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About to purchase new G5 Powermac, couple of questions.

J

.Joel

macrumors member
Original poster
May 10, 2005
95
47
Hey all,

I currently have a 12" Powerbook, 1.5ghz, I am about to sell it as I no longer require a laptop. Initially I thought I did but it isn't a nessecity now.

I am looking at the single cpu 1.8ghz Mac G5. I don't need a dual, it is fast enough. I am just curious, as to what sort of graphics cards they run. Am i able to go to a retailer and purchase an agp or pci express card and run in in the system or not ?

I work at a retail computer outlet, so it works out cheaper to downsize to a cdrw, not superdrive, then purchase a Pioneer109D and install it myself and I still save about $50. Small things like this make the single G5 appealing etc.

So just curious about the video / graphics slots on the motherboard of the G5s ?

Regards,
Joel
 
You can get the dual 1.8 PM in the sales section for $1700 and $1500 with an educational discount. Thats what I did and I love it. You can also get a dual1.8 in the refurb section for $1500. Or you could get the SINGLE 1.8 for $1500. I dont think it would make any sense to choose the single when the dual can be had for the same exact price.
 
IF they are still available down there, I would go for the Rev B 2.0 Dual tower

Educaton priced @ $1699.

See education store RED TAG SALES

If you get it quick enough, there's also a $100 education purchase rebate.
 
FFTT said:
IF they are still available down there, I would go for the Rev B 2.0 Dual tower

Educaton priced @ $1699.

See education store RED TAG SALES

If you get it quick enough, there's also a $100 education purchase rebate.
Click to expand...

I was told in another thread that items in the sales section do not qualify for that $100 education rebate you speak of. I asked because I purchased a PM from that section like the 28th and was pissed at first but was told that I couldnt get it from there. I was going to call Apple and see if they could qualify me but since I cant, I wont.
 
benwa02 said:
I was told in another thread that items in the sales section do not qualify for that $100 education rebate you speak of. I asked because I purchased a PM from that section like the 28th and was pissed at first but was told that I couldnt get it from there. I was going to call Apple and see if they could qualify me but since I cant, I wont.
Click to expand...

I guess I'll find out eventually on the rebate.
I thought the only qualifier was an education store purchase
within the specified dates.

My printer is shot, so a friend is mailing me the rebate coupon.
 
Joel Theodore said:
Hey all,

I currently have a 12" Powerbook, 1.5ghz, I am about to sell it as I no longer require a laptop. Initially I thought I did but it isn't a nessecity now.

I am looking at the single cpu 1.8ghz Mac G5. I don't need a dual, it is fast enough. I am just curious, as to what sort of graphics cards they run. Am i able to go to a retailer and purchase an agp or pci express card and run in in the system or not ?

I work at a retail computer outlet, so it works out cheaper to downsize to a cdrw, not superdrive, then purchase a Pioneer109D and install it myself and I still save about $50. Small things like this make the single G5 appealing etc.

So just curious about the video / graphics slots on the motherboard of the G5s ?

Regards,
Joel
Click to expand...

To actually answer your question, the single 1.8 has PCI slots and an AGP 8x slot. It does not have PCI Express, so if you want to maximize your graphics bandwidth in that machine, you would have to buy an AGP 8x card, and it has to be designed for the Mac, so don't go down to your retailer and buy any AGP 8x card.
 
I wouldnt consider the Single 1.8 $1500 right now since you can get the Dual 1.8 for $1700 without an edu discount. $200 more to get a dual machine, you would be stupid not to.
 
I am in the same boat but on the higher end

Dual 2.3
ol school dual 2.5
or outside ballpark pick 20" imac

I have a 19" crt monitor hooked up to a mac mini currently
 
Rocksaurus said:
To actually answer your question, the single 1.8 has PCI slots and an AGP 8x slot. It does not have PCI Express, so if you want to maximize your graphics bandwidth in that machine, you would have to buy an AGP 8x card, and it has to be designed for the Mac, so don't go down to your retailer and buy any AGP 8x card.
Click to expand...

Thanx for the information!

Just to let others know I want a LARGE screen. But the iMac now does seem better value for money ;) :eek:
 
Does the dual 1.8 in the sale section have 4 ram slots or 8? im debating between that or the new 2.3 dual.

i can alway upgrade the graphics card later if i need to, and also the HD.

How much is one of those 16x superdrives if i wanted to swap that out?
Also, is bluetooth something I can also add myself, or do I have to take it in. Since I will be upgrading everything, it just might be more worth it to get the new 2.3 since it already has a larger HD, better video card, and faster superdrive. All I would need is more ram.
 
