Will a 27" iMac C2D 3.06GHz 4670 suit my needs (upgrading from G5 1.6GHz PPC)

[Hellhammer]

Both grey install discs were inside the KB & mouse box. The first disc has Mac Pro written on it but the second doesn't. The first disc is stamped 2Z691-6201-A and the second is stamped 2Z691-6195-A. An iLife '09 disc was dropped-in separately, that's all.

Then you can't The first disk in the KB&mouse is OS X disk and the other one is iLife '08 disk. The drop-in disk is iLife '09 and that you can use in your G5 as well.

 

[ToTo Man]

Then you can't The first disk in the KB&mouse is OS X disk and the other one is iLife '08 disk. The drop-in disk is iLife '09 and that you can use in your G5 as well.

Bummer . Looks like I'll need to troll eBay then....

 

[Hellhammer]

Bummer . Looks like I'll need to troll eBay then....

Do you really need Leopard? Tiger is better for PPC Macs and Leopard is super expensive atm, at least 100$ for sealed retail box.

 

[ToTo Man]

Do you really need Leopard? Tiger is better for PPC Macs and Leopard is super expensive atm, at least 100$ for sealed retail box.

I'm not sure to be honest, I just want to a) maximise my G5's iTunes compatibility with a family member's iPod touch, and b) be able to update my web browsers to more recent versions (not much support for Panther these days! ). I looked at the retail version of Tiger last year but the $$$ was very high on eBay. Maybe the Tiger price has come down now that Leopard and Snow Leopard are more popular....

 

[ToTo Man]

I just installed the new RAM, giving me a total of 8 x 1GB, but the system is only recognising 4 x 1 GB. System Profiler says:

DIMM Riser B / DIMM1 Empty
DIMM Riser B / DIMM2 Empty
DIMM Riser A / DIMM1 Empty
DIMM Riser A / DIMM2 Empty
DIMM Riser B / DIMM3 OK
DIMM Riser B / DIMM4 OK
DIMM Riser A / DIMM3 OK
DIMM Riser A / DIMM4 OK

When I removed the Risers, each riser had 1GB RAM module fitted in location DIMM 1. I left this RAM where it was and simply filled the empty DIMMs with the 6 x 1GB modules I just bought. Did I do something wrong?

 

[Hellhammer]

I just installed the new RAM, giving me a total of 8 x 1GB, but the system is only recognising 4 x 1 GB. System Profiler says:

DIMM Riser B / DIMM1 Empty
DIMM Riser B / DIMM2 Empty
DIMM Riser A / DIMM1 Empty
DIMM Riser A / DIMM2 Empty
DIMM Riser B / DIMM3 OK
DIMM Riser B / DIMM4 OK
DIMM Riser A / DIMM3 OK
DIMM Riser A / DIMM4 OK

When I removed the Risers, each riser had 1GB RAM module fitted in location DIMM 1. I left this RAM where it was and simply filled the empty DIMMs with the 6 x 1GB modules I just bought. Did I do something wrong?

Two of the new ones are working so I would change their places to see where the problem is. Change e.g. the place of DIMM 3A to DIMM 2A

 

[ToTo Man]

Two of the new ones are working so I would change their places to see where the problem is. Change e.g. the place of DIMM 3A to DIMM 2A

Problem solved . I had to move the original Apple RAM module from DIMM 1B to 2A.

 

[Hellhammer]

Problem solved . I had to move the original Apple RAM module from DIMM 1B to 2A.

So all 8GB is now recognized by the system?

 

[ToTo Man]

So all 8GB is now recognized by the system?

Yep, all 8 GB.

While I was installing the RAM I also installed the two 2TB WD Caviar Greens that arrived today . I'll leave formatting the mirrored RAID until tomorrow because zeroing the drives will probably take a few hours.

PS - I clean installed Snow Leopard this morning too!

 

[Hellhammer]

Yep, all 8 GB.

While I was installing the RAM I also installed the two 2TB WD Caviar Greens that arrived today . I'll leave formatting the mirrored RAID until tomorrow because zeroing the drives will probably take a few hours.

PS - I clean installed Snow Leopard this morning too!

Nice! Noticed any difference after RAM upgrade and SL install? No rush in RAIDing/setting up the HDs, they are just storage so do it when you have time.

Enjoy your Mac!

P.S. There is MacRumors IRC now, so feel free to join the chat!

 

[ToTo Man]

Nice! Noticed any difference after RAM upgrade and SL install?

