hey mac gurus

JES · Post by **JES** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:11 pm

How much of a performance hit will I take moving from a dual 2.0 g5 (not quad core or anything) to a 2.83 core 2 duo macbook pro (the 17")?

I run Digital Performer, URS plugs, waves (but considering abandoning ship), altiverb, ableton live once in awhile. MOTU 828mark ii. I seldom record more than 4 tracks at a time, and my mixes rarely get above 16-24 tracks (never all simultaneous), and that's only because I like a lot of effects. Don't know what else you'd need to know. I someday dream of moving into software synthesis but that day is not here.

If I made the move, I figure I'd get an external FW drive for the recording. Or maybe 2.

Thanks.

--JES

mrdietr · Post by **mrdietr** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:59 pm

I'm by no means a Mac guru, but I've had similar circumstances. I run DP, and originally had it on my Powerbook G4. Then I upgraded to an iMac G5, and it ran pretty smoothly on that. Now I'm running DP5.11 on a new MacPro (with the 3.0Ghz Intel dual core/4GB RAM), and it runs like a dream. Granted, it was quite a leap for me, I think you'll see some improvements. Again, I don't know all the ins and outs of the matter, and I hope I'm giving you accurate advice, but you'll want to make sure you have Universal Binary for DP. And an eternal hard drive or two is also a good idea. Not just for storage purposes, but also as a backup. We got a little fireproof safe that we can put DVD-Rs of our projects in. Better safe than sorry. But the Macbook Pro is great for its portability, as well. I think it's a good idea.

knobtwirler · Post by **knobtwirler** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:39 am

JES wrote:How much of a performance hit will I take moving from a dual 2.0 g5 (not quad core or anything) to a 2.83 core 2 duo macbook pro (the 17")?

--JES

I'm sure you mean 2.33 core 2 duo. From your description of use, you shouldn't be taking a performance hit at all.

lg · Post by lg » Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:15 pm

mrdietr wrote:And an eternal hard drive or two is also a good idea.

good idea, but where? i've been looking for one of these for ages!

moonbaseone · Post by **moonbaseone** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 11:10 am

i have a dual 2ghz g5 and a macbook pro 15inch

you will not feel a performance hit i expect as i do not really feel one on my low end macbook pro. The only advantage my tower has over the laptop is ram capacity, graphics, and i can hook more crap to it. but as far as audio producton goes, the macbook pro is amazing as long as your scratch drive is external.

mrdietr · Post by **mrdietr** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:28 am

lg wrote:
mrdietr wrote:And an eternal hard drive or two is also a good idea.
good idea, but where? i've been looking for one of these for ages!

Um... I meant "external." Not "eternal." I should have caught that. Bad Dietr. Bad, BAD Dietr.

But an "eternal" hard drive would be great. Someone start working on that.

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:42 am

http://www.unicornation.com/phpBB2/view ... hp?t=16893

I'm in a similar boat. Hopefully a speed boat.

Jeff

lg · Post by lg » Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:56 am

mrdietr wrote:an "eternal" hard drive would be great. Someone start working on that.

i just thought it was funny. in a kind of sad ironic way. like how one feels after losing many GBs of valuable files due to drive failures. maybe there's an eternal drive in the sky?

JES · Post by **JES** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 7:55 am

Thanks for the replies and the links. This totally looks like a viable option.

Now, where can I get me an eternal hard drive?

Best,
--JES

UXB · Post by **UXB** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:25 am

Pls forgive if this has already been stated. The improvements/perf. hits are going to depend greatly on how the software is coded. Based on what others have stated, it seems it will work fine. I just wonder how the bus and HD performance will compare when recording high track count at hi res. That cold be the only issue with any laptop as the internal hd is not as robust. Even though you aren't wrinting to this drive, the OS still has to.

I think the drives sold at other world computing perform well.

Best,
H

edge100 · Post by **edge100** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 11:16 am

You'll be gaining performance.

You'll be losing expandibility and flexibility.

knobtwirler · Post by **knobtwirler** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:58 pm

UXB wrote:Pls forgive if this has already been stated. The improvements/perf. hits are going to depend greatly on how the software is coded. Based on what others have stated, it seems it will work fine. I just wonder how the bus and HD performance will compare when recording high track count at hi res. That cold be the only issue with any laptop as the internal hd is not as robust. Even though you aren't wrinting to this drive, the OS still has to.

I think the drives sold at other world computing perform well.

Best,
H

If I am correct the G5 has a 1.25 GHz FSB speed, and the MBP has a 667MHz FSB. This will make things about even in performance between the two machines with different architecture. The system drive speed will have no effect on recording. When the OS is accessing the system drive, the differences between a 7200 rpm drive and a 5400 rpm drive are not noticeable. Even a high capacity 4200 rpm drive operates within accepted performance limits for the OS, otherwise it wouldn't be an option.

tablebeast · Post by **tablebeast** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:08 pm

Be sure you get a FW800 external hard drive instead of a FW400 drive. That will be your limiting factor. Though the new MacIntel architecture has a slower bus it is overall more efficient and will actually be a step up rather than step down. Also, make sure you max out the RAM. I think the new MacBooks can handle 3 GB but if not make sure you get it up to 2GB. Omni technologies has Mac RAM cheap and it has been flawless for me so far. Look for them on eBay. One other thing to consider is that your software (plug-ins especially) may not be Universal Binaries yet so double check on that, especially if its something you rely on. Good luck with the switch and lucky for you the G5 towers still have a great resale value.

UXB · Post by **UXB** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:27 pm

knobtwirler wrote:If I am correct the G5 has a 1.25 GHz FSB speed, and the MBP has a 667MHz FSB. This will make things about even in performance between the two machines with different architecture. The system drive speed will have no effect on recording. When the OS is accessing the system drive, the differences between a 7200 rpm drive and a 5400 rpm drive are not noticeable. Even a high capacity 4200 rpm drive operates within accepted performance limits for the OS, otherwise it wouldn't be an option.

Thanks for the info, Mr. Twirler! i appreciate the info myself. Based on history, I have always worried about how robust a laptop would be for more than location recording.

Perhaps the stress on the internal HD may be greater if using software instruments/samplers? Please let me know if you have thoughts on this.

I'll try to get more info at Mac World next week.

Best,
H

knobtwirler · Post by **knobtwirler** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 10:01 am

It MIGHT be a small issue, but for the most part active synths are loaded into RAM, and that is important to have much of.

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