Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Computers & Peripherals => Topic started by: trentf on April 26, 2010, 03:16:44 pm
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I have decided it is time to upgrade my Mac G5 Quad.... I am a bit confused if I need a quad machine again. It is used only for Photoshop and printing. Files come from Canon 1Ds Mark 3.... can anyone give a bit of insight on what machine is the best? I read a lot about it on line and now I am more confused than ever. I dont do video or 3D....
thanks in advance for taking the time to help..
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Hi, we really need more info to help you.
What software do you use? What OS - 32 or 64 bit? How do you use/store your images? What doesn't work well on your current machine?
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I am on a mac and always have been... it is an older G5 quad with 12 gigs of ram and plenty of harddrive space. It is running everyrthing up to date it can. Photoshop CS 5 and the new LR will not work on it.... I will getting a new Macpro but I want to get the right one.
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I am on a mac and always have been... it is an older G5 quad with 12 gigs of ram and plenty of harddrive space. It is running everyrthing up to date it can. Photoshop CS 5 and the new LR will not work on it.... I will getting a new Macpro but I want to get the right one.
Well it all depends, We don't really know how well exactly PS CS5 and LR3 will use multiple cores. There certainly are programs like C1 (if it would not crash every few minutes on windows) and PTGui which actually can use all of my 12/24 cores/threads.
However there is the aspect, that lower core number means more speed. I know that when a program is designed to use a lot of cores it will be faster than a fewer cores. Even if every core runs at a lower clock speed. However I'm not so sure when it comes to PS and LR. I can't say whether 2 cores at 3,6Ghz, 4 cores at 3,1 Ghz, 6 cores at 2,8ghz or 12 cores at 2,5Ghz would be faster.
However there are a lot of more things than CPU. One thing is RAM. If you only work with 1DsMk3 files and don't stitch or make use of lot's of layer, something around 6-8 GB should be more than enough.
One good thing would be to invest into a SSD for your main OS drive.
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I will getting a new Macpro but I want to get the right one.
FWIW, I upgraded from a G4 to a macpro and found in my research that for photography (LR and PS) purposes there is very little difference between the various models in terms of day-to-day, real-life performance (sure - the test specs / benchmarks differ, but I am not going to pay $2K extra for 15 sec or so faster RAW ingestion on 100 20MB RAW files). I ended up buying an Early 09 refurb 8 core - only to make absolutely sure that this baby can work with the software that comes out 5 years from now.
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I have decided it is time to upgrade my Mac G5 Quad.... I am a bit confused if I need a quad machine again. It is used only for Photoshop and printing. Files come from Canon 1Ds Mark 3.... can anyone give a bit of insight on what machine is the best? I read a lot about it on line and now I am more confused than ever. I dont do video or 3D....
thanks in advance for taking the time to help..
Check this out. Lots of good information there....
http://macperformanceguide.com/index.html (http://macperformanceguide.com/index.html)
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Thanks to everyone for replying.... Some great info given.... Last Thursday I called Apple to order a new Mac Pro. After a long conversation about which machine to get the verdict was a Quad Core with pumped ram. An 8 core would have been a waste of money he said.... I will arrive this week. Hoping it will great. I know with ram added, drives added plus apple care I was still way under budget, since I had budgeted for an 8 core. Time will tell....Plus I got a $140 discount for calling in?? Almost paid for sales tax
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If anyone is curious how the new system is... I have to say not a single complaint. The quad core is fast. The apple guy steered me in the right direction. I have added a 24" apple monitor for pallets next to the 30 and it is super. Today I shot tethered to my 1Ds M3 and it processed the images really fast.... just thought I would share.
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Glad to hear it worked out well.
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Glad to hear it worked out well.
Hi There
Do you think it would be better to wait until the next generation mac pros come out in the next few weeks?
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I always stay a generation behind. Let everyone else work out the bugs. The machine I just bought is plenty right now.... in two years I will do it again....