Powermac G4 X iMac G4

gdigger said:

I have an iMac G4 1.25GHz with 1.25GB Ram and am thinking about getting a powermac G4 with the same specs...1.25GHz and 1.25GB Ram....would the powermac be faster then the iMac with these configurations or would they be about the same? thanks

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Is is a Dual 1.25GHz?

Desktop hardware isn't subject to as many bottlenecks as you might encounter in notebook hardware. So yes, it could be slightly faster with higher-performance hard drives and more memory capacity.

If you want a PMG4, I'd look around for a dual-processor machine, preferably a Mirrored Drive Door (MDD) model.

If you're going with a G4, dual CPU is ALWAYS the better option. Even if it comes down to choosing between a single 1.25ghz or dual 800mhz.

I'd totally forget about the old, inefficient, bottleneck filled G4 junk and look for a single 1.8ghz G5 for $300.

Unless you can sell the iMac for more than the Powermac costs, I wouldn't bother. The speed difference wouldn't be noticeable I don't think.

Technically the Powermac would be faster, thanks to its L3 Cache (1 or 2mb, I forget ATM). The Powermac also has the ability to hold a faster video card. However, when it comes down to it, neither of these computers is going to be all that fast today, so it really depends on if you want to use a different monitor and not have to be stuck with the one on your iMac.

Well they will both be bottlenecked by their slow front side buses. At least the Powermac can be upgraded with faster SATA drives via a PCI card and can also change to a better/faster video card. The 1.25 iMac can only use IDE/ATA hard drives and is limited to the 64mb video. They both can be upgraded to a max of 2gb. The PowerMac can also upgrade the processor, which I think the fastest 3rd party was a 2.0ghz or a dual 1.8ghz from Sonnet.

Only good thing about the iMac G4 1.25ghz is the big beautiful screen. But only if you have the 20" model.... droools . I want one for my kitchen some day .