2015 Imac vs G5 Tower?

[drfunk1986]

Hey guys, trying to get some opinions. I know of a place called "IbuildMacs" located at https://ibuildmacs.com where he builds you customized Mac units using old G5 towers. My question is, is it cost effective or worth it to go through this guy and build a customized G5 for video editing or would it be better to grab an i7 2015 iMac desktop? Seems a bit vague, but im looking at the cost difference and wondering if on the highest end of the upgrades on those G5's if they beat out the newer iMac models.

 

[keysofanxiety]

2015 iMac. No question. The G5s are still capable if you have lots of legacy audio editing software or plugins, but even Internet browsing on them is going to be disappointing compared to your smart phone.

Basically: G5 if there’s something specific you need PPC for. Anything else and it’s just not worth the energy bill.

 

[casperes1996]

I couldn't find the remade G5s on the page you linked to, but if they actually come with PPC CPUs they're useless for modern apps. If not, they are inherently hacky and might lead to issues with future macOS updates, and you might as well do a hackintosh.

So yeah. The iMac

 

[TC_GoldRush]

G5 is more fun! iMac 2015 is better by all means.

 

[Juicy Box]

I know of a place called "IbuildMacs" located at https://ibuildmacs.com where he builds you customized Mac units using old G5 towers

Are you saying he is using an old G5, gutting it, and putting in modern hardware? Or it is just a G5 with some custom parts.

From what I looked at, they look like Mac Pros. I couldn't find the G5.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Please tell us you are kidding us.

As smiley says the only pics are of Mac Pros.

 

[drfunk1986]

https://ibuildmacs.com/products/macpro-2010-2011-12-core/


My apologies guys, he is using a Mac Pro tower, however it still remains, you can customize these I believe with modern hardware. but I do not see an option for an i7. Is the i7 essentially the deal breaker?

 

[Juicy Box]

but I do not see an option for an i7. Is the i7 essentially the deal breaker?

The xeons are workstation and might have a lower clock speed than the i7s, but they are kick ass for multithreading.

There are other differences, but I think most people would recommend the Xeons over the i7s for video editing.

I am not sure about that website you posted from. Do you know anyone that purchased from there?

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Not an option the i5 or i7 as Mac Pros use different type of processors.

You will need if a 2009 model processors that will enable you to install High Sierra, as El Capitan is as high as the 2009 model goes natively. They will do a firmware hack so the machine will think it is a 2010 5.1 model which runs the latest operating system .

The best buy no doubt is the 2010 or later models.

 

[drfunk1986]

The xeons are workstation and might have a lower clock speed than the i7s, but they are kick ass for multithreading.

There are other differences, but I think most people would recommend the Xeons over the i7s for video editing.

I am not sure about that website you posted from. Do you know anyone that purchased from there?

Yeah a buddy of mine who's into music production however I'm looking simply for video editing software such as Adobe Premiere or After Effects. I do a lot of my design work with Photoshop/Illustrator on my 2015 MacBook Pro. Just not sure if getting a 2015 iMac is superior to beefing up one of these Mac Pros for the long run.

 

[casperes1996]

My apologies guys, he is using a Mac Pro tower, however it still remains, you can customize these I believe with modern hardware. but I do not see an option for an i7. Is the i7 essentially the deal breaker?

The customisations they offer do not give these machines modern hardware per se. The CPUs are of the same generation that the original Apple Mac Pros of the corresponding times - they are not new Xeons. Far from. The only modern xeon in any officially supported Mac is in the iMac Pro.

For that reason, CPU wise, the iMac is better. And by that I don't mean that the 12 core won't outperform the i7 in heavily multithreaded tasks. I mean that the i7 will have each of its 4 cores, much, much faster than each individual Xeon core (more than just the clock speed difference too), and anything that doesn't push all Xeon cores on at least the 8 core Westmere will not at all be worth it, as the iMac will run faster. – To make it worse, all GPUs you could plug in these will be bandwidth limited, as all but the cylinder (which is not customisable), use PCIe 2.0. You can still get it with a faster GPU than the iMac, but it will not perform as well as it could, and not as well as you've paid for it to perform

The iMac is most definitely the best option until the next Mac Pro is released. You also get a lovely 5k display with it to edit on.

 

[joema2]

...I'm looking simply for video editing software such as Adobe Premiere or After Effects...

Do you already have a subscription to Premiere or AE? You may already know this, but you can't purchase it outright anymore, you have to pay a monthly rental fee.

 

[Fishrrman]

Get the iMac, 2015.
Or get a 2017.

 

[drfunk1986]

Do you already have a subscription to Premiere or AE? You may already know this, but you can't purchase it outright anymore, you have to pay a monthly rental fee.

Yeah I have a subscription but have been working towards an upgrades of or now it's been on hold but I've put together a budget to get myself a new desktop to start editing again.
[doublepost=1517765077][/doublepost]

The customisations they offer do not give these machines modern hardware per se. The CPUs are of the same generation that the original Apple Mac Pros of the corresponding times - they are not new Xeons. Far from. The only modern xeon in any officially supported Mac is in the iMac Pro.

For that reason, CPU wise, the iMac is better. And by that I don't mean that the 12 core won't outperform the i7 in heavily multithreaded tasks. I mean that the i7 will have each of its 4 cores, much, much faster than each individual Xeon core (more than just the clock speed difference too), and anything that doesn't push all Xeon cores on at least the 8 core Westmere will not at all be worth it, as the iMac will run faster. – To make it worse, all GPUs you could plug in these will be bandwidth limited, as all but the cylinder (which is not customisable), use PCIe 2.0. You can still get it with a faster GPU than the iMac, but it will not perform as well as it could, and not as well as you've paid for it to perform

The iMac is most definitely the best option until the next Mac Pro is released. You also get a lovely 5k display with it to edit on.

thank you, this actually really clears up a lot of the questions I had. 2015 iMac it is
[doublepost=1517765134][/doublepost]

Get the iMac, 2015.
Or get a 2017.

thanks, yeah my initial decision would've been a 2015, but was trying to see if this route might save me money while also gaining some power. But 2015 iMac it is then or at least until the iMac pro comes out. I might just scrap to get that.

 

[casperes1996]

thank you, this actually really clears up a lot of the questions I had. 2015 iMac it is

You're welcome.

thanks, yeah my initial decision would've been a 2015, but was trying to see if this route might save me money while also gaining some power. But 2015 iMac it is then or at least until the iMac pro comes out. I might just scrap to get that.

I'm not sure if you wrote that wrong, since the iMac Pro already is out. May have just meant the Mac Pro?