I am brand new to mac being a pc guy for years.I do audio recording.Now, I picked up a very cheap used mac pro g5, single core. How bid a deal would it be to upgrade processor to dual. And/or is it not cost effective.The single will work fine but if I can fairly cheap...well then maybe. Oh, and( maybe dumb question here) the used machine I mentioned takes 400mhz pc3200 memory. Looks to be the same as my windows pc. Would it be? Is there a difference between mac and pc memory?
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upgrade to dual processor
- Thread starter jmorris
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well first is it a G5 or a MacPro?
a G5 has a PowerPC processor
the MacPro's have Intel processors.
macpros take fb-dimms (667Mhz fbdimms for the first gen and 800mhz for the second gen)
G5's vary from pc2700 to pc3200 aswell.
The macpro cpu is not even worth trying to upgrade unless to purchase two identical procesors and capable heatsinks.
the g5s processors are tricky, and usually cant upgrade to dual cpus if it has just the single, as there is a soldered piece on the logic board to read it.
so in essence its not worth the cost or hassle.
for the G5 memory shouldng be an issue, but id make sure theyre all matched and have the same voltage and clocking/latency.
for the macpro, they use FB-DIMMS so be sure to look into that a bit more carefully.
id check out www.macsales.com for the ram so you can get a better idea and gain more knowledge for yourself.
a G5 has a PowerPC processor
the MacPro's have Intel processors.
macpros take fb-dimms (667Mhz fbdimms for the first gen and 800mhz for the second gen)
G5's vary from pc2700 to pc3200 aswell.
The macpro cpu is not even worth trying to upgrade unless to purchase two identical procesors and capable heatsinks.
the g5s processors are tricky, and usually cant upgrade to dual cpus if it has just the single, as there is a soldered piece on the logic board to read it.
so in essence its not worth the cost or hassle.
for the G5 memory shouldng be an issue, but id make sure theyre all matched and have the same voltage and clocking/latency.
for the macpro, they use FB-DIMMS so be sure to look into that a bit more carefully.
id check out www.macsales.com for the ram so you can get a better idea and gain more knowledge for yourself.
Best thing to buy is 4gb of PC3200 400mhz DDR memory. the 1.6ghz came with only 4 slots so that means you will have to get 4 1gb modules. You can't upgrade the processor to a dual because it's not configured on the motherboard for a second processor as you can see the empty slot and missing socket below the processor.
Make sure you install matched pairs of memory into your G5, meaning the same type and size go in each slot. Think of the top as mirrored with the bottom ones. The slots go as the followed example:
1(not available)
2(not available)
3 1gb PC2700 333
4 512 pc2700 333
4 512 pc2700 333
3 1gb pc2700 333
2(not available)
1(not available)
The 1.6 actually uses PC2700 333mhz memory but installing PC3200 will automatically downclock it to the correct speeds.
Make sure you install matched pairs of memory into your G5, meaning the same type and size go in each slot. Think of the top as mirrored with the bottom ones. The slots go as the followed example:
1(not available)
2(not available)
3 1gb PC2700 333
4 512 pc2700 333
4 512 pc2700 333
3 1gb pc2700 333
2(not available)
1(not available)
The 1.6 actually uses PC2700 333mhz memory but installing PC3200 will automatically downclock it to the correct speeds.
I have a dual 1.8 and it's only got 4 slots
Just remove your side panel and look towards the front lower end of the motherboard. You can see how many slots are available.
damn, at least I thought it had 8 slots????maybe im thinking 8 gig max. It coming next tuesday...used on ebay to get my feet wet with mac. But I;kk tell you, after being a pc guy all my life, I bought my son a mac mini. Very nice machine for the money.Im getting so sick of windows crap like conflicts,blue screen of death and virus issues. Oh orange, your machine is the exact same as the one Im getting, 80gig hd and all. Even same video card.Well, mine isnt dual processor....but other than that the same.I have a dual 1.8 and it's only got 4 slots
Just remove your side panel and look towards the front lower end of the motherboard. You can see how many slots are available.
i have an 1.8 Single-CPU G5 and it has PCI-X slots and 8Memory slots.
you be able to have alteast 8gb of memory in that machine.
i have 3 in mine and it runs nice, i just use it as a media server over the network. runs smooth.
I have a studio.Mostly I record band live in clubs etc. I have run sonar for years on pc but just got a ptotools rig. It runs well on my pc but should be better on mac. 80 gig hard drive is a bit small but I use all external drives for the recording process/storage anyways.I just bought 4 gig of ram for the new(used) machine, may bump it up if I need to but the pc's I use have never had more than 2 gig and went along fine, we'll see
The biggest bottleneckwill be your harddrive ..id say pick up a reasonable sized drive with atleast 16mb cache.
you can pick up a 320 for like 60$ or a 500gb for 65% and a good 640 for aroun 70$ i believe.
all top notch performers.
i run ProTools 7 on my machine. it usually processes just find, but im just running an LE system with sometime upto 12tracks and a few small plugins but usually it doesnt take up too much processing.
if not running PT i usually work with the adobe apps and macromedia apps all open simultaneously and it chugs along fine.
so i think this machine should give you a good run for awhile and handle what you need.
i switched mine to a media server over the network due to the intel upgrade.
you can pick up a 320 for like 60$ or a 500gb for 65% and a good 640 for aroun 70$ i believe.
all top notch performers.
i run ProTools 7 on my machine. it usually processes just find, but im just running an LE system with sometime upto 12tracks and a few small plugins but usually it doesnt take up too much processing.
if not running PT i usually work with the adobe apps and macromedia apps all open simultaneously and it chugs along fine.
so i think this machine should give you a good run for awhile and handle what you need.
i switched mine to a media server over the network due to the intel upgrade.
I use 7.4le, just an mbox.still need to see if i like protools.as i said been sonar so long. i can run projects anywhere from 16 to 50 tracks at a time. most of the live stuff is 16-20 tracks typically.Sonar and my old homebuilt pc worked well at 50 tracks. We'll see what the 1.8gig mac and protools can do.I have 2 uad cards I'd like to place in the mac(vst) plugins that i love.I'll need to get the vst software thingy from fxexpansion to get my vst's to work