New C2D Mac Mini tough enough for PowerMac G5's

harmi11 · Jan 2, 2008

Hey there, I'm an amateur Trance DJ and I use a IBM Thinkpad T42 for virtual mixing alongside my cd decks. However I want to start making professional trance music via software like Pro Tools, Logic, Reason & Ableton Live on the OS X platform. Im definately looking to move to OS X as its the better platform for this purpose but as I'm a newbie with only some knowledge of macs I'd really appreciate your help.

I'm looking to setup a small but effective studio for music creation, I've looked at the PowerMac G5's and the C2D Mac Mini, totally different I know but its my budget. I understand that the Mini is not really designed for this purpose but my budget cant really stretch that far, the max is about £450. I like the idea of having two displays and I would be using a midi controller via USB. I might use it for light surfing and some work as Im at uni at the moment but Ill probably leave that for the Thinkpad, the Mac can concentrate on its music making ability

lol. Ive seen G5 dual 1.8ghz and 2ghz for about £450 roughly on ebay which is great but a 2ghz mini is also this price BRAND NEW with Leopard. Would I need a mac with better number crunching ability or something else? Any Mac musicians please tell me your thoughts and advice please. I'm very much looking forward to joining the Mac Community and really appreciate any help you can give, thankyou

Harmi

P.S . There a some iMac G5's with similar specs also, would an iMac G5 be a viable choice?

bryphotoguy · Jan 2, 2008

harmi11 said:
Hey there, I'm an amateur Trance DJ and I use a IBM Thinkpad T42 for virtual mixing alongside my cd decks. However I want to start making professional trance music via software like Pro Tools, Logic, Reason & Ableton Live on the OS X platform. Im definately looking to move to OS X as its the better platform for this purpose but as I'm a newbie with only some knowledge of macs I'd really appreciate your help.

I'm looking to setup a small but effective studio for music creation, I've looked at the PowerMac G5's and the C2D Mac Mini, totally different I know but its my budget. I understand that the Mini is not really designed for this purpose but my budget cant really stretch that far, the max is about £450. I like the idea of having two displays and I would be using a midi controller via USB. I might use it for light surfing and some work as Im at uni at the moment but Ill probably leave that for the Thinkpad, the Mac can concentrate on its music making ability lol. Ive seen G5 dual 1.8ghz and 2ghz for about £450 roughly on ebay which is great but a 2ghz mini is also this price BRAND NEW with Leopard. Would I need a mac with better number crunching ability or something else? Any Mac musicians please tell me your thoughts and advice please. I'm very much looking forward to joining the Mac Community and really appreciate any help you can give, thankyou

Harmi

P.S . There a some iMac G5's with similar specs also, would an iMac G5 be a viable choice?

You wouldn't be able to power two displays with the Mini.
The Core2Duo Minis are faster than the G4 Dual 1.8GHz. They're about 50% faster according to some benchmark tests.
I am not sure how well a Mini would perform with what you need it to do. I don't see those apps being overly graphic intensive so it should work fine. I would only say get the G5 over the Mini for the HD space. If you're going to need a lot of space, having two internal HD's in the G5 would be better than running a USB or FireWire external if more space was needed if you had the Mini.

D3v1L80Y · Jan 2, 2008

Get the Power Mac G5 if you're on a budget. A faster processor is about the only advantage the Mini has.
The Power Mac G5 has more HD space, expandibility in the future, more RAM capability, ability to run two displays, etc.... plus the dual processors can actually run some of the audio software better anyway.

Logic runs beautifully, as does Pro Tools. The Power Mac G5's were made for this stuff.
You would probably end up being disappointed with the Mini down the road.

As a long-time Mac user (over two decades) and "Mac Musician", I can tell you that you won't regret the Power Mac G5 purchase. Don't listen to warnings that some might give saying "the G5 will be 'obsolete' in a few years" or "the Mini is the 'future' of Macs"...etc, etc. There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a G5 and it will last you for several years to come.

The iMac G5 would be a bit more limiting like the Mini. Plus, you can get a Power Mac G5 for around the same or less if you look in the right places.

harmi11 · Jan 2, 2008

Thanks for the great advice photoguy and devil, im much more excited about getting the powermac g5 now. Would 1.8 dual core be enough? Just wondering though, would the base model new imac be a worthy competitor for the g5 or would it be better to stick with the g5 by any means until the mac pro is within reach? Thanks again for the input

take care

Harmi

D3v1L80Y · Jan 2, 2008

I have a single processor 1.6 Ghz G5 Power Mac with 1.5 GB RAM and a 1.67 Ghz G4 PowerBook with 2 GB RAM.
I use them both for recording music, as well as graphic design. I have absolutely no problem with either machine.
The dual 1.8 G5 would be a great machine for music production.
A new iMac would be a very nice machine as well. I would still go with the Power Mac though. The expandability is just something you can't get from an iMac of any flavor.

New C2D Mac Mini tough enough for PowerMac G5's

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