"While the sequence isn’t playing here, you can see from the idling percentages that the CPU hit isn’t going to be outrageous."

If by "idle" you mean the transport isn't running, my concerns remain.

When my slow-as-Mac-o-lasses dual 1.8 is loaded with 1 GB for VI and 0.5 GB for Logic, "idle" records a CPU of about 13% for VI and 31% for Logic. When I hit play for an empty song (RAM loaded but no music), VI's CPU goes to 25% and Logic goes to 60% with nothing playing. That's approximately double the "idle" CPU numbers.

And what an irony we face, looking forward to 64-bit and expanded memory. Imagine the CPU you'll lose just getting out of the starting gate when you hit "play" with 10 GB loaded. But hey, maybe Clovertown will blow that away in an instant. Interesting, hopeful times. But cautious times as well.

Plowman, I'm exhausted now. [:)]

You want to see it moving with nothing playing. Okay, maybe sometime I'll do that.

But in all honesty I don't really care - the point is that it works on my ancient 2 x 2.5. The CPU doesn't go way up when I push play, by the way.

Also note that it goes higher than 100%, depending on the situation, since there are two processors.

@Nick Batzdorf said:

.... my ancient 2 x 2.5. ...

[:'(] [:'(] [:'(]

It's a shame when you have lightbulbs that burn for longer than a computer will stay current.

("current"--- no pun intended-- really!)

Plowman,

I have to say that I'm seeing similar problems with my dual 1.8... maybe it's just a "dud"? It was fine for a couple of years, but the VIs appear to have pushed it over the edge. As I understand it, Apple did some board-level tweaking to the G5s after the dual 1.8 (mine is the original with 8 ram slots), but I've never had this confirmed. Anyway, I'm seriously considering a Mac Pro, it's just a question of when. We'll see what Apple announces later today -- hopefully something worth buying.

J.

[H] MACWORLD

@Another User said:

[H] MACWORLD

Atta boy!

Hey! Quit putting words into my mouth!

[H] MacWorld.

@mpower88 said:

Hey! Quit putting words into my mouth!

[H] MacWorld.

LOL


hey-- 40 minutes to Keynote...

IPhone and ITv

that's it....

no 64 bit / Leopard talk



patience...


SvK

"...mine is the original with 8 ram slots."

Interesting. So is mine. Yes, maybe this is computer-specific. I could not figure why, after all the forum reading I do, no one was talking about the strange CPU hit that I was getting just for putting the SPL in motion. Others have corroborated it, but not in the consensus I was expecting. And it's still a puzzle why I lose double my CPU to play nothing! What can the CPU be preparing to do after I hit play if there's no music in the song?

Well, the keynote is over, and I have been reminded once again that I live in a niche market. Apparently more people are interested in phones than virtual orchestras. It hardly seems fair.

Perhaps Apple is coordinating the Leopard / eight core push with the release of Vista. I guess strictly speaking Leopard has already been premiered, and "eight core" and "64-bit" don't mean much to Joe Apple User. Or, more importantly, Joe Apple Stock Holder.

Nick, please conserve all personal resources. We need you at NAMM and VI Mag.

We'll both be there. [:)]

Note that they changed the name of the company to Apple - it's no longer Apple Computer.

I think any talk about computers will be another time.

Yeah, while the iPhone looks fancy and all, I was pretty let down by the keynote.

I know that nothing really huge can even happen to the Mac Pro -- 8-core, yes, but that won't actually have *that* much effect on a day-to-day basis -- but it would have been nice to maybe see the common "bump". You know, maybe put the standard config up to 2 GB RAM, or something like that... or maybe a small price dip. The kind of things they did all the time with the G4s.

Anyway, most of the real Mac geeks out there feel pretty confident that actual computer-related announcements will come in the follwing weeks. I'm in the market for a Mac Pro already, so the wait is pure torture.

J.

ps -- Yes, Plowman, it's very interesting to hear that you also have the 8-slot version. I had heard about logic board design issues in that machine, which were *very* quitely repaired in the next revision. There was something about interference between adjacent traces on the logic board. Anyway, it was all something I literally overheard, about 3 years ago, so it's murky to say the least. One thing's for sure; my machine is great up to a point, but beyond that point it demonstrates some strange behavior indeed. No fun. Have you tried using it as a slave? I don't have a setup where I can really do that very effectively, but I'm curious how well it would run. The main thing is that it can load more into RAM than my other machines (4 GB installed), so I'd like to be able to keep it and just add it to the farm. My problems all seem related to running sequencers/notation programs with VIs running at the same time.
My biggest fear, though, is that I spend $n000.00 clams on a new Mac Pro, and the problem doesn't go away. Hard to imagine, but an absolute nightmare if it happened.

