sell dp 2.5 G5 and wait for upgrade?

interpol said:

hi i need some advice.

i currently own a powermac with these specs:
dp 2.5ghz
160 HDD
4.5g RAM
6800ultra 256mbs
dvd burner 8x
TIGER...etc.

now i do a lot of video editing and animation. should i sell now, and get the dual dual cores when they come out. hoping they arrive within the next couple weeks?

at the moment im using my pc for a project so it won't hurt too much to not have a mac. However, would the cost of getting a new dual dual core(cross fingers), and specing it nicely, be worth it all the trouble? Or is there really no point in upgrading, becuase the dp 2.5 will still hold up?

if the new powermacs include ddr2, is that compatible with current ddr found in the powermacs? could i sell my current machine with 1.5g and keep the 3g for the new machine?

well any advice would be awesome.
thanks

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Keep what you have.

how can you explain the sentence "keep what you have"

its pretty self explanatory.

Just keep your machine, or drop it off a building and before you do that if you have 1GB RAM chips and you can just give me your video card for free.

Exactly. Keep it man. If you find they upgrade them, and you really want it, then flip it for a new one. You will still make out alright, and you wont be without a machine

Nobody here can answer your question.

That can be a dangerous game to play, selling your perfectly usable computer now (you didn't tell us you had any complaints) in anticipation of a product that doesn't exist, and may or may not come to exist. You'll never be able to stay ahead of the game.

interpol said:

hi i need some advice.

Click to expand...

Yo're going to get a lot of subjective advice here. You do realize that... right?

i currently own a powermac with these specs:
dp 2.5ghz
...
now i do a lot of video editing and animation. should i sell now, and get the dual dual cores when they come out. hoping they arrive within the next couple weeks?

Click to expand...

How is performance for you? Are you sitting around waiting for the Mac to do stuff? Or does the stuff that takes a while run while you are doing other things so it's not an issue?

if the new powermacs include ddr2, is that compatible with current ddr found in the powermacs? could i sell my current machine with 1.5g and keep the 3g for the new machine?

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Your PowerMac uses DDR PC3200 memory. The odds are if Apple goes to DDR2 memory that they will be using a faster memory chip. There's also a chance that if the don't go to DDR2 memory, they could still go to DDR PC4000 for a performance improvement. And DDR memory is probably not compatible with DDR2 and if it is compatible at the same bus speed, you would be restricting your performance.

My advice is not to sell your dual 2.5GHz system until you know you will have a replacement in your hands when you need it. Even if new machines are announced in the next week or so, getting a high end one could take a month depending on how fast people place orders.

If it were me and the current Mac was doing all that I needed, I would keep the current model. It would come down to cash flow. Only you know your finances.

Funny. I had the same setup as you and I just eBayed mine for $3700 (with 2GB less RAM, I'm saving those 2GB for the next one)!!! I too do a LOT of video editing and animation, but for the next couple months, all the projects in my pipeline aren't intensive and my Powerbook can handle it just fine, especially when hooked up to my 23". I heard rumors of a Dual Core system, so I just put the thing on eBay to see what happened. I couldn't turn down $3700. I'm perfectly content waiting. I'll admit, I took a gamble on the timely release of dual cores and lost, but my wallet isn't complaining, and neither am I. I just figure, every day longer I wait, hopefully the better the update will be. If not...oh well.

It would be quite risky to sell your machine since the Dual core G5 may or may not come. Maybe even never. However, as for keeping your memory if there is a switch to DDR 2 the current DDR is not physically compatible. DDR 2 uses 240 Pins to connect and ddr uses 184 pins to connect to the motherboard.

If Apple does release a dual dual G5 I doubt that prices of a used G5 will fall by any significant amount. Since it seems likely to me that a dual dual would only be a top of the line model. I assume this since when you look at dual core AMD and Intel CPUs they are appreciably more expensive than their similar speed single core counter part (intel 3.0Ghz $175 dual core 3.0ghz $321 at newegg) . It wouldn't be cost effective to make all models dual dual core. The other possiblity that may have more effect on price would be the top model G5 being a Dual dual core model while lower end and mid range models have their dual single core processors removed to be replaced with a single dual core processor.

The only forseeable reason I could see for apple switching all models for dual core 970's is if the increased volume leads to lower per unit prices, the pin out is changed for the CPU to allow for the greater number of connections needed to switch to DDR2, and/or the new northbridge allows for SATA 2 and PCI-E connections.

I would say keep it, there is not guarantee that the dual cores are coming. I know if I sold a machine like that and found out nothing is coming till Intel... I would be a bit upset.

Well, like i said...I just shipped mine out today after to good run on eBay. I know the next one I have will be equally if not far more impressive, and now I'm debt free until that day comes because I sold mine. Mine is an individual circumstance of course.

Keep it, who knows when the next update will be.

keep the machine...You will never be able to keep up with technology, its always changing. You could be waiting for upgrades that don't happen for a long time, so don't risk it, just use the FAST machine you have now.

I have a 2.7ghz G5 and 4 months after buying it i'm now finding it a little sluggish. I've just done an xbench and it on average scores 106 compared to a 2ghz G5 (at 100) !! The finder is having problems changing between windows and I get beachballs randomly with simple tasks. Personally I blame 10.4.2 and perhaps dodgy crucial memory.

I would freshen up your system when 10.4.3 is released, maybe do a clean install. Consider a new graphics card ?

Then If you want to wait for the next best. Wait for an Intel Powermac since graphics cards etc are likely to be better aswell as speedier processors (although I expect most software updates to intel won't be free)

David

aquajet said:

Nobody here can answer your question.

That can be a dangerous game to play, selling your perfectly usable computer now (you didn't tell us you had any complaints) in anticipation of a product that doesn't exist, and may or may not come to exist. You'll never be able to stay ahead of the game.

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tssh since when was a Dual processor 2.5ghz G5 a perfectly usable machine

on second thoughts... keep it. for now just dont get trapped into the "buy new mac, sell for an update" way of things. the cost soon adds up

I find it hard to understand why anybody would sell a computer that works just fine based upon rumors and wishfull thinking. I also do a lot of video and Audio editing on a 2.5 dual G5, if I did not have it I could not do my work. Even if Dual core comes out, I'd wait to see how it performs when compared to what I already own, before throwing my money at it. Also, the last rumor I heard was San Francisco in January, if I had to wait 3 or 4 months for a dream it would be a waste of time. Hey, but it's all just my thinking, to each his own. Good Luck.

Brian