2ghz or 2.3ghz DC for Music?

[Alan Sparks]

Chaps,
I've been using my trusty iMac G4 for several years with Cubase, but recently decided to move onwards and upwards to a new Mac.

The 2ghz and 2.3ghz G5 Dual-core seem ideal, and I just wondered if anyone had any opinions whether there would be a 'noticeable difference' between the two? - i.e., when Cubase is fully loaded - would the 2.3 be worth the extra coin?

Having used Macs for many years, my experience tells me that the 2.3 over the 2.0 will be ... negligible.

Any help would be much appreciated as I'm about to press the 'purchase now' button.

 

[Chaszmyr]

The performance difference between 2.0 and 2.3 is more than negligible, but probably not worth the $500 that Apple is currently charging, since the 2.3 isn't a cutting edge machine anymore either.

 

[Alan Sparks]

In the UK, the price difference is a mere £230 (approx.).

$350 dollars?

So there is a noticeable difference?

 

[dmw007]

I would go for the 2.3GHz DC Power Mac G5. But either machine should work fine for your needs (and either machine will give you a big boost in performance over your iMac G4).

 

[Alan Sparks]

So your saying to go for the 2.3 because it will be worthwhile as/regards a performance boost?

(I know, it's a tiresome question)

 

[beatzfreak]

Minimum req for Cubase is G4 867mhz
Recomended req is G5 dual 1.8mhz

I'm in the same boat, but I decided to go for the 2.0 and spend the extra $$ on memory / firewire hardrive.
Just ordered today. YEAH!!!

 

[ChrisA]

Having used Macs for many years, my experience tells me that the 2.3 over the 2.0 will be ... negligible.

In my experiance you need to double the processor speed before before a user sitting at the keyboard will take notice and say "wow this is fater" smaller upgrades can be detected but only with carful observation and maybe a wrist watch's second hand.

 

[tjwett]

i used my dual 1.8 G5 for sound design and composition with stuff like Logic, SoundTrack Pro, Reason and Ableton Live. i was never disappointed with the performance and i think either machine will serve you equally well. while the newer dual core is tempting consider that it only has PCI Express slots and it may be while (if ever) that your sound card of choice is available in that format. personally i'd take the dual 2.0 because i know it will be compatible with more stuff right now. however, in a year the dual core might be more current. as others have said, you won't notice a difference between the two unless you are playing the "how many reverbs can i add?" game, in which case one might get 250 and the other 245. both machines are beastly.