"Have you tried using it as a slave? I don't have a setup where I can really do that very effectively, but I'm curious how well it would run."

Again we are on parallel tracks. I don't have a set up to accommodate this either, and I have long since planned to use my current 1.8 as a slave when I make my next purchase. Just like you, I was hoping for some insight at MacWorld. I think the message we both got was "Hurry up and wait."

"My problems all seem related to running sequencers/notation programs with VIs running at the same time." Yes. In theory, outside of Logic, VI on a slave running, say, Plogue would not incur the CPU hit right up front, before sample playback begins. One would hope that as a peripheral, relieved of sequencing and DSP, the 1.8 would measurably benefit. Of course, we then inherit the fussy world of networking audio back into Logic for uniform verb, etc.

Tell me, does your machine beep? The 1.8's and 2.0's had that issue. It's not the speaker, and it's not in the audio line, but somehow it beeps. I had to download CHUD and use a Disable Nap function to make it stop. But I only use it when it starts to annoy me. Usually the other fans in my not-quite-silent studio drown it out.

And then I heard that later models still beep. Amazing. It's well-documented on the web, the bane of audio 1.8 dual users.

But all things considered, it's been a fine computer. I bought it used for about 1,600 USD a year and a half ago, and it's alarming how much music you *can* get out of it.

Mine beeped, it's a 2.0, I took it in, they sent it back, still beeped, then the hard drive died, it sent it in, replaced the drive, came back, still beeped, two weeks later, it stopped, never did it again...

!!!

[*-)] [[[[:|]]]] [[[[:|]]]] [[[[:|]]]]

My dual 2Gig has never beeped. That doesn't mean that it doesn't get bogged down everyday with the workload.

Looking forward to it becoming Computer #2 next to some kind of new Mac Pro as soon as the next announcements come out. According http://www.macosrumors.com there are going to be some hardware differences with the new Mac Pros - besides the obvious addition of an 8-processor unit. These include one PCIx slot so those of us with hardware cards can use one from our old G5's.

I don't look forward to transfering all the differing manufacturer's vi's and plugins from the old G5 over to the new machine. Anyone out there with any ideas how to be do this I'm all ears. What happens if I move the boot drive over to the Mac Pro? (FYI, I maintain an up to date backup of my current system drive.)

@Another User said:

I don't look forward to transfering all the differing manufacturer's vi's and plugins from the old G5 over to the new machine. Anyone out there with any ideas how to be do this I'm all ears. What happens if I move the boot drive over to the Mac Pro? (FYI, I maintain an up to date backup of my current system drive.)

For transferring VIs could be tricky or difficult, depending upon how the manufacturer has structured its authorization. For example, Ivory uses a System or Machine ID along with an authorization code plus the serial number. I'm about to have my dual 2.5 checked out and will have to discuss reauthorizing Ivory with Synthogy's tech support should a new motherboard reject the current authorization. They allow 4 authorizations per purchase. Some of my East-West VIs allow two authorizations per purchase while Native Instruments tends to be quite understanding where legit problems impact authorization. It depends upon what VIs you have-- I suspect that some will not be a problem at all, epsecially those that use a dongle.

For the boot drive, you may have to make a new one by doing an "archive and install". I swapped a system HD once before in my G5 and could not boot from it until I installed OSX directly on that machine, regardless of which hard drive was used as the aux boot HD.

If someone else has had a different experience, I'd love to hear about it.

JWL,

I went back to macOSrumors and for the time being all the articles are missing. Typically, they have a link to various rumors regarding the Apple product lines, i.e., iPod, Desktops, MacBooks, etc. I read the article on Monday, just before Mac World. In retrospect I should have cut & pasted the text from it.

macOSrumors is one of the worst maintained sites on the web however over the years it has been as good a source for coming Mac features as anyone else, if not better. Articles do however have a way of coming and going quickly. If they re-post in the next few days I'll get it to this forum.

I really focused on this when I read it because I have a Pro Tools HD Accel system and that could be used for an expansion chassis or for my SCSI card to the RAID I have my VSL samples on.

Thanks for the advice on the boot drive. Regarding all the virtual instruments & plugs I have installed on the G5, that is one of the main reasons I'm going to NAMM next week - to get each manufacturers update on UB compatibility and path to reinstallation on a new CPU. I have a crib sheet all ready with places for X's & O's on each piece of software I have.

Of course I'll be checking out the new library on the block. I'll probably be purchasing some more VSL while I'm there. Bringing a little DVcam too.

Yeah, no way can you hang your hat on anything macosrumors.com says. It's fun to read sometimes - even though everything is "WOW! What a tremendous time for Apple! This weekend we'll have one of the most exciting reports ever! The rumor mill is working overtime with INCREDIBLE DISH!!!!!!" and 99% of what they post is complete bullsh!+. [:)]