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Cheetah223 · Jan 9, 2005, 06:31 PM

I'm thinking about getting a used G4 PowerMac soon, just to use for video editing and music. As far as I've seen mac's move faster than PC's with the same technical specs, so I'm not sure how fast I should go with it. My question to you guys, what speed processor would be bare minimum to run finalcut? I figure I can always buy more RAM if need be, so that's not a huge factor just yet. How much do you think I shoudl expect to spend on a machine? Thanks for the help.

Steve

guywithFX · Jan 9, 2005, 06:58 PM

i got a 2002 quicksilver in october and i love it, make sure you haave plenty of ram....1gig perhaps, and i would shoot for atleast 1ghz if not more. i would see about the option of a graphics card upgrade also. im not sure what kind of budget you're on, but i got my quicksilver 2002 933MHz, 1GB ram, 80gig, superdrive, and a GF4 Ti 4600 with a 17 studio display flat panel for 650. i dont think you'll find anything that cheap, but a definate place to look is on any mac forum, and also craigslist, i never had checked there, a day later i met my mac.

Reccomended Minimum Specs: 1GHz, Upgradeable Graphics Card, Around 1GB Memory, Possible Hard Drive upgrade (With video editing, you'll want a faster spinning drive, I would even look into a SATA PCI card and a SATA Drive), Also you'll want the latest copy of Panther.

Cheetah223 · Jan 9, 2005, 07:11 PM

Yeah I figure Panther, I'm gonna wait to get my Pbook until they're coming with Tiger. I'm hoping to be able to find cheap generic ram and put 2 or more gigs of ram in. I've got a 120gb 7200rpm external that I'll be using with my laptop and desktop, plus any internal drive, I'll have to look into the SATA drives.

Zubir · Jan 10, 2005, 02:12 AM

Wait and see if these "xmacs" are reality, and get one of those.

bossep · Apr 3, 2005, 11:14 AM

Originally posted by guywithFX:
i got a 2002 quicksilver in october and i love it, make sure you haave plenty of ram....1gig perhaps, and i would shoot for atleast 1ghz if not more. i would see about the option of a graphics card upgrade also. im not sure what kind of budget you're on, but i got my quicksilver 2002 933MHz, 1GB ram, 80gig, superdrive, and a GF4 Ti 4600 with a 17 studio display flat panel for 650. i dont think you'll find anything that cheap, but a definate place to look is on any mac forum, and also craigslist, i never had checked there, a day later i met my mac.

Reccomended Minimum Specs: 1GHz, Upgradeable Graphics Card, Around 1GB Memory, Possible Hard Drive upgrade (With video editing, you'll want a faster spinning drive, I would even look into a SATA PCI card and a SATA Drive), Also you'll want the latest copy of Panther.

Is the QS's 933MHz enough for ATI 9800?

brucejy · Apr 3, 2005, 11:56 AM

Originally posted by bossep:
Is the QS's 933MHz enough for ATI 9800?

I have the QS2001 867, bought last year for $610 on ebay. If you get one, ramp up the RAM and the video card. BTW, the ebay sale for lateralus' upgraded DA id a very good deal, but for somewhat more money.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5765082551

Amacapart · Apr 3, 2005, 12:16 PM

Originally posted by bossep:
Is the QS's 933MHz enough for ATI 9800?

OK, this little Myth needs to get put to bed right now.

It is quite common to read advice along lines of

"Oh, you don't need a 9800, for your machine a GF4MX is enough"

or, even more ridiculous:

"A Radeon 9000 will saturate the AGP bus, it would be a total waste to install a 9800"

Same logic would say:

"Don't bother putting a 1.5 in that Digital Audio board, a 533 is all it can handle"

Fact is, ANY Mac can benefit from a better card. Don't believe it? Have a look:

http://www.barefeats.com/cubeup2.html

Notice that a lowly 100 Mhz bus 500 Mhz Cube with a GeForce 3 can run any game FASTER than a 1.5 Dual Processor Mega Cube saddled with a GeForce 2. The graphs would have been even more interesting if Rob had gotten ahold of the Cube-size 9800.

