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hoya87eagle91

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
76
1
(my first post, so go easy if I am not too sharp!)

It seems that the just-released dual 2.0GHz PM is priced about the same as the previous dual 2.0 model, which is still available through a few resellers, including Apple store.

It looks like the RAM, hard drive, and processors are identical in both machines. The major differences seem to be PCI-X in the previous model vs. PCI in the new model, and an 8x superdrive in the previous model vs. 16x in the new model.

Can anyone tell me if I should prefer one over the other if the prices are essentially the same (+/- $100) after buying a copy of tiger for the older model? What will PCI-X get me? I will be using photoshop extensively and video editing occasionally, and I would like to store photos, film and music on both DVD and or CD as well as backed up on an external drive.

I am writing this from my five-year- old Dell Dimension, and I'm ready to switch, darn it!

Thanks very much
 

tech4all

macrumors 68040
Jun 13, 2004
3,399
489
NorCal
hoya87eagle91 said:
(my first post, so go easy if I am not too sharp!)

It seems that the just-released dual 2.0GHz PM is priced about the same as the previous dual 2.0 model, which is still available through a few resellers, including Apple store.

It looks like the RAM, hard drive, and processors are identical in both machines. The major differences seem to be PCI-X in the previous model vs. PCI in the new model, and an 8x superdrive in the previous model vs. 16x in the new model.

Can anyone tell me if I should prefer one over the other if the prices are essentially the same (+/- $100) after buying a copy of tiger for the older model? What will PCI-X get me? I will be using photoshop extensively and video editing occasionally, and I would like to store photos, film and music on both DVD and or CD as well as backed up on an external drive.

I am writing this from my five-year- old Dell Dimension, and I'm ready to switch, darn it!

Thanks very much

First off, welcome to MacRumors :)

Now to the question. The only difference between the Rev B and Rev C are:

• 4GB max RAM on Rev C, while Rev B had 8GB Max.
• Rev C has faster DVD burner AND dual layer. For me the extra room isn't enough anyways.
• I think you get a better video card by default w/ more vRAM.

If that's all, I think that's the only differences. So unless you need more than 4GB ram and a lot of DVD storage (and faster), and a better (standard) video card, then the Rev B isn't much different.

Or you could get the 2.3Ghz model for the same price (I think) as the Rev B 2.0Ghz was.
 

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,328
4,716
Georgia
Currently you won't get much use out of PCI-X except for some high performance cards ie fiber channel or some high end video capture cards or some other workstation/server application. Though most are designed for PCI. And since both Intel and AMD are adopting PCI-Express there probably isn't much of a future for the expanded capabilities that PCI-X offers.
 

hoya87eagle91

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
76
1
And thank you too. Looks like the new 2.0Ghz for $2k is a great all around machine for the price. Any other opinions out there?
 

Kerry Sanders

macrumors regular
Apr 25, 2005
207
0
Hayden, AL
hoya87eagle91 said:
And thank you too. Looks like the new 2.0Ghz for $2k is a great all around machine for the price. Any other opinions out there?

That is exactly what I decided on and ordered today, the dual 2.0 GHz system. I upped it to 1 gig of RAM, got the Radeon 9650, and added the bluetooth and wireless options. I am looking forward to getting my first Mac.
 

zimtheinvader

macrumors regular
Jan 10, 2005
203
0
the capitol
I would argue the previous 2.0 dual, but that's based on the amount of time I have kept my current PM and the fact that I maxed the Ram 2 years ago and have since hit memory bumps/limits, though admittedly rarely.
 

OziMac

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2003
438
4
Me too

Hey

As another vote of confidence, I also ordered the new 2.0, though I got it stock and will be slipping in my 200GB SATA HDD and 1GB RAM left over from my iMac. Thought about upgrading the GPU, but I simply don't use it enough to justify it right now, and can always do so later - but the one bad thing for me about the shift away from the 5200 is that I can no longer use my ADC monitor without forking out for those damn DVI adapters that cost a fortune!

I probably would have considered an new 'old' 2.0 at a lower price if that option were available in Australia, but alas, Apple don't sell the refurbed/run-out stock here.

Nevertheless, I'm extremely happy with my purchase, given that I remember drooling over this machine nearly two years ago ;)
 

hoya87eagle91

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
76
1
I finally pulled the trigger, the decision was pretty much made for me: The new dual 2.0.

I had really hoped to buy the old version from Amazon to get the $200 coupon and to save the $160 tax, but they are currently sold out. The previous model was also sold out today at the Apple store in SF. I didn't want to wait for the Apple online shipment to arrive, so the new dual 2.0 it was. As I've been waiting for this for months, I had to get it over with.

I was a bit hesitant, given the 4MB RAM limit. I think I'll be fine for many years with that much RAM. On a good note, the store was chock full of open box accessories that I needed, such as a wireless card, bluetooth plug, and the airport express. I saved $80 on these. Thanks for help everyone!
 

mactonight

macrumors newbie
May 2, 2005
24
0
VT, USA
I haven't seen this addressed anywhere else:
The RevB from the online Apple store doesn't have a BTO option, is there still a way to have them add the internal bluetooth module? If so, would it be the new BT 2.0, or BT 1.1?
 
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