Core 2 Duo IMAC vs G5 Power Mac

[bleufire]

I have been looking at getting a Mac for quite some time now. I have the funds and was looking at the new
Core 2 Duo Imac 20" with
2 gig ram
256 mb video
500 HDD

and lately i have been surfing on ebay for chucks and giggles and find alot of g5 Powermacs.
For Ex:
Apple PowerMac G5 - Dual 2ghz, 4 gb RAM 250gb
or
http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Power-Mac-G5-Dual-2-5-750-HD-2G-RAM-Manuals-DVDs_W0QQitemZ290110303532QQihZ019QQcategoryZ51036QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Which would be wiser? I would want to use Adobe CS3 on it but i am just starting out in school. they are roughly the same price if i went that route, i'm curious as to wether or not i would be kicking myself later on down the road for not having the core 2 duo and wishing i just got the Imac instead.

Any thoughts?

 

[mopppish]

From personal experience, I can say that a C2D at 2.16 or higher is roughly equivalent (and in some ways better than) a 2X2.0 G5.
That particular auction is confusing because it says 2.5 G5 in one place and 2.0 in another...
Anyway, if the price is the same, I would just take RAM into account. An imac goes to 3GB max. I would personally rather have the imac, but if you ever see yourself needing more than 3GB of RAM, then you'd have to consider the Powermac.

 

[zioxide]

Buying a PowerPC now would be such a waste. They're obsolete.

 

[Mr. MacBook]

iMac for sure. At least get a machine SOMEWHAT future proof, 3GB ram it, 500GB HD it, 256mb X1600 it, and make it the best, but it'll be better than Power Mac G5 in everything.

 

[IEatApples]

I have the iMac you mention, and it's great!

And, if the choice is between a PowerMac G5 & the C2D iMac, then you should go with the iMac, no question!

But, if you can, I think you should wait until June!

 

[QCassidy352]

Buying a PowerPC now would be such a waste. They're obsolete.

a waste? obsolete? That's not true! Just because Intel chips are out now doesn't mean G5s aren't useful! They are still powerful, 64bit computers that can hold 8 GB of RAM, decent video cards, and 2 hard drives. I don't really think that an imac with a 3 GB RAM ceiling, space for 1 HD, and no swappable HD is more "future proof." G5s are going to run leopard and one to two more OS updates past that, so we're talking years more support.

I'm not saying get the G5. the imac is new with warranty, can run windows, is a great space saver, and has a very powerful processor. I'm just posting to point out that there are pros and cons to both, and that people are being amazingly one sided about this.

 

[mkrishnan]

Just backing up Cassidy's point, I agree that the two big things that ought to drive you to go for the PMG5 are whether you want >>3 GB of memory, whether you want to be able to put a large amount of storage (> 1 TB) in it, and whether you want to use more than one video card and several displays. Those things would be strong indicators for the PMG5.

 

[BilltheCat]

I have a c2d

and would love to have a G5!

 

[Eric5h5]

I'm just posting to point out that there are pros and cons to both, and that people are being amazingly one sided about this.

Agreed. Also there's the point that I (and other people) have experienced better stability on PPC compared to Intel. I hope that Leopard fixes that, but in the meantime it's something else to consider.

As mentioned, it really depends on what you need exactly. Speaking for myself, I'd take that G5 over the iMac ANY DAY. It has an X800!! That beats the (non-upgradeable) X1600 in the iMac. More memory, more hard drive space, better graphics (plus it looks like you also get the OEM 9600 in addition to the X800), not a significant difference in CPU speed, and you can still expand it with more stuff if you want (PCI slots, 4 free RAM slots), whereas the iMac is stuck as-is. The only thing it can't do is run Windows. So freakin' what...it's a Mac.

--Eric

 

[mackstar]

I have both of these machines and I love both,

however I did by my G5 3 and half years ago, I am still staggered that it is still in the runnings and that it is holding up amazingly with performance, with this in mind I am planning to keep it another 2 years. I used to switch machines every 2-3 but I have no need to whatsoever as I am never frustrated by the old girls perfomance. But in truth it is 3 and a half year old technology.

Although I do find the intel macs snappier, more future proof, I have a feeling that they will handle CS3 a little better (I have no info to back this up - just a gut feeling). The unstableness of the intels I only find when running rosseta based apps. I do feel they are more future proof, the built in screens are great quality and take up less space, better looking and you have all your built in iSight - iChat is going to get even bigger from here. Warranty - 1year etc. I will keep mine for another 3 years.

As much as I love my G5 I would definitely go for the iMac.

Cheers

Richard

 

[aLoC]

I replaced my dual 2.0 G5 (rev A) with a 24" iMac 2.16 C2D and it is noticeably faster.

 

[tekmate]

I have a feeling that they will handle CS3 a little better (I have no info to back this up - just a gut feeling).
Cheers

Richard

This is only an issue if you need/want to upgrade to CS3. To be honest PS4 is still my favorite the one I feel the most comfortable using and I own 5, 6, and CS2.

 

[bleufire]

Wow

Wow! thanks to all that replied! I got the good idea here. I am worried about spending the cash and not having something that is future proof is the general thought here. I am a student trying to start out in digital media and such and right now I know that i won't need more than 3 gb ram for school. When i move on have a load that will increase then a PowerMac sounds like the choice.

I just had the idea that a PowerMac was a much better running machine than Imac and thought that because C2D was out that everyone wanted the bigger/badder/better/faster thing out in the market and are selling their old G5 machines, and for the same price, Why not if they are G5s and not C2D if they can do the same?

Thanks all to who contributed!

P.S. I am switching from a PC to join your guys world

 

[Fearless Leader]

The G5 are great computers. I love my tower (RevA). The CD are great chips. I love my MBP.

The imacs are basically beefy MBP's.

Both have 2gb of Ram.
MBP has dualcore CD 2.0ghz.
PM has dual processors at 1.8ghz. (both having a total of two cores)
PM has a 7800gt in it. 256.
MBP has x1600 128.


The power mac still out preforms the MBP in movie render/ filetype conversions
The power mac has better fps on WoW. and on a 23" apple display.
Photoshop the powermac is better.

but the mbp uses 80watts of power.
I think my G5 clocks in at about 700watts.
and well im using a laptop and its just barely behind the my desktop.

 

[NewbieNerd]

I'm thinking about getting rid of my CD iMac and getting a Powermac G5, as multiple monitors (external monitor to iMac doesn't line up due to iMac chin, so that's unacceptable to me) and probably more RAM are important to me. I'm thinking of selling now, getting a 2.0 or 2.3 soon (maybe right after WWDC?) for the home music studio, later in the year getting a Quad G5 for the music studio and hand-me-downing the other to work, and then probably all the way up to a Mac Pro sometime later next year, again passing the Quad on to work.

I think(hope) I can get a good price for the iMac now (as the CD vs C2D diff isn't huge and there is always the chance the iMac sees big changes soon, maybe form factor?) and get a good deal on a G5 soon, at least after WWDC, now that CS3 is out, hopefully with a decent bit of RAM already installed.

 

[mkrishnan]

P.S. I am switching from a PC to join your guys world

Well, one way or another, you're going to like it here. Welcome to the fams!