Making The switch, Need to Buy G5 (Tower)

[Uma888]

Hi, im sorta new to this forum.
Iv been using windows for about 10 years (since i was ten )
Now iv come to a point where im sick n tired of windows, i know youv heard this before, windows just aint right for me.

i need power, so i was thinkin G5,
i will primarily be using this as a server and to edit n create webpages

heres the specs iv chosen
Dual 2.0ghz
512mb
160gb
Superdrive
Ati radeon 9600 xt 128
20" cinema display
Bluetooth
WiFi

all for £2,160.79 (with my student discount )

or
Dual 2.5ghz
512mb
160gb
ati radeo 9600 xt 128
2 x 20" Cinema Displays
wifi
Blootooth

all for £2,951.60 (with my student discount )

After choosing these i was told that the G5's are due for an upgrade (Dual cores )

I know i should wait, but can anyone tell me What difference these dual cores would make?

another thing id like to know, is that i have a radeon 256mb in my pc, would it work with the macs?

any ideas on what i should do?

Thanks for ya help

 

[sjpetry]

Dual cores will be much faster.

And if you spend almost 3 grand do you want a faster system to come out within a month or two?

 

[BigDogg]

Dual cores will be much faster.

And if you spend almost 3 grand do you want a faster system to come out within a month or two?

I agree. Wait a little while and see what new rumors arises..Also welcome to Mac Rumors!

 

[Lacero]

PowerMacs are due for a refresh very soon.

 

[Blackheart]

Welcome!

I agree with others, wait for a revision. Also, I'd recommend more than 512MB of RAM but as usual, don't buy it from Apple when you order; buy it 3rd party.

 

[psycho bob]

It makes me laugh how everyone now seems certain that the next Powermac upgrades will be dual core based. As for saying they will be much faster as a result of this that really has to be quanitified. They will only be faster in processes that utilise both CPU's and need to tranfser data between them. We currently aren't in a position software wise where 2 G5's can be used as one or even where there is a great deal of CPU interaction. With most software such a Photoshop both CPU's are set tasks to achieve and they go about them with the results being combined at the end. So while the new processors will be faster in pure GHz terms I doubt any dual core aspect will add hugely. If we end up getting dual dual cores G5's software will have to be written especially to utilise them.
From the systems you've specified you seriously need to leave plenty of money for RAM. 1Gb is minimum for genral OS X and iLife tasks. If you plan to actually use the machine for serious work plan on putting at least another Gb in there the improvement in performance really will award you. Next consider a better graphics card. While the 9600 is a good card Tiger and current pro software (which will be future consumer software) utilise it more and more and need all the help they can get. If you really plan on spending that much on monitors consider getting a single 23in to begin with (or even Dell's new 24in) and then adding later when money allows. Although 3 inches doesn't sound that great in practice it makes a big difference. I currently have 20 and 17 clear platic displays (the models before the new aluminium ones) and when I replace then (not for a while) I will get either a 23in or a 30in model to which I can add a second at a later date my current 20in will run palette duties while the new one will take other for the editing and colour correction work.
As for buying and when is the right time to remember that whatever you buy next will in all fairness age at the same rate. Even if we do get dual core machines next I'm hopeful that future revsions will use Cell based processors and software written to utilise them. Cell's will make a dual core look like it is the stone age if made use of properly. Lets face it a 3GHz dual core will look a donkey compared to a 6Ghz quad core introduced in 2007 So yes wait as long as you can but don't do so if 1. you need the machine or 2. because your affraid of not having the latest. In practice it is very hard to tell the difference between all the current dual G5 models unless you are rendering or encoding for hours on end. A lot of Pro's make it a point to not buy the current top model and certainly not first generation products (which the dual cores will be) to ensure trouble free operation and so they don't pay a premium just for bleeding edge technology.
Your coming from a Winblows world so any G5 will make you very happy.

 

[psycho bob]

Where did you get those education prices?
A 2GHz with 20in and that spec UK education is £2310.71
The 2.5GHz with 2x20in is £3231.77
Good luck with your purchase whatever you get

Reading your original post your PC graphics card won't work in the mac sadly.

 

[Uma888]

i got them prices today frm the student site (which can be accessed via an institution only )

anyways thanks for the quick replies

Dual Cores , i know its a new technology, ill wait for these to pop up then ill make my decision. (and ill be waiting to see if apple look into cell)

You talk about the dell 24", are they better more feasiable than the apple cinema displays? do they support hd? (PS link to them plz )

would it be better (being a student ) to get the dell flat panels? (i need two, need more space )

RAM:

Iv heard apple overcgarge for extra ram , so i will be buying the RAM from some where else.....

Software/OS related questions:
1) is Os X a full 64 bit OS?
2) What file system does Os X use?
3) Whats the life cycle of Macs in general, cause pc are out dated a week after you purchase them
4) Are there G5 optimised versions of Adobe products (Photoshop + Image Ready)
5) Does fragmentation occour with macs?

Hardware Related
1) Is the one button mouse thing true?
2) Processor Ugradability> does it exist with macs?

How linux friendly is this? could this use apps like kopete (multi chat protocol client)?

thanks in advance

 

[dotdotdot]

You talk about the dell 24", are they better more feasiable than the apple cinema displays? do they support hd? (PS link to them plz )

The dell 24" are cool and bigger than the ACDs, but they are not the signature Apple color... The dells are cheaper but I like Apples LCDs better - the ones in the Apple store are much richer than other LCDs I've seen.

would it be better (being a student ) to get the dell flat panels? (i need two, need more space )

Being a student, yes, as you spend less money total.

Software/OS related questions:
1) is Os X a full 64 bit OS?

