GHz's or Pixels?

[evil_santa]

I looking at getting a G5 in the next few weeks, now i just can't decide what to go for. In my price range is a dual 2ghz with 23" screen (£2,390) or a dual 2.3ghz with 20" screen (£2,243) as its only about £150 in it I just can't make my mind up. I will also be upgrading from FCP to FC Studio, as I need to learn Motion for work. I also use Indesign, Photoshop & Dreamweaver, but not a power user.

What ever I get I will have a second 250gb HD & a 2gb memory.

I currently use a G4 733 with 17" display.

UPDATE: What I ended up getting (http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=1540251&postcount=32)

[iindigo]

I looking at getting a G5 in the next few weeks, now i just can't decide what to go for. In my price range is a dual 2ghz with 23" screen (£2,390) or a dual 2.3ghz with 20" screen (£2,243) as its only about £150 in it I just can't make my mind up. I will also be upgrading from FCP to FC Studio, as I need to learn Motion for work. I also use Indesign, Photoshop & Dreamweaver, but not a power user.

What ever I get I will have a second 250gb HD & a 2gb memory.

I currently use a G4 733 with 17" display.

I'd say go with the 2.3Ghz with the 20" myself.

[macbaseball]

I looking at getting a G5 in the next few weeks, now i just can't decide what to go for. In my price range is a dual 2ghz with 23" screen (£2,390) or a dual 2.3ghz with 20" screen (£2,243) as its only about £150 in it I just can't make my mind up. I will also be upgrading from FCP to FC Studio, as I need to learn Motion for work. I also use Indesign, Photoshop & Dreamweaver, but not a power user.

What ever I get I will have a second 250gb HD & a 2gb memory.

I currently use a G4 733 with 17" display.

I'd go for the Dual 2.3 and a 20 inch screen. The extra RAM slots are a bonus, plus the extra speed. I'll be picking this combination up in the next few months.

Personally I don't need two full documents side by side. I like how on the 20 inch you can have a web page and a word document open. That's good enough for me. I don't know if you need this capabilty, but if you do, it the only reason I'd get a 2.0.

[tobefirst]

have you thought about hooking up your 17in as a second monitor? you could do that with a 20in and have the best of both worlds...screen space and processing power.

[Lacero]

I'll take screen real estate over Ghz any day. You'll be more productive on your end. Since the monitor is what you use to interact with your computer, it's more important than any spec your computer has. As for 8 RAM slots, do you think you'll need more than 4GB anytime soon?

Also remember from a financial point of view, your monitor will keep it's value longer than a computer. Computers depreciate so much that within a year, your computer would lose $600-1000 of it's value, whereas your 23" monitor would lose $100-$200?

[macbaseball]

Also remember from a financial point of view, your monitor will keep it's value longer than a computer. Computers depreciate so much that within a year, your computer would lose $600-1000 of it's value, whereas your 23" monitor would lose $100-$200?

That's a really good point. I never realized that, but it's very true.

[evil_santa]

have you thought about hooking up your 17in as a second monitor? you could do that with a 20in and have the best of both worlds...screen space and processing power.

Unfortunately I damaged my screen last week, its now got a half inch hole in it! I was installing a DVD player on a shelf above the computer & dropped the player, its sharp corner smacked into computer screen. :mad:

I will proberbly still keep the g4 as a music server.

[macbaseball]

I will proberbly still keep the g4 as a music server.

Why not sell it and then use the money to get a better PM - bigger HD and video card.

[asif786]

Unfortunately I damaged my screen last week, its now got a half inch hole in it! I was installing a DVD player on a shelf above the computer & dropped the player, its sharp corner smacked into computer screen. :mad:

I will proberbly still keep the g4 as a music server.

if you dont mind me asking, whats the 'liquidy' part of an lcd display like? (i'm guessing you poked a hole in an lcd, right?)

i've always wondered - is it like gel or something?

