new mac user looking for advice re: hardware for recording with

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Hello everyone! I'm new here, and this be my first post. I hope it's not the sort of thing you see all the time clogging up the boards, if it is allow me to apologise in advance, I am in the process of scouring for information and imagine I will shake my head at my current naivety at some point in the not-too-distant future. Onto my query:

I am looking to buy a Mac to run Logic Studio as the core of a home studio. At present I was purely wondering if anyone had any advice re: G5 vs Intel Core Duo processing when running the current version of Logic. I guess this query will bring in OS, although I'm not too familiar with the ins and outs of OS in respect to Logic itself, so any pointers there would also be appreciated.

The Macs I am considering (these are basically the highest spec I will be able to afford) are:

Current iMac, 2.66GHz, 4MB RAM
Secondhand G5 Powermac, 2.3GHz, 4MB RAM

For sake of illustration, say I will be running a MOTU 896 interface, 8 analog inputs, firewire...

In light of all that, does anyone have any advice as to which Mac would be more capable in these circumstances?

Thank you in advance for any help!
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Macbook intel
Personally? I'd go with the iMac, especially if you're gonna be running the latest version of Logic (which is built for Leopard). The difference in ghz is negligible and the difference in ram is...not a difference. The benefits of using intel are going to surpass that by far, I'd say.

Only thing that might be a dealbreaker is what kind of inputs the PM has vs the IM. I'm not sure what the difference is. And if you're planning on recording several tracks simultaneously that might also be a consideration (more in terms of inputs and software, tho, I don't think either would have the leg up in terms of processing)

Hope this helps! Logic Studio is quite a bit of fun once you get past the initial learning curve.
 
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Thanks! I realise that normally straight comparison between chips would apply but I'm not au fait with the G5 vs Intel thing. I have read elsewhere that in the beginning certain apps ran slower on Intel machines, but I think that was/is probably just an early days thing that will be less/non apparent as time goes by.

As for inputs, since my audio will be going through an interface (I'm currently swithering between a new MOTU 8Pre and a used 896) then it'll make its way into the computer by way of firewire. I'm not sure if it's 400 or 800 on the MOTU units, but as I understand both desktops have at least one of each.

Predominantly I'll be recording bands, hence my desire for an 8 input interface (to mic a drum kit) but I'm looking forward to trying out the other bits and bobs that come with Logic Studio like Soundtrack...

Thanks again!
 
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macbook 2.0ghz santa rosa
Intel Imac would be better than the G5, especially for running Logic, I run logic studio on a macbook with 2gb of ram and I have no problems
 

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