iBook G3 500 or PowerBook G4 400

gargamon · Post by **gargamon** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 3:50 am

I know this question may not be relevant here since it's not directly about Pulsar, but it is a problem so I will ask it anyway.

Does anyone know which computer will be best suited for musicmaking, the iBook G3 500 (Combo) or the PowerBook G4 400 (they are about the same price)? Is the AltiVec more important than the extra speed?

I will use the portable macintosh as the heart of my home studio (as sequencer) and my PC (with Pulsar) as a multi instrument (Reaktor, Modular2 etc). And the freedom of taking the heart of my studio with me ... ah, think of all the birds out there that will fly directly into my music.

peripatitis · Post by **peripatitis** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 9:03 am

Hi i have a similar problem since i am concidering to swich from p.c to the Ti laptop.I have heard though that a laptop isn't as powerfull as the equivelant computer,perhaps because of the low speed of
the hard drives so perhaps an external one would be needed.If though you intend to go on and use it as the core of your system(i haven't decided to go in that direction yet)i would go for the most powerfull one, the g4
because you have to take into concideration that you cannot later upgrade your laptop to
a G4 and although now might seem adequate , in a few years it might not.I am also concidering one of the red submarine laptops
that seem to be the only tested solution if someone wants to use a laptop p.c. for audio.
I was asking about their top model , P3 1Gh,
512mb ram 40mb ram and they said that with a good soundcard they have managed to run 80 audio tracks (www.sub.co.uk).In dns studios online there are some benchmarks for p.c.'s and mac with logic(i am a cubase user myself)
that say that untill now they found the most
capable processor to be the p3 1gh , thats why i am still concidering the p.c. although they haven't tested yet the dual processor G4
at 800Mh(www.digitalnaturalsound.com).
The idea of a portable studio is very tempting although if you concider that you'd have to carry a external soundcard , a midi interface and perhaps an external drive or a
storage drive(cdr) isn't as portable as i thought.If you have any other info i'd like to hear them since i am still concidering

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 9:15 am

I agree with the above... I'd probably get a Titanium G4 fully spec'd up, or a RedSound (or whatsit called) just as specified.

However I sort of prefer rackmount desktops, since you can house multiple DSP cards like Pulsar, SCOPE, LUNA, Oasys, UAD-1 etc all in one box

janila · Post by **janila** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 9:50 am

The G4 400 is a lot faster than the G3 500 in the iBook. The megahertzs don't tell anything especially when compared to x86 processors. The G4 400 is faster than any P3.

I have the iBook 500 DVD and I intend to use it in a portable studio setup. The G4 would be better but atleast where I live in the price is almost double the price of the iBook.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 9:58 am

The G4 400 

Ummm... no.

Have you tried 1,200mhz P3 yet? But even a 1Ghz should be roughly equivalent.

jupiter8 · Post by **jupiter8** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 10:33 am

If the program is'nt Altivec optimized then thereis'nt a big difference. But Logic and Reaktor is (amongst others). Then you'll have a signifcant increase in performance. The G4 has a 100 Mhz bus compared to 66 Mhz on the iBook so even if the G3 500 might be marginally faster on non Altivec apps. it still loses in bus speed so G4 wins either way.
Plus the G4 has a much bigger screen,looks better (iBooks are kind of ugly) and so on. If you can get a G4 for the same price as the iBook ,congratulations, get that one.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 10:48 am

Yeah I'd want a black or titanium mac notebook, I can't stand those ugly translucent colors. But some people love em

To each their own...

Jupiter8 what mac are you running?

peripatitis · Post by **peripatitis** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 2:20 pm

This isn't true about the mac superiority in terms of speed against p.c.'s , as i stated in my previous post at dns studio online they've made benchmarks for both p.c and mac with logic and they found out that a p3 at 1gh is faster than a G4 at 733, and even faster than a dual processor 500mh G4.
Just visit the site and you'll see that i am right.Mac's at this point have only one advantage which is total compatibility comparing to a p.c. , so that if you have a problem you'll find easier the cause.In p.c.'s you have to check out all the individual component's of your system.
Mac could be the legend , myth , that you seem to feel it is only if it didn't have any problems which if you check out different forums like the s.o.s one you'll
find out that this isn't the case

Air_PoLLo · Post by **Air_PoLLo** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 3:12 pm

Dear Peripatitis,
I own 3 G4's (one of them is a quicksilver G4 867Mhz) and 2 PC's.

Since I use lots of realtime mixing, I was forced to buy the expensive mac platform.
The G4 and PC are totally different in performance, mac being the winner, but then again, my latest mac costed me 3100USD, and as you might have figured it out has more power than I've ever seen!