OSX Tiger will be a 64 Bit os... - wait for that as some have said wait for PM revisions, Tiger is worth waiting for.

3) Whats the life cycle of Macs in general, cause pc are out dated a week after you purchase them

Apples revisions are usually like a year after the product was released, but not always - the iPod is like 7 months, the PM has been about a year, and the eMac has lost count! lol

5) Does fragmentation occour with macs?

Yep, but I think they automatically defragment... also, they don't have as much fragmentation as Windows machines do.

Hardware Related
1) Is the one button mouse thing true?

What do you mean? The Apple mice are one button mice, that is true. But you can get any mouse you want for Apple computers... multi-button mice even. But it is just as functional as a two button mouse. The scrollwheel is what youll be missing... you can always get a mouse with 2 buttons and a scrollwheel...

Hope this helps! I answered everything I know that you asked to the best of my ability.

 

[Blue Velvet]

i need power, so i was thinkin G5,
i will primarily be using this as a server and to edit n create webpages

Power??
Server? Creating webpages?

64-bit?
Yea, those 64-bit webpages will really blow us away.

If you've £800 to spare on getting the 2.5, get it. Or maybe wait for the Cell... it sounds so realistic within the next 12 months

It's a server... if it was me, spend some decent money on a proper HD solution rather than bloody bluetooth...

 

[psycho bob]

LOL, just read what you will be using the machine for. Don't get to concerned about 64bit processing. It will make no difference to you. The only area it will effect is RAM and unless your going to be putting over 4GB in there you won't notice any change especially with todays apps.
For creating websites the Dell monitors will be great. I don't have a link I'm affraid but they are pretty easy to find on Dell's site. The only advantage to the Apple ones is SWAP certification which for colour work is important but only if you get them calibrated. For websites it makes no difference at all. The paper specs of the Dell monitors are far better then apples and they are much cheaper. The 24in is around the price of apple's 20 once discounts have been factored in.
Unless your going to be creating the websites unlike anything created in the world before the dual 2 will easily fulfill your needs. Photoshop at webpage sizes will be blasted by an iMac G5 yet alone a dual core 64bit 4GHz dual dual DVI monster of a computer. When you start working 16bit 10MP+ TIFF images over 10 layers while rendering a Motion project then you can talk about requiring power. Any of apples pro machines will easily fulfil your needs. Save yourself a fortune and get the dual 1.8 and max it out with RAM and a good graphics card.
With any luck apple will update machines as often as in the PC world. This might sound daft but the only reason in the passed macs have lasted as long as they have for some pros is because of the painfully CPU development by Motorola. Since the G5 has been introduced we have seen faster development, ironically even of the G4 as well, and with the bugs ironed out of the 90nm production this should be faster still. For what you need though the current machines will last you years. I know pros who do web design on first genration G4 Powerbook and Powermacs without problems.
From a processing point of view even 10.3 is a true 64bit point of view. Tiger will take this to a new level but it won't really effect performance at least not as a result of the 64bit improvements. Remember although your uni may be able to give you software you may well end up having to buy the mac versions, don't forget to factor this in. You can use any mouse with a mac so long as it is USB. There are currently no G5 CPU upgrades. Upgrading a G5 will be harder due to the thermal management so at the moment no one knows

 

[Mechcozmo]

Software/OS related questions:
1) is Os X a full 64 bit OS?
2) What file system does Os X use?
3) Whats the life cycle of Macs in general, cause pc are out dated a week after you purchase them
4) Are there G5 optimised versions of Adobe products (Photoshop + Image Ready)
5) Does fragmentation occour with macs?

Hardware Related
1) Is the one button mouse thing true?
2) Processor Ugradability> does it exist with macs?

How linux friendly is this? could this use apps like kopete (multi chat protocol client)?

1. OS X Tiger will incorperate 64-bits however it will also remain 32-bits in some areas. This is because if you tried to make eveyrthing 64-bits you must then move TWICE as much data and possibly slow down your computer. So renderers and the like will be made 64-bit (to take advantage) and your purdy little icons will stay 32-bit so that you can see them nice and fast.

2. OS X uses HFS+, also known as Hirerarheal File System Plus. It is a journaled systme.

3. I have a 7 year old Mac that runs OS 8.6 and it flies through that. But my PowerBook just wastes it. So, it about 5 years you will think, "I need a new Mac" but you still will have no crashes, etc. Hopefully. But if history holds true, that will be the way it is.

4. I believe they are in the process of coming. There are some apps that are G5 optomized and some that are not. In a few more years there will be more.

5. Macs auto defrag files that are less than 20 MB. And since most applications, etc, are a lot of small files, your hard disk is nice and defrag-ed. But if you do a lot of video work, be sure to set aside a different partition so that you can mess up that partition with your 18GB video clips. Works out better for the file system that way.

Hardware
1. Uh, yeah. And I like it like that.
2. Depends. The G4s were upgradable (towers, I mean). I think the G5s are to a degree but I'm not sure. The old PowerBooks had daughtercards for their processors, but that stopped with the G4s.


Sorry for spelling errors, I'm fixing up my WinXP POS and I hate not having that built in spell check... damn, I miss OS X and it is less than a foot in front of me.

 

[Uma888]

Again thanks for the replies.

I hold my order until tigers' release.
The dell 24" ? i cant see them on the dell UK site , are these us only? cause i can only see the 20" ones
(which are the Dell Ultrasharp 2001FP 20" Link : hxxp://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=12188&category_id=4009 ) are these the ones you talk about?

gettign software wont be a problem, i can get upto 70% off macromedia products

 

[psycho bob]

The Dell 24in was only just announced in the US so probably won't be on the UK site yet but when you decide to buy have a look there. Also check out Lacie monitors in many ways the choice of the Graphics professional.