I think so. Boot up times seem a little faster and I prefer the GUI of Snow Leopard too. RAM allocation seems to be a bit more efficient too (Safari doesn't seem to 'hog' as much RAM as it did on Leopard. No problems identified so far. But of course I'm still just performing trivial tasks such as web browsing and iTunes. The real test will be when I get Logic etc...

P.S. There is MacRumors IRC now, so feel free to join the chat!

Thanks!

 

[Hellhammer]

I think so. Boot up times seem a little faster and I prefer the GUI of Snow Leopard too. RAM allocation seems to be a bit more efficient too (Safari doesn't seem to 'hog' as much RAM as it did on Leopard. No problems identified so far. But of course I'm still just performing trivial tasks such as web browsing and iTunes. The real test will be when I get Logic etc...

If you want to speed up boot and overall snappiness, try OnyX

 

[DoFoT9]

If you want to speed up boot and overall snappiness, try OnyX

ugh. no thanks

 

[macgeek18]

To say I'm due for a Mac upgrade is the understatement of the century. I've been using my G5 1.6GHz tower on a daily basis since I bought it as a refurb in 2005, and while it still does what is asked of it, I would like a fresh experience.

I was originally going to purchase a refurb'd MacBook Pro 17" C2D 2.8GHz from the online UK Apple Store, however as these are due to be updated soon, it might make more sense for me to hold off on the laptop until the summer by which time the prices of the current models will hopefully drop a little more.

Seems like the best value Mac desktops at the moment are the 27" iMacs. I'm torn between getting a refurb'd 3.06GHz/4GB RAM/4670 256mb GPU model, or a brand new TOTL i7 2.66GHz Quad with the 4850 512MB GPU.

I will be using this machine mainly for simple daily tasks (web browsing, Photoshop photo editing, iChat, iTunes, etc), but will also need to do some HD video capture and editing once I purchase a HD camcorder, and in the future may wish to create a home recording studio using Logic or ProTools lite, etc.

Having read several reviews it would seem that I wouldn't get the full benefit from the i7 CPU and 4850 512MB GPU unless I'm a hardcore gamer and do a lot of video editing and need really fast turnarounds. I don't game, and the video editing would only be occasional (e.g. holiday vids), so I'm thinking that a refurb'd 3.06GHz would do the job fine. I'd also be saving myself a whopping around £625 ($950US).

Only downside is that you can't appear to customise the refurb'd units in the online Apple store. The one that's on just now ships with 4GB RAM, so if I wanted more RAM I'd need to install it myself, and I don't want to be messing with removing the glass screen! Given that I've got 2GB RAM installed in my G5 1.6GHz running OS 10.3.9 (Panther), I'm not sure if 4GB would be enough on the iMac running Snow Leopard. What do you think?

PS - Would I be able to take my refurb'd iMac into my local Apple store and have them install extra RAM into it for me?

If you have living of 2GB of DDR in your G5,4GB of DDR3 will be more than enough for now.I was using 1GB of SDRAM on my PowerMac,then I got my MacBook with 2GB DDR3 and it's still way fast for what I need.

 

[ToTo Man]

Nice! Noticed any difference after RAM upgrade and SL install? No rush in RAIDing/setting up the HDs, they are just storage so do it when you have time.

Enjoy your Mac!

P.S. There is MacRumors IRC now, so feel free to join the chat!

RAID1 system now up and running. Took longer than expected to zero pass each HD (5 hours!!! ), and it probably wasn't even necessary but I did it just to be on the safe side.... Everything seems fine.

BTW - I updated to 10.6.3 foolishly before I read about all of the glitches mentioned on this forum. Fortunately I haven't experienced any of these issues..... yet!

 

[Hellhammer]

RAID1 system now up and running. Took longer than expected to zero pass each HD (5 hours!!! ), and it probably wasn't even necessary but I did it just to be on the safe side.... Everything seems fine.

BTW - I updated to 10.6.3 foolishly before I read about all of the glitches mentioned on this forum. Fortunately I haven't experienced any of these issues..... yet!

Nice! I updated immediately I saw the thread and no issues so far. Every update brings some kinda problems Good that everything runs properly

 

[DoFoT9]

RAID1 system now up and running. Took longer than expected to zero pass each HD (5 hours!!! ), and it probably wasn't even necessary but I did it just to be on the safe side.... Everything seems fine.

