Duals are Phenomenal!
I got a chance to sit down with a dual G5 this afternoon at a local reseller, and I was absolutely blown away.
I stuck to LiveType in FCP 4, and did some rough comparisons to my SP 1.25 MDD G4.
Well, it was actually no comparison!
Just as an example, Burn Barrel rendered out somewhere between five and seven times faster than it does on the G4. Absolutely unreal.
Oh, and this was with Jaguar. I can't wait to see one of these machines running Panther!
Looks like the MDD may be relegated to server duty in a month or so to make way for a Dual G5 as a primary machine!
If you haven't checked one out yet, do so -- it's really that impressive.
-John
I stuck to LiveType in FCP 4, and did some rough comparisons to my SP 1.25 MDD G4.
Well, it was actually no comparison!
Just as an example, Burn Barrel rendered out somewhere between five and seven times faster than it does on the G4. Absolutely unreal.
Oh, and this was with Jaguar. I can't wait to see one of these machines running Panther!
Looks like the MDD may be relegated to server duty in a month or so to make way for a Dual G5 as a primary machine!
If you haven't checked one out yet, do so -- it's really that impressive.
-John
Comments
Sell your dual g4, buy a slower machine for server duty, and use the leftover cash to put buttloads of RAM in th G5.
Originally posted by Splinemodel
Here's a better idea:
Sell your dual g4, buy a slower machine for server duty, and use the leftover cash to put buttloads of RAM in th G5.
That's a pretty good point -- the Dual G5 I was noodling with had 2 1/2 GB of RAM in it, which had a fair bit to do with overall system performance.
And of course, I could just continue using x86 boxes for servers, letting them do what they do best. You know, not seen, not heard, sitting in a closet running mundane tasks.
-John
The store I got it at gives you a full 30 days to return for a full refund (better than the 10 days Apple gives you from their store.) So I trying it out to see if it lives up to the hype (at least for what I want it to do.) Web browsing it pretty much like my 2.8 P4 with 1GB RAM. All the Mac apps are a lot faster than my iMac DV 400 SE (I know, "Duh".)
Right now I'm controlling the dual G5 from my PC as I write this. So far the VNC PC to Mac is very good (using OSXvnc), but Mac to PC is not good. The PC starts to have problems over time like programs don't want to run and other weird stuff, then have to reboot the PC.
But this was impressive: I had Konfaulator running (a CPU hog on my iMac) with a several of my favorite widgets, iTunes playing music and editing old family video footage (this main reason for buying this system.) It all worked with out a hitch (NOTE: iTunes was playing MP3's from my Linux server, and the video was being edited on an external FW drive. So I don't know if it would start skipping running off one drive or not.) Also this is the standard config with 512MB RAM. So far, haven't seen it get anywhere close to running of ram. FCE is one the of the least memory intensive programs that I use.
The fans would speed up each time rendered part of the video or played the video. And yes there is CPU noise with certain programs (VNC viewer is a real culprit - use this to connect to the PC.) Right now I'm testing to see how everything I want to do works. Wiretap is one program that now works where before it would kill my iMac dead as a door nail (Not all the time but after about 2-5 minutes of use)!
The ONLY other big problem is website compatibility!! I couldn't even download my mouse driver for my mouse with out downloading it from the PC, because the Mac (or really Netscape/mozilla) just can't handle the Java code or whatever they're using on their sites. I wanted to get a friend of mine that's a realtor to use a Mac as it would suite him much better than a PC, but the MLS will not work! I really, really like Safari (just discovered that it does spell checking on the fly! - Neat) and find more nifty things is does all the time, so I could careless about IE, but there are times that you have to have it. Wish that that this can be fixed in the Java that they use or make it so it that it can switch to be compatible with whatever site your looking at.
Sorry this turned into quite a ramble, but hope someone finds the info useful!
Hope to post a review later on.
-Scott
P.S.: Got this guy with the new NEC Multisync 1765 17" flat screen monitor. Wow, what a picture this thing has! Apple could learn something from NEC.
-slr
Originally posted by scott_r
... Wish that that this can be fixed in the Java that they use or make it so it that it can switch to be compatible with whatever site your looking at. ...
Off the topic, sorry, but I'm really a stickler for this. Web standards exist for everyone's benefit. When websites are properly written and developed, they work for just about everyone; unfortunately, many sites are only tested with IE for Windows.
Off my soapbox, now.
I'm glad to hear that the dual G5s scream for graphics-intensive work; hopefully, the Mac will remain the top performer in that category. I envy those of you who own one -- I'm spending a similar load of cash on a new PowerBook because I really do need the mobility. Think the G5 tower is light enough to carry in a backpack?
I was thinking "what th'????" after a few minutes. Slower than my iBook.
But then I burrowed around and got Terminal running and typed top -u (I know, I could have used Process Viewer)
Finder was pegged at 159% of the CPU.
I have no idea what a maxed out app on a dual is supposed to "say" in top, but I guessed it needed a kick. So I Force Quit the Finder and when it came back up it was properly back down to a trickle of 3 or 4% or whatever.
So, the moral of the story is don't assume the Mac you walk up to is in a pristine condition, wiaitng to impress you. Far too many yahoos, myself included, are running these things into the ground to try to see how fast they are, so who know what might be crashed etc.
I did mention it to the Apple folk but, somewhat infuriatingly, they only mumbled amongst themselves. I could only glean that maybe there is some remote monitoring or management, perhaps using Apple Remote Desktop or whatever that's called. They seemed to say it had happened before. Something to think about next time you play on the Macs there, I think everything is being watched or logged somehow. Makes sense, of course. It's their stuff. But I can't be 100% sure if they do that. Maybe they don't do anything. But I digress.
Run top or Process Monitor first, before you do any testing, to make sure things are levelled out.
Originally posted by bangstudios
I got a chance to sit down with a dual G5 this afternoon at a local reseller, and I was absolutely blown away.
THE ADS ARE TRUE!
8)
Originally posted by Wrong Robust
THE ADS ARE TRUE!
8)
Yup!
-John
One thing to note: iTunes resizes perfectly. It gags on my PowerBook 12". I can't imagine G5 Duals with Panther. Then again I don't have to, a store on campus will have it.
It's smaller then it looks too. Very nice system, doesn't look quite so austere in person. iTunes framerates didn't go above 42. There is something fubar with 10.2.8 (yes they had the second release.) My PB doesn't go above 30 with 10.2.8 rev 2. ****ing shit. I'm going to have to either wait for Panther or revert to 10.2.6.
Just thought you guys might be interested in a little "benchmark" that I ran.
Encoded (in Quicktime Pro) a 2 pass VBR, MPEG2 file for DVD (720x480) on a G5 Dually with 1.5 gb ram, and then on a dual 1ghz G4 with the same amount of ram.
Finished on the G5 in 2 hours 36 minutes. The G4 took 10 hours.
That's one hell of a performance boost in my book, and a real world test as opposed to some benchmark.
Whatever Apple says is LIE
Finished on the G5 in 2 hours 36 minutes. The G4 took 10 hours.
I'm no programmer...but isn't that MORE than the promised 'twice as fast'?
Even with unoptimised OS, some of the dual G5 benches are phenominal.
I can't wait until Panther comes out with G5 optimisations...
Hmmm. My wallet is getting sweaty...
Lemon Bon Bon
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