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Chrispy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 27, 2004
2,269
517
Indiana
Hey all. Now, I know there is obviously a large performance gain in going from a MacMini to a PowerMac G5 but my question is just how much. Here is what I do... As a small business I create DVD slideshows with music for events like weddings, graduations and other events. I currently use a Dell Dimension 4700 and it does a fairly good job when it does not lockup (GREAT gaming machine.. just ok with things like that). How much faster would iMovie and iDVD run on a 1.8GHz powermac G5 vs. a 1.4GHz MacMini with a superdrive. The powermac costs about twice as much but having the ability to upgrade makes it tempting. Any input from people who have experienced both would be great. Oh.. and the DVDs are usually from 30 to 60 mins long. Thanks for your insight!
 

macbaseball

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2005
987
0
Northern California
I'm not sure if you mean the single or dual processor.

The Dual Powermac will be a lot faster at compressing into MPEG-2 (Which is what the DVD is encoded in). It will also be faster in general. The single G5 will be a little faster, but I don't think that it will be a huge difference. Compare the benchmarks from Macworld. Don't read into them that much, but they will give you some idea about the differences.

Single 1.8 G5

Dual 1.8 (And other Dual Machines)

Mac Mini
 

jamdr

macrumors 6502a
Jul 20, 2003
659
0
Bay Area
Okay, get ready for some really rough estimates. Based on a few benchmarks I've looked at over at barefeats.com, I'd wager that the 1.8 GHz PowerMac G5 (SP) is about 30% faster than the 1.42 GHz Mac mini, at least when working with applications like iMovie and iDVD (anything that relied heavily on the graphics card would do much better on the PowerMac). You also made the point that the PowerMac is upgradeable, which is a plus. From what I've seen, the iMac G5 is not a huge leap forward in performance over G4 machines like the mini, so I would leave it alone unless the built-in screen and low cost are attractive to you.
 

macbaseball

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2005
987
0
Northern California
Chrispy said:
The powermac costs about twice as much but having the ability to upgrade makes it tempting.

I recently read that there wasn't going to be G5 porcessor upgrades (Something about them being to hard to get off the mother board or something like that). Although the Power Mac can get a new hard drive, more RAM, and a new video card, they're not as upgradable as they used to be. I would take that in to consideration, because before you could just put a new G4 processor in and give a machine new life ...
 

Chrispy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 27, 2004
2,269
517
Indiana
Hmmm found something interesting

Hmm.. I just noticed something sort of bothersome to me. The frontside bus on the single 1.8 model is only 600MHz :eek: The Dual 2.0 GHz model runs at 1GHz so I would imagine the 1.8 is noticably slower. But.. for 2300+ dollars I could be looking at a 15" 1.67GHz powerbook with a superdrive to hook up to my 2005FPW Dell monitor. How would such a PB do at this type of thing? Thanks all.
 

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,328
4,716
Georgia
Chrispy,

I have have both G4 and G5 computers and have used both for work in iMovie, iDVD, and Final Cut Pro. I must say that the difference between a G4 and G5 in these programs is remarkable. Especially when converting video to DVD in iDVD. Since you are running a small business doing slideshows with music. Then the performance boost of the G5 would greatly increase your productivity by lessening downtime for your machines.

The advantage of the powerbook is that you can make last minute changes to your slideshow at the wedding or other special event right before presentation. Which was a lifesaver for me at my friends wedding using a friends Powerbook.
 

panphage

macrumors 6502
Jul 1, 2003
496
0
Chrispy said:
Hmm.. I just noticed something sort of bothersome to me. The frontside bus on the single 1.8 model is only 600MHz :eek: The Dual 2.0 GHz model runs at 1GHz so I would imagine the 1.8 is noticably slower. But.. for 2300+ dollars I could be looking at a 15" 1.67GHz powerbook with a superdrive to hook up to my 2005FPW Dell monitor. How would such a PB do at this type of thing? Thanks all.
The G5 would be much faster, even the single. Since you're talking about bus, compare the 600MHz of the 1.8 single to the pathetic 167MHz on the powerbook. If you want the portability, by all means go for the PB (I did) but don't think it's going to compare with the G5 for bandwidth-heavy tasks. It'll be real similar to the mini. Same proc (type, not speed), same bus, same "slow" 5200 rpm P-ATA HDD, same lack of support for DDR.
 

SaleenS351

macrumors 6502
Dec 2, 2004
287
0
California
I can't believe the single 1.8Ghz PM is about dead even with the imac G5 1.8Ghz. Besides being able to upgrade the video card, there just doesn't seem to be that much of a difference to push me towards the PM, especially since I won't be doing any heavy gaming.
 

Coca-Cola

macrumors 6502
Dec 10, 2002
446
0
WA
Dual G5 gets my vote.

I think if you stand to be making a profit from your dvd movie making, I think the dual G5 would be the best route. It is a work horse made for what you will be doing. Additionally, you may want to check into tax-write-offs and business expenses.
 

