Just wanted to see if there are any G4 Quicksilver users who are upgrading to Mac Pros now. I have a G4 933MHz Quicksilver and I am debating whether I should take the next step in computing. I know I definitely need a faster machine, but I'm still confused with the software issue. Will I be able to use the apps that I currently have? I do a lot of video editing and some graphics work. How will my PowerPC apps run on the new Macs? I have FCP Studio, Photoshop, After Effects, Pro Tools, etc.
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Quicksilver users upgrading to Mac Pros?
- Thread starter molocono
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G4 933 - To upgrade or not
Yo dude,
I've got a G4 933 too and I'm in a similar position being a graphic designer using photoshop, illustrator, freehand, inDesign.
Here's the good news:
Pro tools and FCP are now Universal apps - so if you upgrade them they will run well fast on a new intel Mac Pro.
Photoshop and After Effects are likely to be upgraded to intel by spring 2007 so these apps will have to run in Rosetta - but even so the 2.66 MP runs them fast enough to compare well with the Quad G5, check this out:
http://www.barefeats.com/quad06.html
The 3ghz MP is 8% faster than the Quad G5 in After Effects! And that's using Rosetta to translate the non intel app code! So the speed difference from a G4 933 would be awesome!
So you would lose nothing by upgrading now, assuming you have the dosh to spend on, say, 4Gb ram and a good graphic card, X1900XT.
Since most of my work is in non intel apps I'm tempted to wait till Photoshop etc are updated and count that into the cost of my next upgrade. Hell I've waited this long and my G4 copes with what i throw at it - and I wonder what speeds the next batch of macs will reach! Though that 3mhz looks very tempting ;-) I don't think i can hold myself back, where's my wallet...
Yo dude,
I've got a G4 933 too and I'm in a similar position being a graphic designer using photoshop, illustrator, freehand, inDesign.
Here's the good news:
Pro tools and FCP are now Universal apps - so if you upgrade them they will run well fast on a new intel Mac Pro.
Photoshop and After Effects are likely to be upgraded to intel by spring 2007 so these apps will have to run in Rosetta - but even so the 2.66 MP runs them fast enough to compare well with the Quad G5, check this out:
http://www.barefeats.com/quad06.html
The 3ghz MP is 8% faster than the Quad G5 in After Effects! And that's using Rosetta to translate the non intel app code! So the speed difference from a G4 933 would be awesome!
So you would lose nothing by upgrading now, assuming you have the dosh to spend on, say, 4Gb ram and a good graphic card, X1900XT.
Since most of my work is in non intel apps I'm tempted to wait till Photoshop etc are updated and count that into the cost of my next upgrade. Hell I've waited this long and my G4 copes with what i throw at it - and I wonder what speeds the next batch of macs will reach! Though that 3mhz looks very tempting ;-) I don't think i can hold myself back, where's my wallet...
molocono said:
I have same machine and sort of in same boat. Are your apps classic or OSX? You should not have any problems if you have them in OSX they will run under rosetta. Many of the apple apps have been upgraded to universal, that is they will run in both PPC and Intel. If you dont want to run them in rosetta, you can upgrade them for small fee to universal to take advantage of intel. Adobe products you will have to run in rosetta, because Adobe is not releasing new version until 2007.
Now if all your apps are classic that's a different story. The classic environment does not run in the intel version of OSX. You will need to upgrade your apps to run in Intel then. If you cant there is some emulation software out there that will allow you to run classic apps under intel, but I have no idea how fast. The process seems a little complicated to get going too.
Go with a Mac Pro molocono, even running under Rosetta, apps will be faster than on your 933MHz Power Mac G4. 
Yeah, I was thinking about waiting for Rev B. but even if I buy one now, I will get a substantial speed increase. I just didn't know if my non-UB apps would run on the Intel. I guess I'm not worried about FCP Studio since it's UB and I really don't use Photoshop all that much. I think I should be fine.
Holy crap! I bought my Mac Pro 2.66 and tried it today for the first time. This is insane...what an upgrade! This thing is sooooo fast and I can run so many apps that I couldn't use on the other machine before. I'm very glad I bought this machine. I couldn't be happier.
Yeah Apple needs to provide a complimentary drool cup with all Mac Pro purchases.
Congratulations on a fantastic upgrade!
Congratulations on a fantastic upgrade!
Nice buy. I hope to get that "wow" feeling when I upgrade to an intel laptop whenever this one loses its life.
That's the problem, these things just keep running for freeking ever, so while you still have this great working machine, you want more, faster, better, quieter.
I skipped the whole G4 line going to my 2.0 G5 from my Beige G3 and boy what a difference.
The G3 is still fine, but the software updates left it behind.
Now I'm looking at 2008-2010 before I replace this machine.
It's hard to even imagine what will be available by then.
I skipped the whole G4 line going to my 2.0 G5 from my Beige G3 and boy what a difference.
The G3 is still fine, but the software updates left it behind.
Now I'm looking at 2008-2010 before I replace this machine.
It's hard to even imagine what will be available by then.
molocono said:
"Classic" applications won't run. MacOS X applications written for PowerPC will run without problems, and they will run at least twice as fast on a MacPro. Assuming you don't have a dual G4, any applications that can use multiple processors will run twice as fast again. And since the MacPro has four processors, you can have three applications running in the background working real hard, and you _still_ have a machine that is twice as fast as the G4.
And all important applications will be upgraded to Intel code at some point, and then you can expect doubled speed again.