(thanks for the info, by the way)
Steve -
Hi JAK,
If you are not in a hurry you can wait for refurbs to show up at the Apple Web Store or call local Apple stores for demo models. These will come with full waranty and the savings will be substantial. The biggest savings would be on a DP 2.5 (discontinued) if they offer any in a reasonable time frame.
Currently at the Apple Store (I would not buy this modle, at a minimum get a model with PCI-X and 8 RAM slots):
ower Mac G5 DUAL 1.8GHz/ 256MB/ 80G/ SuperDrive/ PCI/ GeFr5200/ GigE/ 56K – Apple Certified Refurbished
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