Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

webmonkie · Mar 12, 2007, 07:28 AM

Here's my question to all speed demands.
I have a G5 that is about 2 years old and performs extremely well compare to my Intel Quad pc (just go it 3 months ago).

My G5 config is as fallow:

- G5 Dual 2.5GHz
- 7GIGs of memory
- 74GB Raptor 10K RPM SATA Hard Drive
- Stock Video Card

I use this Mac for web and print work. But I'm getting into Digital Photography and I've notice performance goes down when handling RAW image file (size much bigger then .jpg and .gif)

How can I get more juice out of my MAC with out having to brake the bank.

Big Mac · Mar 12, 2007, 07:39 AM

If you're using Aperture, try Lightroom. The reviews say that Lightroom feels faster than Aperture on all systems.

OreoCookie · Mar 12, 2007, 07:58 AM

I would think of replacing the video card with something faster. But other than that, you should be fine.

(If it's any indication, I was very pleased with Aperture's performance on my ProBook and prefer it to Lightroom's UI.)

mduell · Mar 12, 2007, 09:47 AM

A bigger hard drive may help (the Raptor is so small you're probably running it close to full, which is bad for performance, despite it's higher spindle speed), as well as a faster video card for Aperture.

Leonard · Mar 12, 2007, 10:45 AM

RAID two Raptors for your HD? RAW images would be large and require a fast HD. A Raptor is a fast HD so RAID is the only thing faster.

The video card upgrade may be a good idea too as Aperature seems to use the new features. Best card for your PM G5 (which is the same as mine) would be the Radeon X800XT.

reader50 · Mar 12, 2007, 12:47 PM

System Preferences -> Energy Saver -> Options tab -> Processor Performance.

Click the selector from Automatic to Highest.

normang · Mar 12, 2007, 04:25 PM

If this is the internal Sata controller, a faster PCI Sata II controller would give you more performance from the disk. If as mentioned, your disk is filling, that reduces performance. A faster video card may help, but probably not as much as a faster disk I/O.

Leonard · Mar 12, 2007, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by reader50

System Preferences -> Energy Saver -> Options tab -> Processor Performance.

Click the selector from Automatic to Highest.

I did that one so long ago that I've forgotten about that.

Simple change that can make a difference.

webmonkie · Mar 26, 2007, 03:04 PM

Thanks everyone for your help.
I think I'm going to invest on a new video card "Radeon X800XT".

CIA · Mar 26, 2007, 05:33 PM

Two 74GB Raptors in a RAID 0 push about 130-135MB/sec empty, two 150GB Raptors about 135-140MB/sec based on my tests (I have 2 of each kind). Keep in mind those numbers drop once you put stuff on em and they begin to fill up. Of note, my new 500GB WD drive pushes nearly 70MB a sec alone, so 2 of those would give you near equal performance. Again, numbers drop as the drive fills up. I've read that the monster 750GB drives also put out high 60 to low 70MB a sec also. All in all it seems the Raptors aren't the speed champs they once used to be... Maybe seek time is faster at 10,000 rpm, but honestly I think the difference for most users would be unnoticable.

OreoCookie · Mar 27, 2007, 05:05 AM

You raise a good point. Raptors are usually only worth it when you read a lot of non-continuous data (e. g. databases or lots of smaller files) because their seek times are very low. However, if you look at the Raptors' capacities with which they are offered, you'll notice that it's rather low. The reason is simple: the data density is much lower than on high-capacity drives (such as 400, 500 and 750 GB drives). Thus, drives with a lower data density must spin faster to reach the same linear read speed.

Also a RAID0 should be used with care: it double the chance of data loss and in many applications, it doesn't even improve performance significantly.