BTW - I updated to 10.6.3 foolishly before I read about all of the glitches mentioned on this forum. Fortunately I haven't experienced any of these issues..... yet!

congrats! glad its working ok how fast is the response time? a zero pass wasnt necessary but always a good idea for RAID. i should have done that to mine

did you get the universal update? or just the update through Software Updaet?

 

[ToTo Man]

congrats! glad its working ok how fast is the response time? a zero pass wasnt necessary but always a good idea for RAID. i should have done that to mine

did you get the universal update? or just the update through Software Updaet?

Response time seems fine, though again my data read/write activities are currently trivial (mainly ripping AIFF audio files at the moment). That said I occasionally get the 'spinning beach ball' when selecting a new track to play on iTunes, but I don't think this has anything to do with where the audio file is stored, I think it's more likely an OS or iTunes glitch or perhaps it's being caused by the artwork (I've only started allowing iTunes artwork to be downloaded on my new Mac Pro, didn't bother with it before on iTunes on my G5 (I'm moving into the 21st century at last! )

What do you mean by the universal update? I only ever get the updates via 'Software Update'. Is there another alternative?

 

[DoFoT9]

Response time seems fine, though again my data read/write activities are currently trivial (mainly ripping AIFF audio files at the moment). That said I occasionally get the 'spinning beach ball' when selecting a new track to play on iTunes, but I don't think this has anything to do with where the audio file is stored, I think it's more likely an OS or iTunes glitch or perhaps it's being caused by the artwork (I've only started allowing iTunes artwork to be downloaded on my new Mac Pro, didn't bother with it before on iTunes on my G5 (I'm moving into the 21st century at last! )

system prefs->energy saver. untick "put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible". that should fix it.

the spinning ball indicates that its waiting for the HDDs to spin back up.

What do you mean by the universal update? I only ever get the updates via 'Software Update'. Is there another alternative?

apple always releases two updates for these OS updates.
1. software updater method: your computer will search for the update that suits your computer, it will only download the essential drivers/kexts etc to upgrade your hardware. download sizes are relatively small - 300mb or so

2. you manually go to the apple website (macrumors has a link on its main page) and download the ENTIRE update from apple. it contains the drivers for ALL computers that are supported by the OS. this means you can transfer the disk image to any SL compatible computer and install it without having to do multiple downloads. file size for 10.6.3 is 760mb i think.

we have 4 computers that are on SL in our house, 760mb downloads are smaller then 4x300mb downloads (we have a 25GB download cap each month).

another, unknown, reason i do the universal updates, is because they always work! you hear reports of downloading via software updater that always fail - ive never had any problems going from the universal updates... just easier for my case.

 

[ToTo Man]

system prefs->energy saver. untick "put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible". that should fix it.

the spinning ball indicates that its waiting for the HDDs to spin back up.

Thanks for the tip. I remember switching this off in my G5 long ago to protect its HDs..... so long ago that I forgot about this feature.....

 

[DoFoT9]

Thanks for the tip. I remember switching this off in my G5 long ago to protect its HDs..... so long ago that I forgot about this feature.....

HA! havent heard that one before! forgetting about a feature

 

[ToTo Man]

HA! havent heard that one before! forgetting about a feature

That's what happens when you fall into a rut and use the same computer for half a decade!

 

[DoFoT9]

That's what happens when you fall into a rut and use the same computer for half a decade!

good point! quite a significant upgrade i imagine?

 

[Hellhammer]

good point! quite a significant upgrade i imagine?

I thought you want to bed! Or are you typing while sleeping?

Anyway, I bet it's a significant upgrade. By the way, do you still think that it was worth it to get Mac Pro over iMac?

 

[ToTo Man]

Anyway, I bet it's a significant upgrade. By the way, do you still think that it was worth it to get Mac Pro over iMac?

Definitely! IMO the only advantage the iMac has over the Mac Pro I bought is a great huge big 27-inch screen, assuming the screen works ok! No, seriously though, the Mac Pro I got wasn't much more £££ than the i7 iMac, and with the iMac I'd have been restricted in terms of adding additional HDs, firewire devices, etc, so yes I'm glad I went for the Mac Pro. Funny thing is, I ruled out the MPs at the beginning because I thought I wouldn't have been able to afford one. In fact, 2 weeks before I pulled the trigger on that refurb I swear the same or almost identical model was in the refurb store with an extra £1000 on the price, so I think I got lucky . I also got lucky with the RAM.... 3 brand new sealed Crucial 2x1GB pairs for a total of £80.00 ...