Getting new workstation, DUAL XEON or DUAL G4?

[jefhatfield]

i didn't realize that you could buy dual xeons in a system that cheap...very different than the catalog prices i have seen for heavily configured boxes

but the dual xeon system you are talking about has extremely low RAM, so that could be a major factor in price

i think the xeon could take up to 8 GB of RAM per processor...and i wouldn't see needing that much unless i did heavy, heavy 3D graphics, heavy scientific calculations, or extreme gaming

 

[ktlx]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
but the dual xeon system you are talking about has extremely low RAM, so that could be a major factor in price

It will not change things that much. A matched pair of 512MB DDR266 ECC CAS2 DIMMs (to support the dual channels) is going to cost less than $300. That would bring the total system memory to 1.5GB.

 

[3G4N]

Originally posted by ktlx
It will not change things that much. A matched pair of 512MB DDR266 ECC CAS2 DIMMs (to support the dual channels) is going to cost less than $300. That would bring the total system memory to 1.5GB.

512MB DDR266 registered ECC
$80 ea. $320 for 2gb.

 

[3G4N]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-Cubeboy
All but 12 effects in FCP4 render in real-time. (on a dual 1.4) How can you outperform real-time? Does a dual Xeon render before you even apply the effect? Are tachyons involved? (making jokes here, not a smack)

no tachyons. no tokamaks.
no reality distortion fields : )

render a 5 minute movie in 3 minutes. voi'la! faster than real-time! And they
said it couldn't be done. bah!
you just get to watch it in real-time.
whatever keeps up with your creative flow, and your fingers.

 

[iJon]

i believe he is right, from my final cut training class knowledge a couple of years ago. fcp just shows you the real time. then at the end it renders it, so it just depends if you wanna do it know or later.

iJon

 

[patrick0brien]

-iJon

FCP4 render it so fast that by the time you apply the filter, you can watch it. No waiting. Truly real-time. Renders faster than the scrubber.

The same it true for the LiveType text generator.

And FCP include Cinema Tools as well as Soundtrack and Compressor.

Aaah, I'm starting to sound like a commercial - I'm done, you guys can make your decisions for yourselves. Please go check it out, and if have a FCPug go to that! It's worth knowing the facts you seek. It might change your mind like it did mine.

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-iJon

FCP4 render it so fast that by the time you apply the filter, you can watch it. No waiting. Truly real-time. Renders faster than the scrubber.

The same it true for the LiveType text generator.

And FCP include Cinema Tools as well as Soundtrack and Compressor.

Aaah. Please go check it out if you can. It's worth it, it might change your mind like it did mine.

like i said, i think.lol. im not final cut expert. thanks for clearing it up.

iJon

 

[Cubeboy]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
i didn't realize that you could buy dual xeons in a system that cheap...very different than the catalog prices i have seen for heavily configured boxes

but the dual xeon system you are talking about has extremely low RAM, so that could be a major factor in price

i think the xeon could take up to 8 GB of RAM per processor...and i wouldn't see needing that much unless i did heavy, heavy 3D graphics, heavy scientific calculations, or extreme gaming

More memory can always be added without changing the price to much. Of course, I wouldn't really say that 512 mb RAM is extremely low, after all, the only Powermac to have more than 512 mb is the ultimate configuration which costs $3800. The next fastest configuration, the $2700 Powemac has 512 mb ram, and the last two configurations both have 256 mb ram.

 

[i_wolf]

I bearfeats and digitalvideoediting did some tests comparing the single 3.06 P4 to the dual 1.25 Powermacs for digital editing and digital content creation. In pretty much every test the single 3.06 wiped the floor with the dual powermac by significant amounts. No amount of my personal mac bias can ignore the fact that the mac didn't even touch the hyperthreaded P4. In fact in a lot of tests the 3.06 P4 was nearly 200% faster. Incidentally this was on the older i850 motherboard..... there are even faster motherboards and memory interfaces since then... the dual channel granite bay would have given the P4 another boost in that test..... now intel have released an 800fsb Springdale/Canterwood motherboard that would give the P4 an additional 20% boost to its scores.
Bear this in mind before I mention that the Xeon workstation used in that review was pretty much out of date. It was using the old 400fsb Xeons. Intel recently upgraded their Xeon line to give them a brand spanking new dual channel motherboard like the single processor equivalents called Placer. Furthermore Intel released the Xeons on a faster front side bus (fsb) at 533 and improved their hyperthreading technology (all C1 stepping Xeons feature the improved hyperthreading tech)... what all this boils down to is a hell of a lot more processing power than the mac. I reckon a dual 2.8Xeon with Hyperthreading enabled on the recent Placer motherboard would be more than 4 times faster than the mac on Maya. I own Maya on the Pc and have used the Mac version... it isn't anywhere in the same ball park.

 

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Cubeboy
More memory can always be added without changing the price to much. Of course, I wouldn't really say that 512 mb RAM is extremely low, after all, the only Powermac to have more than 512 mb is the ultimate configuration which costs $3800. The next fastest configuration, the $2700 Powemac has 512 mb ram, and the last two configurations both have 256 mb ram.

why is it on like products or similarily priced computers, it is always the wintel world which offers the higher amount of RAM, and often faster RAM??

to get people to switch is harder now than ever