G5 Imac?, How will it cope? Options

[bloodychoir]

Does anyone have any idea how the new imac might measure up speed and track capacity wise, using say Logic Express? Would it be a good or a bad decision to buy a g5 imac loaded up to the gills with ram and a 1.8, or a powermac g5? That's considering the fact you then have to buy display etc. with the PM.

[shaneblyth]

I believe the front side bus speed on the G5 Imacs will be alot slower than any of the current tower G5's alot slower than the 3.5ghz and of course it will be a single processor rather than a dual still i am happy with my G4 1.5ghz laptop just depends on what your doing I suppose

[artistjory]

Wow there was absolutely no punctuation in that last response.

I think it will be pretty decent. My 1Ghz powerbook handles Logic pretty well.. so I'm assuming the G5 iMac has got to be better than my powerbook.

[tunepoet]

I would suggest you consider the upgradeability of what you seek to purchase. I bought an eMac and would rather upgrade the processor than buy a new computer, but the eMac is not yet supported for processor upgrades. So, keep in mind that a computer that you CAN upgrade, may keep it in the game longer, and much cheaper than having to replace the whole thing. This is the problem that I have currently run into. An upgradable Mac may save you big bucks in the long run.

Blessings,
Damon

[bloodychoir]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I just wanted someone to tell me I don't need to knock off a jeweller for a pmac. It is an expansion issue, however appealing the imac appears.
Cheers.

[aptmunich]

I would suggest you consider the upgradeability of what you seek to purchase. I bought an eMac and would rather upgrade the processor than buy a new computer, but the eMac is not yet supported for processor upgrades. So, keep in mind that a computer that you CAN upgrade, may keep it in the game longer, and much cheaper than having to replace the whole thing. This is the problem that I have currently run into. An upgradable Mac may save you big bucks in the long run.

Blessings,
Damon

Hi damon:

Just wanted to point out that the emac is usually capable of producing a lot more performance than they do in standard configuration.

A guy on mac-forums.com managed to overclock his emac 800Mhz to 1,25 ghz.
and that's without using changing the fan or any cooling components.

I know it voids your warranty, but from what he said it's not that difficult and the peroformance seems rock solid.

Just thought i'd point it out.

[Shredhed]

$0.02:

I have a 3.5 year-old 733 MHz G4 tower w/768 MB RAM, and two 7200 RPM ATA drives.

This was a nicely loaded pro machine when new, and used for two years as a corporate software development box. For the last year and a half it's been my DAW at home.

It can handle 8 concurrent audio and/or software instruments tracks in GarageBand (which is a pig - elegant, productive, and functional, but a pig). I've done 12 audio tracks with Cubase SX, including a number of VST effects and instruments like GrooveAgent. Oh, there's a midrange 20" Dell (don't ask) CRT attached to it too.

The new top-of-the-line G5 iMac represents an order of magnitude better performance than that G4 at a comparitively much lower price (in real dollars vs 2001). Not only does it have far more horsepower, but it comes with a kick-ass 20" widescreen LCD - and wide-aspect is a good thing if you're working with anything (like audio...) in a timeline view.

Now, I could stick a ~1.5 GHz G4 CPU upgrade, new vid card, and faster disks in the G4, but it still wouldn't be anywhere near as powerful as these new iMacs.

I understand the theoretical appeal of the upgradeable towers, but the reality is that a new 20" G5 iMac brings a hell of a lot of power to the table, at a reasonable price, regardless of nitpicking over issues like FSB speed, nVidia vs. ATI, all that stuff.

[Presto]

Bloodychoir, It depends what you want to do with it. Do you already have all the other stuff you need? Remember that can cost much more than the computer. Depends where you don't mind weak links in the chain. Some people don't mind paying for top end computers and are quite happy with crappy nearfield monitors

If I didn't already have 3 working macs (that each do what I need) I'd love a sexy wide-eyed G5 imac. Mmm

My way of upgrading is buying a new bottom of the line mac when it becomes necessary. Unfortunately for the sexiness, that's not going to be soon. I need a portable 6 mic interface and more mics first

[bloodychoir]

Well, I come from a Nuendo/PC background, and for my band which has just built a studio in the country, that's how it'll stay for a variety of reasons too boring to go into. What I have already are all the externals I need - ie. mic, interface, controller, ideas etc. What I want is a mac system running Logic for my own projects where I live, raring to go first thing in the morning, be it purely audio, or video/image manipulation, that isn't going to freeze if I've got thirty plus tracks of Logic running, and a touch of reverb on each for example. What I can't seem to find is an appraisal of the imac g5 which might include a reference to such a situation. I know it's terribly vague, but I'd sooner not go all out on a pro machine if I needn't. As another tickler, I've split my ibook g4 with a patch for an external non-mirror display, what are the thoughts on whether this might be a possibility for the imac? 20" is large, but for christ's sake, why not open 'em up for two?

Cheers

[enygma]

20" is large, but for christ's sake, why not open 'em up for two?

I don't know if it is an option or not, but I do notice on the back of the iMac there is a video out connection just above the USBs and just under the mic and speaker ports. Maybe it can be used for using a second monitor along side the built in TFT display? Couldn't tell you personally if this is possible or not as I haven't played around with macs much and I am still waiting for my iMac G5 1.8GHz 17" system to arrive. On order at the moment.