Help choosing a platform?

enharmonic · 11th June 2005

I was all set to buy a G5!

Here's the thing...I could probably still get the G5, and do good work on it for 2 years, but I'm thinking that with the announced switch to Intel, we won't be seeing many updates for software or plug-ins that work with the current processors. Now I know that there are a lot of people out there using the current Macs/chips, but I also know that Mac makes no apologies about progress, and leaving those of us with old machines virtually out in the cold.

So, should I bite the bullet now and switch platforms? I surf on my G3, and could probably still use it for that purpose. Thing is, I haven't had much exposure to PC's when it comes to audio. Sure, I use 'em all day at work and in the evenings at school...but always with Microsoft Office, SAP, or Oracle...not with anything important like audio

I have a few ideas, and would welcome the input of the seasoned DAW veterans.

1. Buy an older G5, and work on it until the "new" Intel Macs hit the street in 2 years.
2. Switch and be done with it. No guarantees that the new Mac's will be any easier to work with once the Intel's are flowing...and who knows how well developers will be able to re-write their apps to work on the Intel Mac's (shouldn't be too bad for bigger companies I would think)

I'll be using Cubase if that helps.

manning1 · 11th June 2005

two options to think about...
1. desktop....a amd sempron 3100 or 64 with two 8mb cache drives or a used athlon.
prolly a few hundred bucks and up. 40 tracks easy. lots of power.
the KEY is the fast hard drives.
dont underestimate these systems. just load up cubase as a test and record tracks and see what they puff out at. OR
2.laptop... if you want to spend more look at henchmans excellent posts on the performance he gets from his amd 64 laptop. search for his posts on gearslutz.
you might also consider a centrino laptop.
if were me...due to the flux in the computer industry ....and as a way to let the dust settle ....i might even look around for a used powerfull amd system.
what are your max track and plug in count needs ?

as a performance guide to you.
Ive run my standard noise gate (3 min audio file) test on various semprons recently. took around 4 secs. hench's laptop did it in 3 secs.
now THATS performance.
youll have trouble finding any system on the market that can beat these figures.

Chrisac · 11th June 2005

By the time the new Apple hits the streets I bet you can add on at least another year before it would be possible to migrate (if its anything like the change was to OSX). If you went for a new Mac you could easily have 3 years before you needed to think abouty a change, by which time I reckon you would want to upgrade your processor anyway.

If your not to bothered about OSX then I would highly recommend a PC. get a fast one, and youll be hard pushed to find any current Mac outperform it.

I have a MAC btw, but I ended up not using it for studio stuff. I found OSX to be an awfully slow operating system which I think makes music apps feel sluggish. I noticed you use Cubase, and im pretty sure that performance on PC is better.

uvc1977 · 12th June 2005

I use Cubase (SX3) & id look at a PC, Asio drivers arent supported on OSX so latencey might become a issue. Likewise from what ive read here & spoken to other Cubase users runs better on PC's.

If you do go for the G5 option I wouldnt be too concerned about what the if's in 2-3 years time, like other people have said you will probably at the point where you'll want to upgrade anyway.

11th June 2005	#1
enharmonic Lives for gear Joined: May 2004 Location: 410 Posts: 603 Thread Starter	Help choosing a platform? I was all set to buy a G5! Here's the thing...I could probably still get the G5, and do good work on it for 2 years, but I'm thinking that with the announced switch to Intel, we won't be seeing many updates for software or plug-ins that work with the current processors. Now I know that there are a lot of people out there using the current Macs/chips, but I also know that Mac makes no apologies about progress, and leaving those of us with old machines virtually out in the cold. So, should I bite the bullet now and switch platforms? I surf on my G3, and could probably still use it for that purpose. Thing is, I haven't had much exposure to PC's when it comes to audio. Sure, I use 'em all day at work and in the evenings at school...but always with Microsoft Office, SAP, or Oracle...not with anything important like audio I have a few ideas, and would welcome the input of the seasoned DAW veterans. 1. Buy an older G5, and work on it until the "new" Intel Macs hit the street in 2 years. 2. Switch and be done with it. No guarantees that the new Mac's will be any easier to work with once the Intel's are flowing...and who knows how well developers will be able to re-write their apps to work on the Intel Mac's (shouldn't be too bad for bigger companies I would think) I'll be using Cubase if that helps.

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11th June 2005	#2
manning1 Lives for gear Joined: May 2004 Location: canada Posts: 3,998	two options to think about... 1. desktop....a amd sempron 3100 or 64 with two 8mb cache drives or a used athlon. prolly a few hundred bucks and up. 40 tracks easy. lots of power. the KEY is the fast hard drives. dont underestimate these systems. just load up cubase as a test and record tracks and see what they puff out at. OR 2.laptop... if you want to spend more look at henchmans excellent posts on the performance he gets from his amd 64 laptop. search for his posts on gearslutz. you might also consider a centrino laptop. if were me...due to the flux in the computer industry ....and as a way to let the dust settle ....i might even look around for a used powerfull amd system. what are your max track and plug in count needs ? as a performance guide to you. Ive run my standard noise gate (3 min audio file) test on various semprons recently. took around 4 secs. hench's laptop did it in 3 secs. now THATS performance. youll have trouble finding any system on the market that can beat these figures.

11th June 2005	#3
Chrisac Gear addict Joined: Aug 2004 Posts: 453	By the time the new Apple hits the streets I bet you can add on at least another year before it would be possible to migrate (if its anything like the change was to OSX). If you went for a new Mac you could easily have 3 years before you needed to think abouty a change, by which time I reckon you would want to upgrade your processor anyway. If your not to bothered about OSX then I would highly recommend a PC. get a fast one, and youll be hard pushed to find any current Mac outperform it. I have a MAC btw, but I ended up not using it for studio stuff. I found OSX to be an awfully slow operating system which I think makes music apps feel sluggish. I noticed you use Cubase, and im pretty sure that performance on PC is better.

12th June 2005	#4
uvc1977 Gear maniac Joined: Dec 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 255	I use Cubase (SX3) & id look at a PC, Asio drivers arent supported on OSX so latencey might become a issue. Likewise from what ive read here & spoken to other Cubase users runs better on PC's. If you do go for the G5 option I wouldnt be too concerned about what the if's in 2-3 years time, like other people have said you will probably at the point where you'll want to upgrade anyway.