iMac G5 or PowerMac G5?

[Matthew M.]

While this might seem like a no-brainer type of question, I wish it were that simple.


Basically, I am someone who has been a PC boy for the past 6 years and am planning to make the jump to Mac very soon.


However, I am on a budget constraint and I'm just not sure that my budget can permit me to buy a PowerMac G5, despite how appealing and powerful they are. Basically, I will be running Cubase SX 2.0 and also have an M-Audiophile 2496 soundcard. Cubase system requirements:


System requirements: Minimum System Requirements Cubase SX 2.0.1

MAC: G4/867 MHz (dual G4/1.25 GHz recommended); 384 MB RAM (512 MB recommended); Mac OS X 10.2.5



The goal is to basically write, record and produce music using just my keyboard and VST's, along with Cubase. I am planning to use an M-Audio ES 88 MIDI Controller and hope to use that with a ton of VST's, plugins (namely Korg Digital Legacy) and to record music and basically be a one man band. Do that, burn it to disc, etc.


I guess my question is that, if I bought an iMac G5, 1.9 GHZ, 17 inch screen, and a 512 RAM, which I'd upgrade to about 1 GB, would this be enough power to get the job done? Or is that just too much (or not enough?) for the iMac? Your help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[jonnyc]

If I'm thinking right the 2496 is a pci card and imacs have no pci slots. So if you're set on using the 2496 then the answer is pretty simple.

 

[dwillis45]

If I'm thinking right the 2496 is a pci card and imacs have no pci slots. So if you're set on using the 2496 then the answer is pretty simple.

That's right. If you go with the iMac you will probably need to look at some Firewire interfaces.

 

[seryozha]

Imac has no PCI slots, (mentioned twice above) but that situation aside, I think the Imac would be fine for doing a "one man band" sorta thing, Im using an Imca right now, while i dont use it for recording, I use it for everything else and it is very powerful. it does have both firewire and USB ports so anything you get external wise will work.

Just my Opine.

 

[dgatwood]

If I'm thinking right the 2496 is a pci card and imacs have no pci slots. So if you're set on using the 2496 then the answer is pretty simple.

If you're set on the 2496, your only option is a used Mac. The current crop no longer support PCI card. They are PCI Express only.

My quad arrives tomorrow....

 

[dwillis45]

My quad arrives tomorrow....

I'm holding out for an SE. It should work great for those occasional 80's cover songs.

 

[Matthew M.]

Thank you so much for your very thorough replies and very helpful advice. Also, thanks for pointing out the PCI thing with the Audiophile 2496. However, I have since looked into it and notice that they sell a Firewire version of the 2496... if I bought that paticular version, would it work on the iMac G5? Thanks!

 

[Matthew M.]

Also, one more thing... I have heard some reports that running SX on a Mac is a bit of a memory hog on it. Based on the version I'm using and the system requirements of it, will that suffice? Even though I would love to just say "Go buy Logic," I just don't have the dough to do it. With enough RAM, should Cubase SX 2.0 do the trick? Or should I perhaps consider buying Logic Express, instead?

 

[dgatwood]

Also, one more thing... I have heard some reports that running SX on a Mac is a bit of a memory hog on it. Based on the version I'm using and the system requirements of it, will that suffice? Even though I would love to just say "Go buy Logic," I just don't have the dough to do it. With enough RAM, should Cubase SX 2.0 do the trick? Or should I perhaps consider buying Logic Express, instead?

Does some version of Cubase come with the interface? I think some interfaces come with like Cubase SE or something. If so, try that and see how it behaves. If you like it, upgrade to its big brother. If not, save up your money and buy Digital Performer or Logic or whatever.

You also done say what you used on the PC side. Digital Performer allows competitive upgrades from a wide range of existing apps. Basically, if you own a competing product, you mail in a page from the manual's table of contents and they give you a serial number, all for what amounts to the education price.

According to 8thstreet's order page, the DP CU list includes: AudioDesk, Audition, Cakewalk (any version), CoolEdit (any version), Cubase (any version), Live, Logic (any version), Nuendo, ProTools (any version except "Free"), Sonar, SoundForge (any version), Vegas (any version), and Vision (any version).

Alternately, you might look into Ardour. It's 100% free software (as in beer, as in speech, as in open source). Not as powerful as DP or Logic, but you have the advantage of being able to directly influence its development if that's your idea of fun....

Oh, yeah. MORE RAM. I'd add an extra gig or so to that configuration.

 

[juneau]

Does some version of Cubase come with the interface? I think some interfaces come with like Cubase SE or something. If so, try that and see how it behaves. If you like it, upgrade to its big brother. If not, save up your money and buy Digital Performer or Logic or whatever.

the firepod

 

[jonnyc]

Yes the firewire 2496 will work with the Imac. I also use an Imac, I run ptle on it, and its a great starter computer, but I really think the increased power of the powermacs would be usefull to you.

 

[dgatwood]

Yes the firewire 2496 will work with the Imac. I also use an Imac, I run ptle on it, and its a great starter computer, but I really think the increased power of the powermacs would be usefull to you.

If you buy the PowerMac, do yourself a favor: get the bottom graphics card (6600). The fanless configuration is a much better choice for a studio than the 7800, and you can't buy the fanless version of the 6600 card as an add-on, AFAIK. (Not sure how the Quadro card performs sound-wise, but given its price, I'm guessing you probably won't be buying that card anyway.)