Especially with Tiger coming out, there is NO reason not to put a 9800 in any AGP Mac. It's a great card. And with them running $220 for Mac ones at various places or $150+ at Newegg for PC ones and flashing being so EASY now.....Why not?

bossep · Apr 3, 2005, 01:24 PM

Originally posted by Amacapart:
OK, this little Myth needs to get put to bed right now.

It is quite common to read advice along lines of

"Oh, you don't need a 9800, for your machine a GF4MX is enough"

or, even more ridiculous:

"A Radeon 9000 will saturate the AGP bus, it would be a total waste to install a 9800"

Same logic would say:

"Don't bother putting a 1.5 in that Digital Audio board, a 533 is all it can handle"

Fact is, ANY Mac can benefit from a better card. Don't believe it? Have a look:

http://www.barefeats.com/cubeup2.html

Notice that a lowly 100 Mhz bus 500 Mhz Cube with a GeForce 3 can run any game FASTER than a 1.5 Dual Processor Mega Cube saddled with a GeForce 2. The graphs would have been even more interesting if Rob had gotten ahold of the Cube-size 9800.

Especially with Tiger coming out, there is NO reason not to put a 9800 in any AGP Mac. It's a great card. And with them running $220 for Mac ones at various places or $150+ at Newegg for PC ones and flashing being so EASY now.....Why not?

I just bought a G4 DA 466MHz from eBay. I am going to upgrade with Sonnet 1.4GHz and ATI 9800 128MB. A 2xcpu seems a bit too much! I am now going to sell my Sawtooth 400MHz.

MORT A POTTY · Apr 3, 2005, 06:30 PM

you'd be cheating yourself if you didn't spend the little bit extra and get a dual CPU setup.

SierraDragon · Apr 8, 2005, 07:56 PM

Steve-

I suggest that you find a FinalCut forum and also ask there. Some of the answers here are specific to other apps (e.g. games, a very limited and very specific application) that may or may not be relevant to your personal needs.

IMO folks should look at the expected OS and application demands of the next 3 years when evaluating computer purchases. Today's needs actually are pretty irrelevant.

Throughput for your specific needs is what matters. Do note that over the decades Macs have evolved in architecture, removing throughput bottlenecks in quantum-level type improvements. Improving one parameter (e.g. video card, cpu, etc.) may or may not be cost effective for your specific needs on any specific box. Generally, spending your money on getting as modern an architecture as you can afford is what is most cost effective for throughput in the long term.

Maxxing RAM is the one thing that is almost always appropriate and has always become more necessary as time goes on and apps evolve. Since we can assume RAM will be important, check [a] how much RAM can be added and [b] what the cost is for RAM for that box. All RAM is not the same price, with RAM for older boxes sometimes much more expensive.

The very latest apps (e.g. Photoshop v9) are accessing more RAM than in the past, such that "maxxed RAM" today means 5 GB or more; just last week it was 3 GB or less. Buying older boxes with limited max RAM IMO might be a _huge_ disadvantage, especially as OS X evolves to allow much, much more RAM access (which it definitely will over the usage life of any new purchase).

It would seem to me that hard drive speed and capacity are critical for your video needs. You should either have or be able to cheaply add FW800 and/or USB2 on the box you select.

bowwowman · Apr 10, 2005, 07:50 AM

If your intended purchase w/ upgrades comes to ~$1k, why not just get a used/refurb G5, stuff it w/ram and a pair of big fast HD's, and be way ahead in the long run in usability, architechure, and longevity........

makes sen$e to me

Cheetah223 · Apr 10, 2005, 02:28 PM

Thanks for the tips Sierra.

Bowwow, I'm hoping to keep it as cheap as humanly possible initially. Like luck out and get a machine for below what's usually seen as cheap from someone who's desperate to sell it and make room in a small apartment or something. I'm not exactly overflowing with cash, but in the long run I'd be able to upgrade it slowly, piece by piece to a nice machine.

For example..I had to push my budget pretty hard to buy my current paintball gun for $450. Since the beginning of last summer I've dumped over $1,000 into it. I'm horrible at saving money, so unless I have reason to buy something, money won't hang around, part of what I get paid goes to the bank, the rest is spent. I should really try to get over that...Bad habit.