garageCube

hi !

i have a old powerbook (G4/500 Mhz / 512 RAM / 8 MB VIDEO Ram)
that is to slow to use it with modul8

in my studio i have this :

PowerMac G4/1 GHz DP (SuperDrive (Mirrored Drive Doors))
Prozessor: - 2 x G4 1 GHz
768 MB RAM
Video-RAM: ATI 9000 Pro (64MB DDR SDRAM)

now i'm thinking about selling my powerMAC to buy me a new powerBOOK to use it with modul8 in the clubs AND (!) to use it in the studio to produce music with logic audio.

i would LOVE to have the powerbook 1,6 GHZ with 128 MB VIDEO Ram and 2 GB of RAM

the problem is that i don't know if the new powerbook will have nearly the same performance as my desktop mac ?!??

or is it slower ?
or even faster because it has more RAM ?
i don't know how to compare the BUS system of both machines and the CACHE ?!?

is it really necessary to put 2 GB of RAM in the new powerbook or will it works fine with only 1 GB ?

2GB is very expensive in the apple store but a friend of mine had a LOT of problems with RAM that he did NOT buy at the apple store for his G5 desktop.
did you had any BAD experiences with RAM that you did not bought at the apple store ?

AND :
do you think it is a good idea to buy the powerbbok NOW or is it better to wait for 4 or 5 months (for NEW powerbooks ? maybe with G5 ??) ?

i'm thinking about this for 3 days now and i'm still very confused what would be the best decision

i'm very curious what YOU think about that !!

thanks in advance for sharing your ideas

1 gig of ram at the apple store is around $400 US$. I would install my own ram, 1 gig around $200 US$ through a thrid party vendor like Clubmac. I believe that apple uses Kingston RAM. I prefer Viking, as it's cheaper and quite reliable. Also, I personally opted for the iMac G5. It's got 64 Mb Vram, which should support M8 just fine, although 128 Vram is obviously better. The iMac, though, is around half the price of a new powerbook, and the PBs are still G4s. A gig bag is available for the G5, as well.

vj123 wrote:i have a old powerbook (G4/500 Mhz / 512 RAM / 8 MB VIDEO Ram)
that is to slow to use it with modul8

Surely your videocard is to blame because modul8 works GREAT in my 700Mhz G3 (32MBvideocard)!!!!!

TO STUDIOC :

iMac :
the new iMac is a very cool machine. a friend of mine is working with one of these and i like it a lot !
BUT the iMac is simply to heavy and big to travel as i have always MANY other stuff with me (edirol v4, korg kaoss pad, 3 digi videocams + 1 BIG box with mini dv tapes, switchboxes, mini tft displays, and so on...)
everything fits in a BIG suitcase and i can check it in when flying.
the most important stuff (computer, harddrives, tapes) fits in a BIG bag that is still small enough to keep it with me INSIDE an aero plane.
--> so with an iMac it is unfortunately not possible to fly with all my stuff.

i have the same problem when i'm performing close to my homebase where i can go by car.
i simply don't like the idea to go twice from my car to the club to bring all my equipment in (and the same after the event).
i think it is very important to keep EVERYTHING with you !
everytime !!!!!!!!!!
i had some bad experiences some years ago.
stolen equipment that i have to leave in the club to pick it up after only 5 minutes of my first walk to my car
and a friend of mine had a broken car, because some very bad guys have seen that he did put some stuff in his car and left to the club to take the rest of his equipment.

apple RAM :
i guess it is nearly impossible to find out what kind of RAM the shops in germany are selling BEFORE you order it
but of course the price difference is an argument NOT to buy the RAM at the apple store !



TO AKIRA :
well, 8MB video RAM was once (about 4 or 5 years when the G4 powerbooks first came out) what you can get as the 'TOP modell powerbook'
and it was EXPENSIVE ! about 4300 euro !!!

that's why i'm thinking about the 128MB video ram for the new powerbook (and NOT 'only' 64 MB) because i HOPE that THIS will still fit my needs in HOPEFULLY 3 or 4 years ?!?!

the only good thing is, if i buy the new powerbook i can still use my OLD powerbook to perform my MUSIC live with 'ableton live' as long as i don't use more than about 8 or 10 tracks at the same time and not TOO many effects on the tracks.
i guess it will be very cool to trigger some videos in sync to my music at the NEW powerbook from my OLD 'music' powerbook.
so i HOPE it will be finally possible to me to perform BOTH (music AND the visuals) in a live context !?

