Sonnet Processors Again: G4 400, Could anybody relate, pls? Options

[zaaresh]

Hello everybody,

I just read the last topic about CPU upgrades on a G4 400 mhz - and yes , although it´s a fine computer, me n´ my producer partner just need mooooore speed , especially because we run Logic Pro 6 and quite lot of other stuff as well - maybe in future Final Cut or similar.
So first of all I would like to ask if generally one would recommend that kind of CPU upgrade . I don´t have a clue if this would have an impact on for ex. the cooling system ,or generally on the computer engine itself .(??), so please tell me.
Then, we will surely boost the RAM, which is actually 512 MB, up to 1GB - still I have to check, if my G4 is ok with that ( System Profiler - i suppose..).
IF this is working, it would be helpful to install OS X ( yes, we still run OS 9 and we don´t despise it!) - since all of the new applications of Logic 7 do run on OS X only ... , but: do I lose some of the efficiency of the OS X when installed on an upgraded G4? I suppose there´s a difference between G4 and G5 there... but how important is it?
--> the main reason for now why we won´t go out and buy a G5 is the money, but on the other hand it would be nice to have a second powermac to use in future, especially if you can connect several macs to improve the capacity of Logic 7 - anyone tried this already?
well, that´s all for now - thanks for replying!

zaaresh

[ourmanflinty]

Well, I'll stick my neck out here but people may disagree with some of it...Fact, the difference twixt g5 and g4 is amazing, a factor of 4x or so on the number of plugs you can run, it's truly staggering the overall speed increase from simple stuff to rendering video or processing virtual studio kit..
Buying a cpu upgrade, they're not exactly cheap, you kinda may as well sell the mac, screen etc and buy an imac or sell the mac and buy a brand new second hand quicksilver dp800 or mdd dp1.25 g4. If you want OS9 forget about the firewire800 g4, it won't do it.
Later mac g4's have faster pci busses, faster memory, faster drive protocols, which you just don't get with a cpu upgrade. CPU upgrades, you'll get a couple extra plugs, no extra tracks and a little more zing as it's booting. If you find a second hand upgrade and second hand memory then fine, try it..remember to stick a fan on the heat sink. If you don't have pci cards and use firewire drives and audio interfaces, sell cpu and screen and get an imac g4, if you have pci audio and scsi cards then stick to a late model g4 dual processor, you can simply lift the drive out of you're old g4 into the new one and go...the ethernet question, well, not used it yet but remember that if you hook up two ethernet machines it only goes as fast as the slowest machine so an old g4 will have 10/100, a new imac or newer g4 have gigabit. I'm not expecting too much from a networked g4 400 the very first generation g4 my my i hope it's not the pci graphics model that essentially was a g3 with a cpu upgrade anyway...look on www.apple-history.com for detailed info on machines...

[zaaresh]

Greetings ourmanflinty, and thanx for the quick reply.
ok, so I understand that concerning plugs and Audio Instruments, we´re not gonna make it on the G4 400 ( I say Space Designer is one of THE reasons,...) .
Would you say, that using the following Audio Configuration:
- digital mixing console ( + high quality effects routed through Logic)
- MOTU 2408 Audio Card (optical ADAT)
- external Firewire 400 disk
- Logic Pro 6
is well completed if we use the dual processor G4 2x860 you mentionned?
(we currently have an offer)
--> Other options would be using the G4 400 as midi computer and connecting a external hard drive recorder
--> or, using a TC Powercore , - do you know if this helps you out with CPU ?

Facts are that we record and transform quite lot of Audio , not necessarely focusing on electronic production only.
1.How expandable is the dual G4 anyway, (RAM)?
2.We believe that the guy who wants to sell it had a lot of "pirate material" on his drives - is it sufficient to re-install OS X to clean everything up and get a (almost) brandnew second hand?
3. Do you believe that it´s necessary to get a G5 nowadays to do proper studio work with that kind of configuration? (strange question, ...i know)
Questions, questions,
hope you have a minute more to reply...!
zaaresh

[CanadaRAM]

RAM capacity depends which Dual G4 you get.

The Dual 800 and Dual 1 GHz Quicksilver models can go to 1.5 Gb with PC133 RAM

The Dual 867 Mirror Drive Door can go to 2 Gb with PC2100 RAM

The Dual 1 GHz, Dual 1.25 GHz and Dual 1.42 GHz Mirror Drive Door can go to 2 Gb with PC2700 RAM

The Mirror drive door models will give you better performance. The last model, the FW800, loses Mac OS9 bootability but gains you Firewire 800,

The TC PowerCore won't help you with track count, audio rendering, etc. -- it doesn't boost your CPU. It will only help with those plug-ins and instruments that are written for the PowerCore, so you can use a PowerCore reverb, for example, for much less CPU overhead than a standard reverb.

So if you like the Powercore's effects, and would use them primarily, would it be worth buying the powercore and not the G5? I don't know. My guess is that if you already own high quality reverb and other native effects software, then use the money you'd spend on the Powercore and an accelerator card or whatever, and buy the 2.0 DP G5 instead. If you don't own a good reverb and effects yet, it becomes more difficult to choose, because the Powercore comes with some great software that you'd spend $1000 on otherwise.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

[zaaresh]

thank YOU, man.