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RE: Using a computer as a live virtual synth?

Pro Sound Guy,

I'm running a 2002 Quicksilver G4. It was originally an 800Mhz single G4, but the previous owner installed a PowerLogix PowerForce dual 1Ghz G4 CPU daughtercard. It's maxed out with quality RAM and has a bootable SATA card for faster hard drive access.

Unfortunately, PowerLogix stopped updating the "CPU Director" software for this card after 10.4.8, so, although the processors and caches are fully functional under later OS versions, there doesn't seem to be any way to read the CPU temperature. I've tried various temperature monitor utilities, and they can't find it.

However, just touching the heatsink, it seems to be running cooler. This case is, in my opinion, one of Apple's worst designs in terms of airflow. It has three fans exhausting hot air, and the smallest of the three exhausts the air around the CPU heatsink. If the other fans are running too fast, they work against the CPU cooling fan. (The heatsink does have its own dedicated fan mounted on it in addition to the exhaust fan.)

Before installing the replacement power supply, the power supply fan ran fast all the time; now, it runs more slowly, and the air temperature of all the fan outlets is about the same. I also noticed that the Acbel power supply I bought that works correctly has Nichicon and Rubycon capacitors in it. The Delta unit that apparently wasn't working right used capacitors by manufacturers I've never heard of.

I've also removed the case's plastic back panel, and I'm thinking of removing the top plastic panel. They're merely cosmetic and trap heat.

(Thank goodness for the G5 case design: lots of airflow and a bare aluminum exterior--no plastic panels to insulate it.)

Using AU Lab, it seem to have enough processing power to run most plugins with no problems. GForce Minimonsta is something of an exception if you try to run it with lots of polyphony. Standard monophonic Minimoog is fine, and it's OK up to around 5-6 voices. GForce's default setting of 8 voices per patch, however, turns it into a CPU hog, but that's pretty much what most users have said about it. The 133Mhz memory bus speed of the Quicksilver is probably a bottleneck compared to something like my main computer, a dual processor G5.

My brother gave me an extra UPS unit from a batch he bought on sale for my family's business. Now, I just need another flat panel monitor--in black to be unobtrusive.

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