Help! New 27" Imac - Dual Core Or Quad Core For My Needs..., Would the 3.33 Ghz suffice? Options

[uvbnskoold]

Hi there community,

I have asked this question of many other people and forums but no one can give me a straight answer.

I compose music using Logic Studio and all included sounds, VSTs and a lot of different libraries (EW/QL samples) with very little live recording.

I want to upgrade my system (currently using a dual 2.3 Ghz PowerMac G5 with 8 GB of RAM) to one of the new 27" iMacs - definitely going to go 16 GB of RAM and a 2 TB HD, but I'm torn as to processor.

I just don't know whether the 3.33 Ghz Dual Core processor will be adequate or I should wait and get one of the Quad Core i7 processors for about $500 more money, but I'd have to wait.

For what I do, will the processor make a huge difference? What I've been told is that processor only matters for audio encoding (which I am not really doing a lot of) or video work/rendering... not really applicable to composing with samples using Logic.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Uvee

[kayj_prod]

Whew! If you're going for 16 gb of RAM
then an extra 500 for processing speed is a drop
in the ocean!!!
I always think it's best to buy the fastest you can afford at the time- you never know what you'll need in the future. I remember a time when my 350 MHz G3 was enough... Then my 450G4... Then my DP1.2 G4...!

In your position, I'd buy half as much RAM and the faster processor. You can easily upgrade RAM.

[ironhead]

well as long as logic is going to make use up the quad core efficiently i would just wait if i were you for 500 bucks more its a good deal your double the speed for only 500 bucks
as long as you not in a hurry
also you can go to the apple store and they will advice you.
i hope that helps

[lunar 1]

Hi there community,

I have asked this question of many other people and forums but no one can give me a straight answer.

I compose music using Logic Studio and all included sounds, VSTs and a lot of different libraries (EW/QL samples) with very little live recording.

I want to upgrade my system (currently using a dual 2.3 Ghz PowerMac G5 with 8 GB of RAM) to one of the new 27" iMacs - definitely going to go 16 GB of RAM and a 2 TB HD, but I'm torn as to processor.

I just don't know whether the 3.33 Ghz Dual Core processor will be adequate or I should wait and get one of the Quad Core i7 processors for about $500 more money, but I'd have to wait.

For what I do, will the processor make a huge difference?

Yes.

What I've been told is that processor only matters for audio encoding (which I am not really doing a lot of) or video work/rendering... not really applicable to composing with samples using Logic.

This is quite incorrect. LOTS of things are CPU hogs. Just open up the Activity Monitor to see how busy your G5's processor gets.

Any thoughts?

While the i7 looks like a significant step up from Intel's Penryn (in Core 2 Duo), I think you'd be quite pleased with either.. You -will- outgrow the dual core sooner though. Is it worth an extra $500 to push your next new Mac purchase back a year or two? Maybe, you decide. But if all I had were an extra $500 to put into it, I'd fix it up with an internal SSD (solid state drive) to run the OS & programs and keep your samples and such on an external firewire drive.
G'luck

[tweedmusic]

Hi There,
I would advise getting the Quad Core to deal with future 64 bit processing , get the snappiest processor you can get , get a large internal 7200 rpm hd and a large external hard drive and if you are recording.... get a quiet glyph ...
You have to be sure what you want to do ?
No one has asked you what you want to do from here , so I'll assume you want to keep your options open for the future. Don't let technology get in the way of your musical creativity. Technology can distract you , so get the best thing you can afford and keep it.

Hi there community,

I have asked this question of many other people and forums but no one can give me a straight answer.

I compose music using Logic Studio and all included sounds, VSTs and a lot of different libraries (EW/QL samples) with very little live recording.

I want to upgrade my system (currently using a dual 2.3 Ghz PowerMac G5 with 8 GB of RAM) to one of the new 27" iMacs - definitely going to go 16 GB of RAM and a 2 TB HD, but I'm torn as to processor.

I just don't know whether the 3.33 Ghz Dual Core processor will be adequate or I should wait and get one of the Quad Core i7 processors for about $500 more money, but I'd have to wait.

For what I do, will the processor make a huge difference? What I've been told is that processor only matters for audio encoding (which I am not really doing a lot of) or video work/rendering... not really applicable to composing with samples using Logic.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Uvee

[houstonmusic]

well, no straight answers here, and you won't get one from me either.
i'll just report that i do multi sampler composition on a daily basis, often running 100 or more simultaneous voices, using Play, Kontakt, and variety of virtual analog synths. i often don't have time to bounce to audio for my mixes. (though i always prefer to)

this work flow is speeded considerably by my quad core. there's no question i got a bump in speed and stability when i went from the duo to the quad.

[lunar 1]

well, no straight answers here, and you won't get one from me either.
i'll just report that i do multi sampler composition on a daily basis, often running 100 or more simultaneous voices, using Play, Kontakt, and variety of virtual analog synths. i often don't have time to bounce to audio for my mixes. (though i always prefer to)

this work flow is speeded considerably by my quad core. there's no question i got a bump in speed and stability when i went from the duo to the quad.

Ah houstonmusic, ya makes me green with envy! How soon ya think it be a-fore quads get shoved in MB Pros? (snif-whimper) May not be a straight answer, but Real World experience makes fer pow'ful persuasion!

[100 or more and etc etc etc? Dang! Kudos! ...umm, would you do my income taxes? (grins)]

[lepetitmartien]

On a practical way, if you see that your actual use on a dual core (if you have one) tends to dispatch work evenly on both cores, the jump to quad could be beneficial as the code of your software threads smoothly.

What CPU/mac are you using now?

[tweedmusic]

Hey ..I thought the idea of this forum was to be of benefit to those who seek... can you help with the original question ?

[deaconblue]

Hey ..I thought the idea of this forum was to be of benefit to those who seek... can you help with the original question ?

hey tweedmusic,

I thought it was answered a few times in the thread. But there are actually two questions posed:

Q: if the 3.33 Ghz Dual Core processor will be adequate?

A: Yes. It will

Q: [Or] I should wait and get one of the Quad Core i7 processors for about $500 more money?

A: If you can wait and scrape up the $500, then wait because the Logic application will take better advantage of all four cores of the processor.

Or not. It is a matter of opinion.

Mine is, get the quad core.

And, yes you are correct. This forum is for those who seek.

peace.