Mac - G5 or Power Mac ?

[Booster]

Hi,
I'm working on a Macbook Pro, (2 ghz, GeForce 8600M GT) and found that it's almost impossible to upgrade the vram to something that can properly cope with processing loads of video.

I've seen a few G5's and other Mac desktops (dual core 2.5gHz) on ebay for about £300-500. It seems that these might be easier to upgrade, and I already have a couple of big screens I can use.

They're pretty cheap, is this a good idea? I'd like to run a Matrox Tripplehead2go from this new machine.

Can't afford anything new with multi-core processors etc.

Thanks for any advice.

[alfaleader]

They are very old, so performance will be bad (especially when you have a triplehead --> 3x the resolution)

[Booster]

I thought so.
There's no cheap way of doing anything

[stickygreen]

welcome to the world of VJing.....!

[devonmiles]

the last G5 before the introduction of intel macs can handle triplehead rsolutions and above without problems. the real problem is, support has dropped and you cant run any of the current software versions on it, like adobe CS5 etc, vdmx 7xx will run but a lot of core image stuff wont work. modul8 runs extremely well, especially when you put three graphics cards in it. madmapper, millumin and resolume aveneu and arena wont work. LPMT wnot work either. if you own one it makes a great backup machine but i would advise against buying one.

[alfaleader]

Better build yourself a computer, for 600€ you'll get a good basic machine that's multiple times better then an old G5.

[vanakaru]

I used to love old mac's. Specially for gallery installations. But no more after my 2ghz iMac 2006 just does not work reliably.
G5 was a failure as the CPU temp was uncontrollable. Liquid cooling leaks and destroys the CPU board. PSU dies without any reason. I would never recommend G5 to anybody.
If I ever use computer on installation i will get a proper machine. The time and trouble is just not worth of it.

[devonmiles]

thats an issue with the imacs. the powermac g5 is a really sturdy machine that you could throw in the trunk of a tourbus.
it would be still a competetive machine if not the lack of support by apple crippled it to total uselesness.
600 euros wouldnt buy you a good vj pc. a decent graphics card is 270 euro and thats the entry level as all the major vj apps are heavily GPU dependant nowadays. a powerfull graphics card requires a more expensive motherboard and a bigger PSU, all adding the overall costs. and then you wouldnt just stop at RAM, HDDs as every part can affect the performance of the others negatively of chosen wrong.

[Booster]

Thanks for the comments, really useful.

So, if I was going to go down the new Mac route, what would I want to be buying?

I don't have the cash for top of the range gear, but what would be an acceptable set up?

I imagine I'd be running Resolume or Modul8/MadMapper.