No joke! I could get more VST plugs outta the 400Mhz than my 1Ghz P3. Now these figures are only valid with use of audio, but the frames per sec on "unreal tournament" are about the same with my PC (1Ghz ).

So a G4 400 is very much like a P3 1ghz, but I need to check the true speed with this G4 867.
"FLY!2k " Gives me 10-15FPS with a ghz PC. With the mac the figure was 35-45 FPS, as you can see, it's a very big difference. Please have in mind that these new G4's are EXPESIVE 64-bits machines....

Well, what do I know? I just own them, I'm objective anyway.

jupiter8 · Post by **jupiter8** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 4:01 pm

Jupiter8 here running a Mac G4/400 (not powerbook and most definitly not an iBook) and i could'nt care less if a Pentium 3 1 gHz can run more or less plug-ins then mine.

It probably can't but who cares

[ This Message was edited by: jupiter8 on 2001-09-27 17:03 ]

peripatitis · Post by **peripatitis** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 11:05 pm

I don't know why you don't bother in taking a look at the benchmarks that i stated but what the heck.I am not saying that p.c.'s are better computers than the mac's but the gap isn't what it used to be and the price is a big factor for many people , but people shouldn't be confused believing that by purchasin a mac would solve all their problems and they'll be having the feeling of a limp when they'll be using the mouse.
Personally i am thinking about swiching to a mac for two reasons compatibility and metasynth but in the same way mac users might want to purchase a p.c. for gigasampler or acid.

gargamon · Post by **gargamon** » Thu Sep 27, 2001 11:08 pm

Thanks!

I guess I'll go for the PowerBook G4. And with that a good Midi and a good Audio interface (I guess Firewire is the thingie nowadays, any ideas anyone?) just to have a good (preferably all digital) communication with the rest of my studio setup.

So the thing is to have the power (for VST instruments and plugins) to be creative enough out in this sad world of ours (it's not a matter of answers as much as asking the right questions - the inspiration I mean) and to have some good enough sounding midi-parts to unleash my mind on it.

Ah, and then to return to the studio for mixing etc, but that's another smokey chapter ...

jupiter8 · Post by **jupiter8** » Fri Sep 28, 2001 2:58 am

The reason i did'nt bother to look at the benchmark is that it does'nt matter to me. I want a Mac as my main computer, end of story.My second one might well be a PC (probably, hmmm....most certainly)
And depending on who you ask the Mac wins one time and the PC another, so who do you trust ?
For me it is more a matter of taste, i don't like Cubase so i use Logic instead.

And these threads of who is the fastest/best is boring the hell out of me.

peripatitis · Post by **peripatitis** » Fri Sep 28, 2001 3:39 pm

Jupiter:I am not trying to convince you to swich to a p.c. i was just trying to give Gargamon
another posible sollution to a problem that also have.I am concidering to drop my p.c. and go for a titanim laptop and in the same time perhaps chaging my main sequencer from v.s.t. to logic and while examining all the threads i saw this logic site with benchmarks for both platforms.
cheers

Air_PoLLo · Post by **Air_PoLLo** » Sat Sep 29, 2001 2:54 am

I'm looking for forums discussing logic (mac). let me know.

Michaelj · Post by **Michaelj** » Sat Sep 29, 2001 7:24 am

i run 2 pulsar 2 cards on a MAC G4 450.
I also have a Powerbook G3 400 with firewire.(This little machine is a great portable studio)
I run VST and Reason on it.
(I have done 2 songs completly with
my powerbook. (sometimes the easy litle studio setup
with programs like reason can be the FUTURE HIT !!!.

If you wanna have a portable studio
and you are not a millionare.
This modell has a very great price today, becasue the Killer G4 powerbook is out.
you can get a Powerbook G3 (pismo)
400 or 500 with firewire, usb, 14.1 monitor.
support for double monitors, DVD.
for about 1000 US.
(here in Sweden, )

I use my powerbook for alot of videoprojekt with DV cameras.
and I also have a ext firewire drive on 40 GB to move between the G4 and Powerbook.

I guess alot of people can work with PC computers just fine -:)
but Im a MAC LIFESTYLE person, and
I just like the way they work and... loooks
he he...

/Michael

I would like to have Air PoLLos new Quicksilver G4...

[ This Message was edited by: Michaelj on 2001-09-29 08:25 ]

Air_PoLLo · Post by **Air_PoLLo** » Sat Sep 29, 2001 1:28 pm

To all swedes with mac in here:

http://www.99mac.com