dont know about germany, but in the US. you can get an iBook G4 1.2ghz AND an iMac G5 1.6ghz TOGETHER for the same price of a 15" Powerbook 1.67ghz G4.

if you can afford a 1.67ghz G4 PB, i think the better option would be an iMac/iBook combo. portability and moderate power for the road, and g5 power in the studio

well, but i guess the iBook will go 'down' very fast (in about 1 year) when progs lige modul8 will use the new CoreVideo possibilities because the grphic card in the iBook is soon to slow ?! i have exactly THIS problem with my old powerbook which i can not use after only 4 years with modul8 ! i HOPE that the 128 MB video in a POWERBOOK will last a little longer ??
or do you think i'm wrong ??

the developers have said in this forum that system memory is more important than video memory.

so with the PB having a 2GB max, perhaps the powerbook is the best choice for you in this situation.

but the iMac G5 does have a gig bag

the developers have said in this forum that system memory is more important than video memory.

Is that true? I was assuming that system memory and video memory were important for different reasons. For example, the more RAM I have, the more clips I can have in RAM, the more fluid the playback. Whereas, with VRAM, those clips are going to be processed. I assume that in VRAM is where all of those nice motion effects and compositing magic are done. So, I guess it all depends upon what you are doing. If you have longish, or many layers, RAM. If you want to play with those clips, with the motion and compoiting, keying, etc., VRAM. On the iMac issue, I very well understand the importance of traveling light. I've had three camcorder rigs stolen in the 25 years + I've been doing this. A Nikon F series camera, and two many master video tapes than I can count. That being said, the iMac, at 17 pounds, with gig bag, is almost manageable. I use one of those cart thingies and an m-audio backpack and I seem to be able to cart it all by myself. Flying is another thing. Carry on luggage has its size limitations and I'm not sure whether or not they would let me on with all that gear! Good luck with your purchasing.

that's what yves from garage cube told me about the RAM / VIDEO RAM thing :

--> and is the 128MB graphic card that much faster than the 64MB ???

Well, with CoreImage/CoreVideo more VRam is always better.

--> is it VERY important to have 2GB of ram or do you think 1GB is enough ??

1GB is good enough for most of the people out there. Of course more ram means more preloaded video loops. Now, I think the price difference between 1GB and 2GB is too high today. Do not forget than the 3D card and the proc cannot be changed, while standard ram can always be upgraded in a couple of years.

Well, actually studioc is correct. The best hardware depends a lot of what your are doing.

Sorry if I was not very clear in my previous message. In the case of a PowerBook, you can always upgrade the Ram but no the VRam that's why I wrote that maybe in your case (where 2GB ram is very expensive these days) you may want to choose this option.

Some rules:
- If you works with short loops that can fit in ram -> 2GB ram is usefull.
- If you works with audio and long movies -> 2GB ram is not very usefull.
- If you use a lot of real-time effects (especially with CoreImage coming soon), high resolution, 3D effects -> 128MB VRam is great.

Today the processor is still used a lot for decompression and for some filtering (altivec). In the future, more and more code will be moved to the GPU. So for a long term investment (it's always dangerous to talk about long term in this area), I would say that the GPU will become more and more the key component in real time video.

Yves.

well, i guess i will buy the powerbook with 128 MB VIDEO RAM and 1,5 GB RAM (515 MB 'standard' apple ram and 1 GB RAM that i will buy at another (cheaper) store).
with that i have the option to replace the 512 MB ram with another 1 GB ram in some months ?!
or does both RAM 'chips' have to be EXACTLY the same type of RAM (same manufacturer,...) ??

Just got today:

PoBo 1.67
128 MB VRAM
2 GIG RAM
7200RPM Hitachi

I'm a blessed man...

Cool

Working at the Apple Store has its advantages

vj123 wrote:well, i guess i will buy the powerbook with 128 MB VIDEO RAM and 1,5 GB RAM (515 MB 'standard' apple ram and 1 GB RAM that i will buy at another (cheaper) store).
with that i have the option to replace the 512 MB ram with another 1 GB ram in some months ?!
or does both RAM 'chips' have to be EXACTLY the same type of RAM (same manufacturer,...) ??

In Switzerland you find good ram quality here :
www.heinigerag.ch
maybe they can send it in Germany...