Power Mac G5 Question...

[Teddyboy]

Hi...

I am thinking of buying a new PC for recoring purposes that will cost me around 1500 Euros! But I found a used Power Mac G5 dualcore 2,0 Mhz with 8GB Ram plus monitor at 1000 Euros . Do you think it's worth buying the MAC? Since it is a bit old will it have the processing power needed for recording?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

It's not exactly a steal, you can check the average price for the machine here: http://www.mac2sell.net/

Also, even though it's still a good workhorse, I wouldn't invest in old PowerPC technology anymore. Intel Macs have been around for a good while already.

 

[greyskull]

depends what DAW and what plugins your running....
id save a little longer for a mac pro personally. but grab a used one

 

[Joematthews]

I'd go for a custom pc unless you want to use logic obviously.

For around £1300 you can have an I7 processor, 8gb of ultra fast ram, An array of 2 solid state hard drive plus 2 1tb archiving hard drives, 2 nvidia sli graphics cards (passive cooling) for up to 4 screens, and 2 22 inch flatscreens. Hard to beat imho apart from the OS. Oh yeah, and a quiet case

Joe

 

[Teddyboy]

Thanks for the answers guys! I was away for a couple of days,so I saw your posts a few minutes ago..
Joe,the custom pc you suggest seems to be a beast!! I'll check for either a new pc or a used Mac Pro
Thanks again!!!!

 

[dani]

yea, intel is definitely the way forward.

OS X 10.6 is supposed to be intel only. with that will come the end of official support for the PPC platform, and also a lot of vendors will stop making universal binaries, then you'll be in a pickle.

mac pro's are the shit, basically. and their server like architecture make them pretty much ideal as very solid DAWs. plus you can install windows if you really want.

the custom PC is also a very good option. building PC's today is like putting together lego. very expensive blocks, that are highly sensitive to static, but yes, like lego. haha. also, you don't pay the apple tax, and you can completely pimp out your case with funky blue lights and fans with LEDs in them (don't do that).

thanks,

 

[TheDriller]

I've seen used 8core mac pros go for €1000 or less in the past few months.

just thought i'd throw that out there

 

[Joematthews]

If you could get an 8 core mac pro for the same price that would be option, it wouldn't be quite as fast (or probs about the same) as the computer I spec'd but it would be a steal at that price to get the mac OS and stability.

Joe

 

[beyond dead]

I wouldnt invest in a g5 nowadays. just go for a mac pro. they are pretty cheap nowadays. I would prefer to buy a new machine anyways, cause you can take advantage of apples protection plan!

 

[Metaltastic]

Yeah, I usually advocate buying stuff used, but computers are the exception - too much that can fail and WAY too much potential for catastrophic data/work loss to make it worth saving the couple hundred IMO! Factory refurb (with warranty) seems like a good middle-ground, does apple offer that?

 

[Joematthews]

They do I think, and If I remember right apple refurb is meant to be awesome.

Joe

 

[beyond dead]

yeah refurbs are great! usually someone had some sort of software issue right out of the box, and took advantage of apples 30 day return policy rather than troubleshooting. sometimes their may be a hardware issue in the first 30 days, and the customer decides to trade it in for a new one, rather than going through the repair process

they r still covered by the same warrantee as a new mac, and you can purchase the apple protection plan. but always make sure you buy from apple, not best buy or future shop. often the warrantee is over. when i worked for apple, people would call in with new macs they just bought from bb or fs, and they would be ineligible for support and have software issues.

 

[Strangedogs]

Once you go Mac you'll be a believer... I would rather cut off my Manhood than go back to a Winblows Machine. I'm PPC G5 - AND A ONE BUTTON MOUSE - I'm Apple all the way. Screw Intel. I spent the entire afternoon setting up my Boss GS-10 and 2 different DAW's on my Wife's new Vista Laptop - just wanted to experiment with some of the new free amp sims that are PC only - what a load of crap (the Windows thing not the sims)... I'm all hooked back up to my G5 System - it'll be another 10 years before I set-up another Windows rig. They were made for number crunching and I see why.

 

[Joematthews]

Screw Intel..

How about don't screw intel. They beat power pc processors in EVERY respect. I found your whole post misinformed and pointless. Welcome here.

Joe

 

[Metaltastic]

Don't mind him Joe, he's old

 

[Joematthews]

AWESOME!

 

[SocialNumb]

Dancing :danceboy: and I don't afraid of anything. Plus, I didn't say anything.

 

[thedonutman]

I'm all hooked back up to my G5 System - it'll be another 10 years before I set-up another Windows rig. They were made for number crunching and I see why.

Since when did processing digital audio not involve crunching numbers?

Back on topic: I think getting a newer Mac Pro is a better option by far.

 

[GobblyWobbly]

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