Home » forums » Discussion » PowerPC Macs

Running GarageBand on a B&W G3

Submitted by bmort on June 11, 2007 - 4:52am. PowerPC Macs

I've been a mac user since the late 80's (really) and have gone thru my share of models.... I have and older B&W G3 with a 1000mhz G4 upgrade (Sonnet) that my son is using, and I'd like him to be able to run GarageBand, with at least 3 or 4 live instrument tracks, and maybe a midi keyboard track, too.... anyone have any experience with this?.... It run pretty flawless on my mini (as almost everything else I run!) but we seem to be having some stability issues with the G3.... I know I should pony up and buy him his own mini, but he's a kid and I'm a cheapskate dad and I'd like to get the most out of my current hardware....

I know the G3 has a snail-like bus speed compared to anything out today, but in order to run the Sonnet card it has to be slowed even further!... is this an issue?....

I've been reading the forum responses and you guys seem to really know your stuff, so maybe one of you could kindly grace me with some good info....

most appreciated!!

» login or register to post comments | previous forum topic | next forum topic

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Smiththers's picture

i myself had a g4 upgrade in

Submitted by Smiththers on June 11, 2007 - 10:38pm.

i myself had a g4 upgrade in my B&W once. i would rather buy a new machine the spend that kinda money on an upgrade. too many bottlenecks on such an older machine.

» -Justin
EVGA 680i, E6850@ 3.4ghz, 2gb G-Skill, 8800gtx, OCZ 700w PS. 250gb + 500gb Seagate Sata, ASUS Sata DVDR.

login or register to post comments
Jon's picture

The Sonnet slows the bus spee

Submitted by Jon on June 11, 2007 - 11:10pm.

The Sonnet slows the bus speed? The stock bus on a B&W is 100MHz, which would be a 10x multiplier for your G4. Dropping to 83MHz would be a 12x and 66MHz would be a 15x. The specs for GB need FW and a DVD drive, IIRC, so that may also be an issue to get it installed.

» I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine. - Fritz Perls

login or register to post comments

Yeah, it slows down a bunch...

Submitted by bmort on June 12, 2007 - 1:46am.

The bus speed needs to be at 66mhz for the card to be stable (something I found out AFTER I bought the card!).... that was the reason I bought my mini in the first place.... I work with a lot of video apps and needed the higher speed..... the machine has both firewire and a dvd drive (although not an apple one)..... it seems to install okay but I just don't have much luck in making it run.....

»
login or register to post comments
iamdigitalman's picture

hmm, is that only the 1ghz G4

Submitted by iamdigitalman on June 12, 2007 - 5:43am.

hmm, is that only the 1ghz G4 upgrade that underclocks the bus? Because I have been thinking of upgrading my B&W (don't tell me not to, I have my heart set on it), and I was looking at either the 500mhz G4 or the 1.1ghz G3, if I can find it.

also, I run garageband on 400mhz, and it runs fine. of course, I only use one track to record my voice.

-digital Eye-wink

» iamdigitalman's Cleaning House Sale

login or register to post comments

Try their website

Submitted by bmort on June 12, 2007 - 12:32pm.

I haven't been there in some time so I'm not sure if their cards all require the slowdown.... as with a lot of upgrades, I was hoping to make a new mac out of my old one, but it didn't quite measure up.....

»
login or register to post comments