Thoughts on G5 vs. MacTel

loophead · Post by **loophead** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:03 pm

Ok Mac-ers so I am on a G4 laptop and have been seriously underwpowered for too long. Was about to get a G5 tower when the MActell issue hit. At this point I figure by 3rd quarter 06' most all of my stuff will be up and running on the Mactel.

So here is my question. What are your thoughts on G5 vs Mactel. Seems so far that a G5 vs a Mactel are within 10- 15 % CPU wise. A quad G5 is going to scream with L6.

Would buying a G5 system be a white elephant or do you all think that PPC support will remain for long enough to make it worth a (say) three year run with a G5 ?

I'm very confused as to what is over the horizon but do need to figure which way to go. With a G5 I'm up and running now. With a Mactel I'm up and running say by summer with a fair portion of VST's and could hold out till then....sort of.

Thoughts ?

zfigz · Post by **zfigz** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:08 pm

I'd get a mactel...for sure. I'm in your shoes too, I got a G4 PB a year ago and I'm seriously thinking of going for the mactel laptop in the next few months.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:22 pm

I'm not absolutely sure that the G series will benefit from the dual and multi cpu optimisations in Live 6.

Read the quote carefully and there appears to be an opt out for olderMac CPUs

ve 6, scheduled for release in Q3, will bring—among other features yet to be disclosed—support for multicore/multiprocessor architectures, to the benefit of both Windows and Mac OS users. This feature will bring users of Intel Core Duo-equipped Macs another large increase in audio performance, and Windows users will be able to fully exploit the speedup potential of the various available multicore/multiprocessor hardware solutions the market offers.

http://www.ableton.com/index.php?main=n ... ac_support

why specifically mention intel powered macs in the context of dual/mutli ... other than to exclude G series dual/multi.

that was my impression anyway. I'm not sure if there is a clearer Ableton offical post on this.

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:25 pm

It is a tough call in some respects. A 4x G5 will be a fast machine for some time to come. It'll be supported for as long as you'll have it, and everything (applications, drivers etc) works... now!.

Despite that reality I would find it hard to invest in the G5, simply because its end is in sight. I guess I'm saying I would go MacIntel... luckily it's a decision I don't have to make right now.

loophead · Post by **loophead** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:39 pm

Angstrom - in 'some' thread the abes said that dual core would benefit any dual core mac G5 included.

Polyslax -Yeah its a conundrum. I think it will last me as far as time but seeing the end in site does rub me and to be frank I think there are going to be a handful of devs who are just going to drop PPC support sooner than we may wish...

If the MacTel was 100 % NOW or if the tel-Towers were visable... I hate this shit man. Trapped in a technological merry go round run by greedy bastards. !

I love OS X but if I knew then what I think I know now (ha !) I probably would never have jumped over a few years back. Now I have apps I do not wsh to loose.

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:14 pm

I'm sticking with my G5 2 x 2GHz until Apple starts putting Intel processors in a desktop/tower machine.

For me, there are too many compromises in a laptop. I've got three PCI video capture cards in my G5 for VJing, and 10,000 RPM drives. And as I'm already carting around a van full of PA, lighting, and video gear, portability isn't an issue.

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:40 pm

There is some speculation which you've all probably read that the Feb 28th Apple media event will expand on the available Intel line... maybe iBooks, maybe towers?. Guess we'll see on Tuesday.

Digi V · Post by **Digi V** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:51 pm

i highly doubt it will be towers.

the next macworld might bring us towars but i kinda doubt it then to. the quad g5 is a beast of a machine, loud, hot, and big. if you NEED something right NOW then hell get it but know what you're getting.

Intel has serious chips coming in the next few quarters. The future is intel and i believe mostly eeverything music related will be ported by summer or fall.

it all comes down to WHEN and how bad you NEED it.

music isn't my source of income. i got a macbook, i NEEDED it because my g4 was really struggling. Its ok that not everything is ported, its not all that important to me.

inis · Post by **inis** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 11:46 pm

Angstrom wrote:I'm not absolutely sure that the G series will benefit from the dual and multi cpu optimisations in Live 6.

Read the quote carefully and there appears to be an opt out for olderMac CPUs
ve 6, scheduled for release in Q3, will bring—among other features yet to be disclosed—support for multicore/multiprocessor architectures, to the benefit of both Windows and Mac OS users. This feature will bring users of Intel Core Duo-equipped Macs another large increase in audio performance, and Windows users will be able to fully exploit the speedup potential of the various available multicore/multiprocessor hardware solutions the market offers.
http://www.ableton.com/index.php?main=n ... ac_support

why specifically mention intel powered macs in the context of dual/mutli ... other than to exclude G series dual/multi.

that was my impression anyway. I'm not sure if there is a clearer Ableton offical post on this.

why would they ignore everything except the latest technology. There are still plenty of us with dual G5's that will have them for at least another 5 years.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:23 am

I'm sure it will get cleared up one way or another soon enough.
It's probably just odd phrasing on the press release.

zfigz · Post by **zfigz** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 2:11 am

the power increase is just so incredible. I'm going for the macbook pro hopefully in the next 6 months. The power increase is just too much to let pass by...my powerbook G4 is "really" obsolete considering the speeds you can get with the new macbook pros. Woo, I might have to sell an and a leg for it.

leonard · Post by **leonard** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:00 am

I've read on several apple amiling lists that they've been getting equal to better performance out of their SSE Intel code than altivec.

But thats Apple, not Ableton, so......

jesQuick · Post by **jesQuick** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 8:54 am

I´d wait at least a year or so before bying MacTel... Its gonna be the next big thing but as with other new technology it´s going be a while before all the starter issues are delt with... The G5 will be good for another 1-2 years...and then you can think about swapping

forge · Post by **forge** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:36 am

given the binary will be UNIVERSAL then it probably doesnt really matter

And I have had it direct from the horses mouth that the reason Live 5.2 came out so quickly was because there actually really isnt that much in it at all - it wasnt a big deal to make it intel whatsoever

this to me suggests that there isnt much to worry about regarding developers dropping the PPC sooner than people would like

so with that in mind I guess it comes down to price or whether you want it to be Windows dual bootable or anything like that

it probably will be a small bit of time till Macintel is really settled down, but in truth I dont get the feeling it will be like the past where there was alot of settling down to be done, I think it will be different this time around - but then I'm no great expert, that's just based on what i've read and on hearing it was straightforward to do the update for live

like was said before, a G5 quad is one beast of a machine and I think you'd have to be making some pretty extra ordinary demands on it to need more than that for a long time - and while there are alot of people using it it will still get the attention it needs

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:10 am

i heard a few days ago that apple have a special surprise within the next week or two.