[X4U] G5 Video Card Question

[Rod Buchanan]

On Apr 4, 2008, at 12:21 AM, Zane H. Healy wrote:

> At 11:48 PM -0500 4/3/08, Rod Buchanan wrote:
>
>> Aperture?  No -- Hell, wife & I just joined the digital camera  
>> world in January. :)  My thing is music.  (A fifty-something ex  
>> "Rock & Roller" trying to learn Logic 8.)
>
> How can I put this...  You've got to be F***** kidding me!  You need  
> a better graphics card for an Audio application?  Now I know I'm  
> right, Apple is writing software such that you need to upgrade when  
> you shouldn't need to.  That is just plain insane.  I can sort of  
> understand the need to upgrade for Aperture, I can't see how any  
> audio software needs better graphics, I can't imagine it needing to be
> much more graphically intensive than Peak 2 on an old 8500/180.

No -- hehe -- though Logic is no ordinary audio application.  It came  
on 7-8 DVDs and took _hours_ to install.  I think the program that  
bugs me the most is Numbers.  Could be its problems are more v1.0- 
related than the video card.  Seems like there have been other  
programs (Adobe CS3 Web Premium maybe?) where I suspected a video  
upgrade would help, but right now which one(s) escape me.

>> You're right about _affordable_ cards.  The 9600 PRO/256 is the  
>> only thing I've seen in a while for < $350.  I'm sitting at 3.5GB  
>> memory and don't think I'm maxing it out.  But with memory prices  
>> as low as they are (and Logic's appetite) I'm tempted to stuff more  
>> in anyway.
>
> I did the graphics card upgrade for my G4/450 AGP, and it cost about  
> $300.  I did it so I could use all the features of I think 10.3.  I  
> should have saved the money and put it towards the G5 2x2 I'm  
> running now, as I upgraded a few months later.
>
> With the way I use a computer, and 2GB kits nearing the $100 mark,  
> going from 5.5GB to a full 8GB is very tempting.  At the same time I  
> can't help but think I should force myself to live in 5.5GB, and  
> save the money towards an upgrade.  One of these days I'm going to  
> want a new Mac Pro, probably about the time I upgrade from Adobe  
> Creative Suite Premium to CS3 (or maybe CS4).  I'm doing some heavy  
> Lightroom & Photoshop CS work tonight, and typing this while I wait  
> on the various steps.  So right now I'm wishing I'd already  
> upgraded, but normally I'm just fine with the G5. :^)  I hope to get  
> another year or two's use out of this system (and it's already 4.4  
> years old.

Same here.  At some point it becomes pouring money down the drain.   
Like you I hope for a couple more years out of "BigMac" before  
upgrading.

-- 
Rod

"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."
-- Anonymous