[evil_santa]

if you dont mind me asking, whats the 'liquidy' part of an lcd display like? (i'm guessing you poked a hole in an lcd, right?)

i've always wondered - is it like gel or something?
It put a dent in the outer plastic screen & in turn put a hole in the TFT sheet. its not punctured the outer screen. Its just bloody annoying to look at as its near the middle of the screen & has a discolored area around the hole. Im going to call up to find out if it is repairable at a reasonable cost.

[Chrispy]

I would say go with the screen if you think you will take advantage of the extra space. A dual 2.0 system is still one heck of a performer and you will probably only be buying a screen once for a long time. With the computer you can add upgrades to increase the speed but once you buy a monitor, unless you sell it and buy a new one you are stuck with what you have. Just my 2 cents :-)

[macbaseball]

With the computer you can add upgrades to increase the speed but once you buy a monitor, unless you sell it and buy a new one you are stuck with what you have. Just my 2 cents :-)

There aren't going to be G5 upgrade cards, unless Apple makes them.

[evil_santa]

Im think i will go to the london store to check things out today. One thing I have just though of is will the 23" fit on my desk! :D

[Mord]

There aren't going to be G5 upgrade cards, unless Apple makes them.


sonnet are currently developing them, all that needs doing is working out the thermal calibration

personally i'd go for refurb dual 2.5 + a dell 24"

[javiercr]

go for the pixels, the monitor will last for a long time and get enough memory, also 20" monitors will become more and more popular soon and with a 23" you'll have a little edge for a while which should make you feel better about the obsolescence of your stuff.

and if you like ugly hardware made of cheap plastic you can get a widescreen dell monitor for less than £400 (check aria.co.uk for offers sometimes)

[mad jew]

Assuming it fits on your desk, I'd go the pixel route. I don't think the performance difference is as relevant as the extra space a 23-inch screen offers.

[Mantat]

Go for screen. People who say to get teh Dell just havent look at the specs... That thing has as many pixel as a 23'', so what is the point?

If you arent going to use a PCI-X card, the 2.3 has no interest over the 2ghz. The performance gain is minimal.

Also, if you are working with FC and Motion, you will need screen real estate as much as you can, trust me on that! Also, the 23'' is the minimum to see hi def HD full screen. It might not be common right now, but it might be soon... So make sure that what ever screen you buy can display it. I am not talking about HD but Hi def HD which is much higher rez...


Good luck!

[Mord]

the price tag, the 24" costs like half the price, the dell 24" is not yet available in the uk but it should be soon, for the price of one apple 23" you could nearly get three dell 20" displays (3x 380 = 1140) and put the third one on your 733MHz G4 or get a pci radeon 9200 and run it on your g5, personally i could not stand a dell monitor and the next monitor i buy will be an apple 23" it's all down the personal preference, but if you dont mind having a dell display it's a much better deal.

[James Philp]

Wish I had the moula to do this (witout blowing all the savings I guess!).
I think it really depends on what you intend to use your PM for!
When video editing, bear in mind (as said before) that 23" is the requirement for Hi-Hi Def., bat also that you'll want as much power behind te picture as possible to drive that video.
It may be3 worth saving a little longer and getting both! - Buy the Dual 2.3 now, and just use it with the b usted screen until you can put together the ultimate package of the 2.3 and the 23"!
23" - 2.3 Mpixel
20" - 1.76 Mpixel
That's a 30% increase, but a 90% increase in cost - tough!
Looking at those stats, it's temping to:
i) Go for the 20" - Apple is best!
ii) Look elsewhere (though I know how much it pains me to think of a dell next to a PM!)

