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View Full Version : Quad-Core G5, are you happy with it?


Red Scare
2006-02-04, 20:16
I'm about to drop a lot of $$$ on a quad core system. I figure by now they've had long enough to work out the bugs in the system. I'm in desperate need of a new computer because I'm running Pro Tools and my poor little iMac has been crying to be replaced for years. I'm going over-the top with the G5 because the plugins I want to use are all going to be running native on the host and that's going to eat up CPU headroom like it's nothing so I NEED a lot.

But I want to know... people out there with Quad Cores; do you notice that you've got a severe performance edge? Are you happy with it? Any major issues? I'm using some 3rd party RAM so I'm aware I might be buying a problem there, but other than that, which I could swap for a different brand, any other hangups people are having with these boxes?

i_have_a_face
2006-02-04, 23:01
I've had no major issues with mine, every now and then it doesnt shut down fully it just hangs on the blue screen and stays there, but that is a very rare occurence, it's an amazing machine, massive performance boost from what I'm used too, but I was trying to edit DV on a desk lamp G4 iMac! 3rd party RAM is sensible as long as you are getting it from a reasonable supplier, apple are seriously overcharging for theirs. If you buy a Quad you will be happy with it, its a wonderful beast!

Red Scare
2006-02-04, 23:56
Exactly what I was hoping to hear. Pro Tools will kill my computer with a single instantiation of Ozone 3 with mild automation over a stereo track. Poor poor 800MHz G4. I'm very much looking forward to this upgrade.

Bryson
2006-02-05, 06:51
I have a Quad, and aside from a strange issue with it sleeping, it's exactly what I needed. I use it primarily for FCP and iDVD or DVDSP and it absolutely kills the sitting around waiting for encoding or rendering. I can spit out a DVD in half the length of the DVD, encoding included.

ShadowOfGed
2006-02-05, 15:47
I am happy with my Quad as well, but I got way more than I needed, but not intentionally.

I am an engineering student, so I knew I'd need to be running some rather intensive Windows applications inside Virtual PC, so I opted for the Quad instead of just a Dual. I also got the NVIDIA GeForce 7800 because I like playing games like Halo and UT2004. Anyhow, Virtual PC only supports using ONE processor, even on dual- and quad-core machines. So I got all of this power to be able to run Windows at a decent speed on my Quad, but of course Microsoft doesn't advertise that it only uses one processor, regardless of how many you have. I've never seen it jump over 100% CPU in Activity Monitor.

:mad:

It's not Apple's fault that I over-purchased. Microsoft blows. I'll probably downgrade my Power Mac sometime; it's still a great machine, just more than I need for engineering, since Virtual PC sucks.

:no: :rolleyes:

So when looking at a Quad, make very sure to guarantee that the apps you want to use will in fact benefit from having two or four cores instead of just one. There was no information about Virtual PC in this manner (that I saw) so I got burned. Don't let it happen to you.

:\

Batman
2006-02-05, 15:52
On the Quad-Core G5, can you shut down any of the cores (for compatibility testing, etc...)?

I know that on my iMac Core Duo (with Xcode and the rest of the dev tools installed), I can view the "Processor Palette", and shut down the second core if need be.

Edit: Wowow! The Core Duo still identifies itself (hardware wise) as an Intel Pentium M!

ShadowOfGed
2006-02-05, 15:55
On the Quad-Core G5, can you shut down any of the cores (for compatibility testing, etc...)?

I know that on my iMac Core Duo (with Xcode and the rest of the dev tools installed), I can view the "Processor Palette", and shut down the second core if need be.

Edit: Wowow! The Core Duo still identifies itself (hardware wise) as an Intel Pentium M!Yes, I use the developer tools to crank my Quad down to a Dual, since the extra two processors gain me nothing when running Virtual PC, and even less when I'm not running it, so there's no sense in drawing power for those extra two.

So yeah, you can crank it down if you want.

:)

Red Scare
2006-02-05, 20:11
Yes, I've made sure that what I'm getting will benefit from the quad. In Pro Tools 7 I can specify what percentage of each processor core I want to be devoted to plugin usage, so I can run 3 at 90% and keep one completely independent for bussing and summing. It's expressedly Tiger and Quad-core supported.

But I'm very interested in what you guys are talking about as far as de-activating one of the dual-core chips. How would I do that? Please keep in mind that even though I do tech support for a living, I don't have any experience with hacking or using any of the utilities provided with the OS outside of Audio MIDI setup and the network utilities.

Batman
2006-02-05, 22:02
Yes, I've made sure that what I'm getting will benefit from the quad. In Pro Tools 7 I can specify what percentage of each processor core I want to be devoted to plugin usage, so I can run 3 at 90% and keep one completely independent for bussing and summing. It's expressedly Tiger and Quad-core supported.

But I'm very interested in what you guys are talking about as far as de-activating one of the dual-core chips. How would I do that? Please keep in mind that even though I do tech support for a living, I don't have any experience with hacking or using any of the utilities provided with the OS outside of Audio MIDI setup and the network utilities.
There is an option under System Resources, then hardware that is labeled Processor. However, it is only availible if you have developer tools installed (availible from your Mac OS X install disc).

alcimedes
2006-02-05, 22:34
I'm going to buy a quad just to stick it to nosferadrew in folding. :)

Red Scare
2006-02-06, 00:51
I'll be sure to install the tools then.

Red Scare
2006-02-07, 00:22
Just got it today. It's peachy.