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anonymous 6 April 2001

Hi all,

I have a G4 upgraded Mac 9500 running DP 2.7 (peripherals include ATTO SCSI II Card, 2408 mkII, 10k external hard disc, etc.) with 288 megs of ram.

I have read that putting in more ram takes strain off CPU. Just how much is enough? In my case, I try to conserve my CPU power as much as possible. For example:

Not using reverb plugins real time
Letting my ATTO card work as much as possible.

I never get close to using all my ram (according to configure studio set up in DP 2.72) while getting 30+ tracks with some plugins. Usually my CPU gets overloaded before I get anywhere near using all my memory.

Have I been misinformed? Should I put more ram into my computer?

I guess I really need to learn the proper interaction amongst processor, memory, system bus, etc. in the mac platform.

This question is due to my lack of such understanding.

Thanks for your input.

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Comments

anonymous Fri, 04/06/2001 - 15:51

No worries, we all have those days.. :)

Your 9500 has a 40 MhZ system bus. Your G4 card can only help so much in that department. You might have a backside cache running at 200 megs, but the system bus and the ram addressing stays the same.

I have a big PT rig running on your same CPU (but with a G3 card, not a G4) - runs outstandingly (sp?)........however, this is hardware acceleration, not host-based like your system. That's your problem. You have the right drive, the right ATTO, close to the right amount of RAM, but you have a 40 MhZ system bus...unfortunately, no upgrade card can upgrade your motherboard :)

I would suggest buying something like a used G4 400 (they're something like $1000 used now)...or a bluebox 450...you'll get much better results.

If you plan to keep your system, get as much ram as you can afford and the machine can handle. It's so cheap now it's hard not to...

Hope that helps,

Sean

anonymous Sat, 04/07/2001 - 17:41

I agree with Sean..you'll need a new computer to improve performance..ram is not your proplem. Keep in mind that a G4 single processor will not allow you to benefit from DP 3.0's upgrade to dual processor support (due to be released in a few months).

Just what I've heard dept:

A G4 dual processor with DP 3.0 can more than double plugin count with some manufactures (at least the ones I care about)

The G4 single processor will become the new Fankenmac. DualP upgrade cards will run about $900 and use up a slot (this is the boat I'm in) :(

anonymous Mon, 04/09/2001 - 12:26

Thanks guys,

By the way, which model mac are you using Chris? I should invest in a new mac in the near future, but, I really like my 9500 for now. Do you know if this can be upgraded to dual processor; and if so, which company manufactures the most stable one (it's really too bad Newertech went under)?

As far as the system bus is concerned, what are some tell-tale signs of "bottle neck" occuring?

Once again, thank you.

anonymous Mon, 04/09/2001 - 14:46

Which Mac to buy?

That's hot topic right now with the +700 processors coming out and all and I'm not really up on all that..I tend to stay about a year and a half behind the curve with computers ;)

I've got a G4 400 single processor and run about 24 to 32 tracks routinely with a couple dozen plugins. 3.0 will add dual support..so I'm outta luck unless I get something like the Sonnet DP card $900..It's rumored this could double my plugin count so it would probably be worth it.
If you could get a used G4 400 for $1000 and a Sonnet for $900 that's less than I paid for my Mac 8 months ago...MAN :eek: and I think that card runs at 500MHz!! New 533's are $2200..733's $3500

I'm not sure if you can boot your mac up to DualP..but I don't think so

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