[Platform]

sonnet are currently developing them, all that needs doing is working out the thermal calibration

personally i'd go for refurb dual 2.5 + a dell 24"

They are ???.......that's very good... :rolleyes: :D

[Platform]

I would go for the screen space.......the difference between the 2.0 and 2.3 is not that much anyway for what yoiu are doing :rolleyes:

[evil_santa]

A bit of a disappointing trip to the apple store, it was quite packed & couldnt get near any of the g5 machines as they were all being used by people checking their gmail accounts ! :( The salesperson I spoke to wasn't a video specialist so couldn't help me on the question of speed. Right now Im am drifting towards the bigger screen. Im got to ring up my insurance company to find out if the old screen is covered for accidental damage, though the guys at the apple store said it would be cheaper to buy a new 20" than repair the old 17"

Maybe I will just have to run up the credit cards & get the 2.3 & 23" :D

[matticus008]

They are ???.......that's very good... :rolleyes: :D

Help, I don't get it. Why would this be a good thing? If you have a PowerMac G5, you could just eBay for a faster processor later. What is the purpose of the upgrade card?

[James Philp]

Help, I don't get it. Why would this be a good thing? If you have a PowerMac G5, you could just eBay for a faster processor later. What is the purpose of the upgrade card?
Can you just upgrade the processor at a whim? I thought this was not possible?

[matticus008]

Can you just upgrade the processor at a whim? I thought this was not possible?

So the upgrade card would allow you to replace the CPU in a more "plug and play" way than recalibrating the machine for the new, faster processor? (You can upgrade the PowerMac CPU, it's just a little bit tricky.) I guess I could see the value in that, then.

[Mechcozmo]

I'd vote for the GHz... its harder to upgrade that the pixels.

Get a Dell 20" now and when you have more money get an Apple 23" screen, or just get 2 Dell 20" screens. That would be extremely helpful, more so than a single 23". And you can upgrade them later for Apple's 23" displays...

Same with RAM. Get however much now (not from Apple!) and then upgrade it later, slowly.

[Abstract]

sonnet are currently developing them, all that needs doing is working out the thermal calibration

personally i'd go for refurb dual 2.5 + a dell 24"

I'd go for a dual 2.7GHz + a Dell 24" :)

[evil_santa]

I can't do dell thing. I've had such a hellish time moving from a G3 to a Dell XP at work, I just couldn't look at a dell monitor on a mac. I know its only a monitor but its just not right! The apple screens look so much better than black plastic.

[Rocksaurus]

Help, I don't get it. Why would this be a good thing? If you have a PowerMac G5, you could just eBay for a faster processor later. What is the purpose of the upgrade card?

So if I buy a 2 GHz G5 for my 1.6, what will happen to the bus? Will my bus overclock itself 200 MHz? Will that fry my mobo? I figure purchased upgrade cards would solve the bus speed issue, unless there's so way I can do that on my own?

[matticus008]

So if I buy a 2 GHz G5 for my 1.6, what will happen to the bus? Will my bus overclock itself 200 MHz? Will that fry my mobo? I figure purchased upgrade cards would solve the bus speed issue, unless there's so way I can do that on my own?

How would the add-in card solve the bus speed issue? It's not a whole new motherboard, which is what you would need if it were a limitation of the existing motherboard. I'd think that since it's locked to a ratio (1:2 or 1:3), that it's the same hardware and that since other people have gotten it to work (sort of) that it's something Apple deliberately crippled.

[Rocksaurus]

How would the add-in card solve the bus speed issue? It's not a whole new motherboard, which is what you would need if it were a limitation of the existing motherboard. I'd think that since it's locked to a ratio (1:2 or 1:3), that it's the same hardware and that since other people have gotten it to work (sort of) that it's something Apple deliberately crippled.

I guess I should have indicated that I was speaking theoretically. As it stands now, I don't think plopping a G5 that's faster than 1.6 GHz into my machine would work because my processor:bus ratio is locked, however, if there were upgrade cards made, they would only sell if they worked on older motherboards (the ones that need the upgrades). So, theoretically if an upgrade card came to market it would have to resolve the motherboard issue. As it stands now I don't see anyone on eBay doing this. How it would work exactly I don't know, but my point is that I see G5 upgrade cards as a good thing.

[evil_santa]

I went a bit mad and got the 23" display & a D2.7 G5. After the intel announcement I decided that I might want the machine to last a bit longer. So when it comes to replace the G5 in 4 or 5 years time , we will be well into the intel Macs.