[Mitchji]

Hi,

The most cost effective solution will be SATA (I recommend external SATA). I really like my Seritek (they also sell four port cards and four bay enclosures). The two drive solution is $257.95.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Firmtek/SATA1SEN2/

You can find quite a bit of information on external SATA solutions with reviews at these sites:
https://www.barefeats.com/index.html
https://hdforindies.com/
https://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/reviews.html

For example:
https://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/1v4/

If you prefer external look at this:
Up to 5 Drives in a G5
https://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/g5bracket/

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Mitchji]

Hi,

If you don’t need to run on batteries you might want to consider an iMac.

A friend got an iMac G5 for location editing. This is what he had to say:
“I just got my iMac today – infinitely faster than any powerbook I could have bought at three times the cost. I got the cheapest I could find: a new 1.6gHz 17″ with a CDRW/DVD and 256 RAM on eBay. I upgraded to 1GB RAM and got the iLugger bag.”

and:
Can you capture DV with the G5 iMac to a drive other than the boot drive (one firewire bus)? If so are there any problems or tricks?
“Absolutely no problems. I upgraded the imac’s drive to a 320gb and could capture to that drive but I have a firewire drive workflow. I capture to a FWHD on the iMac. I use a Buslink 6 port FW hub on the imac. I really like the imac G5.

This is the bag he got for location use:
https://luggerbags.com/G5.htm

Assuming there are no problems with the Intel version of FCP, or you don’t need to run an Application which is not Intel Native (like AE) a MacbookPro or Intel iMac would be your best choices (Dual Core). An Intel iMac won’t have better performance than a Macbookpro but you can have a 20″ screen and still save a few hundred dollars. On the other hand if you need a G4/G5 based solution an iMac G5 will toast a G4 Powerbook.

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Mitchji]

[Brian Pitt] “I’m also very anxious to see if the preformance is that much different.”

Hi,

barefeats.com is going to have some benchmark results “soon”.

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Mitchji]

[Cory McKechnie] “owever, I was disappointed to see that I could only bring along one of my existing Serial ATA HD’s … do you know of a good place to pick up (cheap) an external S-ATA HD enclosure so I can bring along both my 120GB internal S-ATA editing HD’s?”

Hi,

Two good solutions would be:
G5 drive bracket reviewed here:
https://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/g5bracket/

Here is an opinion on the heat from Barefeats (scroll down):
https://www.barefeats.com/quick.html
March 10th, 2006 (Update)– AMUG conducted a heat study on an internal CPU bay drive kit for the G5 Power Mac. They recommend using the kit’s included 80mm fan to keep the drives cool. As for the effect upon the CPUs, AMUG reported an average of CPU core temp of 116F with three drives mounted in the kit and no fan. That doesn’t worry me since my Quad-Core’s CPUs run at 120F when idling and 150F when looping AltiVec Fractal (390% cpu usage) — and I don’t have a kit installed. By the way, MaxUpgrades’ MaxConnect is the only CPU bay kit that provides an auxillary fan.

Here is the link to the study:
https://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/maxconnect/

Seritek external enclosure and card, slightly more expensive ($257.95):
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Firmtek/SATA1SEN2/

Reviewed here:
https://www.barefeats.com/hard43.html

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Mitchji]

Hi,

I would shop for a good deal on a lower end Dual G5. Check here:
https://dealmac.com/categories/Computer/Apple-Systems/Power-Macs/44.html

and here:
https://www.macprices.com/desktops.shtml

A factory refurb from Apple, Smalldog or Expercom (probably no sales tax if Expercom or Smalldog) would be a good idea (full factory warranty). Then when you can get a similar deal on Intel Mac (a few month’s after they are introduced) you could sell your G5 and upgrade for a very minimal outlay.

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Mitchji]

[George Loch] “Can you d/l the update?”

Hi George,

Its not really an update. Same complete application, all new code. It would be a huge download.

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Mitchji]

[joslyn20] “wonder if there are any changes besides it being a universal version?”

Hi,

Probably no changes. Possibly some bugs were fixed. More likely some bugs were introduced.

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Mitchji]

Hi,

I am not familiar with that Viewsonic but before I got one I would compare the price and quality with a Dell.

If you watch for coupons and sales Dell monitors which have excellent quality are hard to beat for the price. Here is a review of the Dell 24″ (a friend just got two for $749 each):
https://www.barefeats.com/lcd.html

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Mitchji]

[Arniepix] “So, migrating the software from a single processor to a dual core system (with bigger, faster cache) makes the app run faster? How surprising!”

Hi Arnie,

I didn’t notice that the comparision was comparing single to dual so the huge performance boost is misleading. Thanks for pointing that out!

On the other hand:
The first Intel Powermac models will also probably have a bigger cache also, no?

Going to dual processors normally increases performance approximately 40%. These performance gains are higher than that so depending on how well Apple optimizes their code for Intel we might expect a nice performance bump on the first Powermacs with Intel processors.

Looking a little further into the future the information below is from an Intel developers conference. Quad core chips in 2007. It seems likely that in 2007 Apple will be shipping Powermacs with two quad-core processors (8 CPU’s in one computer!). That will be like having a one computer render farm!
“The move to dual-core over the majority of the product line was discussed, with Rattner admitting that it will take the software world a while to adjust to the need for multi-threading their applications, but that it was an inevitable move given the power envelope problems. Increasing the core frequency by 20 percent adds 73 percent more power consumption. Keeping the frequency the same allows for a second core on the same die, which theoretically could increase performance by 100 percent (although these gains are rarely achievable in real-world applications). Intel wants to help out software developers by providing tools to assist in multithreading, such as V-Tune.

A dozen dual-core products are now in silicon, versus five for last year. Over 85 percent of Intel’s server platforms will be dual core by end of year. Gelsinger then demoed three platforms from Dell, showing eight threads launched on a rendering application running on four-core Cloverton. Three quad-core products are on track for release in 2007.”

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Mitchji]

[John] “It may be a bit more expensive to buy a pre-built system but if your not that confident building your own system”

Hi John,

One of the main points of my post was that you can buy a ready made system for the same or less than you building your own.

Hard drives are a pretty standard option.

Best Wishes,

Mitch