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Do I have enough RAM to opperate Final Cut 4? Everything is crashing and slow!!

K

katmyers

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 22, 2010
2
0
Hi,

I just got a Power Mac G4 with Final Cut 4 and CS2 installed. I want to upgrade to Final Cut 7 and a newer version of adobe suite, but before I even get to that, everything crashes and is extremely slow, even QuickTime. Is this because of a lack of memory?

I have 768 MB of RAM and a CPU speed of 450 MHz. The hard drive has 4 GB free, and I have another one installed with 33 GB. I also have my scratch disks set to another hard drive.

Is this enough memory to operate Final Cut or do I have a bigger problem? If I were to install Final Cut 7 and CS5 would I have enough operating space? If memory is not the problem, then what is?

I apologize for my stupidity and thank you for your time!
 
Unfortunately you're way underpowered to use even the software you have now. I run CS2 on a netbook with a 1.6GHz Atom processor and 1GB of DDR2, and it still stutters a little bit. I can only imagine what it's like. Only my larger computers, I've got CS4 running on two machines, one a C2D at 3.06 with 4GB of DDR3, and the other at 4.0 Dual Core with 3GB of DDR2, and they both definitely aren't the fastest things in the world. When I get CS5 I'll be upping the RAM to 8GB in my iMac. And regarding harddrive space, you're going to need more of that as well; 4GB barely covers all the installations.

Sounds like it's time for a new computer.
 
I would use Console app to see why the apps are crashing. You might glean some information from that output that would allow you to fix the issue. Otherwise, since you got this machine used, do clean installs of the OS and the apps.

Although your horse power is a bit low and your RAM too, the apps should not be crashing. At worse I'd expect them to be slow in some uses.

Go to lowendmac.com and use the Profiles tab to dig down and find your machine. You need to know the specs if you want to do upgrades like RAM.

I'm pretty sure FCP 7 will not run on that machine. Apple claims it needs an Intel machine. Before you purchase software, check the requirements.
 
>>I just got a Power Mac G4 with Final Cut 4 and CS2 installed. I want to upgrade to Final Cut 7<<

Then you'll also need to upgrade your computer. FCP 7 (part of FCS3) is written to run on Intel processor Macs.

-DH
 
I agree, you don't have enough power for what you've got, let alone more advanced versions.

FWIW, FCS2 (FCP6) and Adobe CS3 are the most advanced version that will run on PPC Macs.
 
katmyers said:
Thanks for the feedback!
Click to expand...

I guess you've gotten the message, but it's worth noting that EVERYTHING on your Mac would run better with more RAM, since you're way below a "reasonable" level. I've recently raised my RAM to 3.5 Gb (from 2.5Gb, I think), and I wouldn't dream of trying to get by on less than 2. And that's BEFORE trying to work on video editing.

You're also pushing it by having so little empty space on your startup drive. You're Mac uses space on the system drive for virtual memory and performance starts to fall off as you get less and less empty space. This could relate to your crashes. I just installed a 2Tb internal drive for only ~$130, and it's a fast Hitachi, not a pokey "green" drive. At that price, it just doesn't make sense to keep struggling with a full disk.

That said, I think the hard decision you need to make is whether to keep upgrading the old machine or start saving for a new one. One more thing - you CAN with difficulty install FCP 7 onto a non-intel Mac. I'm running it on my dual G5, and it's fine although a few new, intel-only features are missing.
 
PowerMac G4s are unfortunately very outdated, the 450MHz is probably 10 years old. (got mine late 1999)

I'd suggest replacing it. Even the cheapest computers these days will outperform the G4 over 1000%.
The G4 also uses PC100/PC133 SDRAM which is incredible expensive today and boosting it up to a reasonable amount (2GB) will cost too much.
You need 4x 512MB, which will set you back at least $200.

The 450MHz G4 is also limited by the old ATA 100 interface which only supports HDs up to 128GB. If you install larger HDs they will only show up as 128GB.
 
xStep said:
First; Why would you need a firewire card? G4 Macs have it built in.

Second; I wasn't responding to cost issues.
Click to expand...

Yes, sorry, you're right on the firewire port. My memory is bad on those.

About cost, I'm just saying that for the trouble, one should at least consider getting an old intel based box, or if he doesn't want to upgrade FCP , get an old G5.

I'm still using a G5 for alot of my work, and it's still "tolerable" in Final Cut and I'm still using SD footage. ( and I've got 7GB of memory and 2TB of disk... not that Final cut can use al the memory of course )
I say tolerable until I go to render, and have to take a 4 hour coffee break, when the same footage can be rendered in almost real time on an x86 iMac.
:)
 
DoFoT9 said:
how does ~$800 equate to ~$250? :confused:
Click to expand...

He would still have to buy more memory.
Spending $200 on ram and $100 on HD will give him 2GB ram and 1-2GB HD space,
but it is still a 450MHz machine, single core.


If he is gonna spend money on upgrading both FCP and CS package, he might as well replace the machine.

For $800 you'll get a 2.53GHz C2D mini with 4GB RAM.
 
cluthz said:
He would still have to buy more memory.
Spending $200 on ram and $100 on HD will give him 2GB ram and 1-2GB HD space,
but it is still a 450MHz machine, single core.


If he is gonna spend money on upgrading both FCP and CS package, he might as well replace the machine.

For $800 you'll get a 2.53GHz C2D mini with 4GB RAM.
Click to expand...

i was just directly comparing what the OP said - comparing a macmini to the price of a fw ensclosure + hdd. for $250 you could have 2TB storage in a case.
 
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