The "Rev B" 2004 1.8 dually and the "Rev C" 2005 2.0 dually have the same 4 GB RAM/PCI restriction sharing the same motherboard.
The "Rev B" 2004 2.0 dually and the "Rev C" 2005 2.3 dually are your best bets if you don't want those crippling upgrade restrictions.

I purchased the "Rev B" 2004 G5 2.0 dually as the best deal overall for $1699
education.

I added another 512MB's of RAM to bring it up to 1GB and spent the rest
on my fantastic 24" Dell HD display.
 
FFTT said:
The "Rev B" 2004 1.8 dually and the "Rev C" 2005 2.0 dually have the same 4 GB RAM/PCI restriction sharing the same motherboard.
The "Rev B" 2004 2.0 dually and the "Rev C" 2005 2.3 dually are your best bets if you don't want those crippling upgrade restrictions.

I purchased the "Rev B" 2004 G5 2.0 dually as the best deal overall for $1699
education.

I added another 512MB's of RAM to bring it up to 1GB and spent the rest
on my fantastic 24" Dell HD display.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a pretty sweet setup. Congratulations.
 
I wish my photography skills weren't so lacking.

g5dellwhiterose5ok.jpg
 
lazyboy922 said:
How much is one of those 16x superdrives if i wanted to swap that out?
Click to expand...
Choosing the older combo drives instead of the new 16x superdrives would save $100 (or $90 on the education store). I feel the older combo drive is a better option for now since dual layer discs are still priced around $5 (for DVD+R dual layer) and $20 (for DVD+RW dual layer) per disc! In the next couple of years the media prices would come down drastically (and so would the prices of the drives). The write speed of the current superdrives for dual layer discs is 2.4x, which would really suck! Even while considering the faster write speeds for DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW, I feel more comfortable with the older combo drive for now. Getting a faster dual layer drive next year might be a better option.

lazyboy922 said:
Also, is bluetooth something I can also add myself, or do I have to take it in.
Click to expand...
You should be able to add the bluetooth option later by yourself. But do you know what you're going to use the bluetooth for? If you're going to use it for a wireless keyboard+mouse, then buying them all together with the wireless input package from Apple makes sense. It comes to $99 for the bluetooth plus wireless keyboard and mouse. If you add bluetooth separately, you would be spending around $79 just for the bluetooth card and an additional $50 or more for the wireless keyboard+mouse.
 
Thanks for the help. I think I am just going to go with the 2.3 after all. in the long run, i think it will be worth it.

Thanks!
 
Question.. one last one...

Is it possible to add a Pioneer / Liteon DVD RW, normal IDE DVDRW to the units ?
 
FFTT said:
You can flash the stock 8X Superdrive models to 16XDual layer.

You just need to search the forums.

I'm sure there's a post at XLR8yourmac.com
Click to expand...

Can this mess anything up or sometimes not work 100%??

Why wouldnt I want to do this?
 
Brandon Sharitt said:
For what you get the single 1.8 GHz PM G5 is a really bad deal. It got skipped in the last round of updates.
Click to expand...

I understand this... however ;)

For me the main key issues here are screen realestate. With the 1.8 I can put a rather large widescreen LCD attatched to it. Secondly, it is upgradable HDDs and ram. I work for one of Australia's leading PC retailers, so for my own personal purchases parts are quite cheap. This means it is cheap for me to throw in a couple of 400gb seagate sata hdds etc. And a couple of gig of ram. The unit itself is already fast enough. I would love to own the iMac instead, but the size of the screen, even the 20" isn't enough to layout all my palettes etc.
 
Joel Theodore said:
I understand this... however ;)

For me the main key issues here are screen realestate. With the 1.8 I can put a rather large widescreen LCD attatched to it. Secondly, it is upgradable HDDs and ram. I work for one of Australia's leading PC retailers, so for my own personal purchases parts are quite cheap. This means it is cheap for me to throw in a couple of 400gb seagate sata hdds etc. And a couple of gig of ram. The unit itself is already fast enough. I would love to own the iMac instead, but the size of the screen, even the 20" isn't enough to layout all my palettes etc.
Click to expand...

Well if your mind is set on the PM than you have to get the dual1.8 in the sales section for ONLY $200 more than the single. I know I am repeating myself in this thread but I would hate to see anyone buy the single when the dual is so close in price and EQUAL if you are eligible for the educational discount.
 
I have looked through the site and can't seem to find the "sales" section ... ?
 
Joel Theodore said:
I have looked through the site and can't seem to find the "sales" section ... ?
Click to expand...


cwerdna said:
Go to store.apple.com, scroll to the bottom and look for the red SAVE tag on the right side.
Click to expand...


If only us Aussies were so lucky. We do have a "Sales" section but it's not like the US store in that it just has a few measly special offers and no refurbs. :(

Maybe have a look through this list for something good.
 
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