Chrispy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 27, 2004
2,269
517
Indiana
panphage said:
The G5 would be much faster, even the single. Since you're talking about bus, compare the 600MHz of the 1.8 single to the pathetic 167MHz on the powerbook. If you want the portability, by all means go for the PB (I did) but don't think it's going to compare with the G5 for bandwidth-heavy tasks. It'll be real similar to the mini. Same proc (type, not speed), same bus, same "slow" 5200 rpm P-ATA HDD, same lack of support for DDR.

Wow! I forgot that powerbook has such a horribly slow system bus as compared to other computers by apple! That more than likely rules that out as an option becuase if I'm going to be spending over $2,000 on a computer I want it to have more power than that. The portability is probably not that much of an issue for that much of a hit in power. Thanks for the advice so far and feel free to keep your opinions coming.
 

SpaceMagic

macrumors 68000
Oct 26, 2003
1,742
2
Cardiff, Wales
Heh, glad I found this thread.

I rendered the same dvd on a mac mini 1.25 and a 1.8 single g5. The G5 is a LOT faster. As you know, DVD rendering is slow anyway.

In the grand scheme of things, I don't feel a great difference/none at all when using the mac mini and the g5 for ordinary tasks, (word, safari, etc etc). When it comes to CPU/GPU intensive tasks, then the G5 wins hands down.

PowerBooks are very good machines also, and I'm sure (without looking at benchmarks) the top end 15" PowerBook (with 128 card) will be better than the mac mini by a long shot also.

Coming from your Dell. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you get the G5. Plus G5s are beefy bruts :p Mac minis are plastic princesses.
 

slipper

macrumors 68000
Nov 19, 2003
1,561
44
Chrispy said:
Hmm.. I just noticed something sort of bothersome to me. The frontside bus on the single 1.8 model is only 600MHz :eek:
The early 1.8ghz powermacs have a 900mhz FSB. the new ones are underclocked.
 

sinisterdesign

macrumors 6502
Dec 10, 2003
422
3
atlanta
SpaceMagic said:
In the grand scheme of things, I don't feel a great difference/none at all when using the mac mini and the g5 for ordinary tasks, (word, safari, etc etc). When it comes to CPU/GPU intensive tasks, then the G5 wins hands down.

absolutely. i own an older dual 1.25GHz G4, a 1.6GHz G5 and a 1.67GHz Powerbook. since the G5 is only a single processor & the G4 is dual, they pretty much balance out as far as i can tell (i haven't benchmarked anything w/ them), but they're both faster than the brand new PB for intensive stuff.

the portability would be nice, but unless you really intend on working offsite a lot, i think the power & the upgradability (is that a word?) of the G5 (dual if you can swing it) would be the way to go.
 

Nomad

macrumors newbie
Feb 9, 2005
16
0
I have made this move. i currently have my mini 1.25 sitting in its box waiting for ebay. im so glad i made this move to the single powermac, i would never go back. Since i am an Alaskan resident, next october i will get whatever cheap dualy is out, but for now this PMG5 is really nice.

the system is noticeably faster in every aspect. i really like the upgrade path that the powermac supplies. i already have a 9600XT on the way to replace my 5200pro. i upgraded the ram, and will put in an additional hard disk this summer.

i can play WoW, and do everything i can do on my PC on this powermac. the Mini was not capable of WoW (world of Warcraft, fyi) the PMG5 is just better. if you can get a refurb its an even sweeter deal. :)
 

840quadra

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 1, 2005
9,254
5,966
Twin Cities Minnesota
Nomad said:
if you can get a refurb its an even sweeter deal. :)

That is what I did.. I got a Refurb Dual 2.0 and instantly bought upgrades for it, with the money i saved over a brand new Dual 2.0

the nice thing is, I still have applecare, and my warranty is just as good as a new PM.

the Referb computer I bough has NO damages, no scratches, and came plastic wrapped just like the Brand new G5's. I ended up with the 2nd Generation Dual 2.0. It sounds like I got it at a good time because the 3g 2.0 that may be announced later today, is supposed to come with Memory limitations of 4gb as opposed to my 8gb :)

Since I plan on keeping this for years, the more memory it can handle the better :)
 

Chrispy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 27, 2004
2,269
517
Indiana
Wow, I am surprised by the large amount of support for the G5. If I got one it would probably be the dual 2GHz G5 with the graphics card upgraded and 1 gig of RAM. This would cost about the same as the powerbook and would probably give a lot more bang for the buck. Down the road I can always get an iBook for any needed portability ;-) The 15" Powerbook is just sooooo expensive... and I find it hard to believe that it is really worth that much money compared to the G5.
 

Coca-Cola

macrumors 6502
Dec 10, 2002
446
0
WA
Refurb is sweet

Both of my macs are refurbished. It really is the way to go if you can wait. I only wish I could have a G5 powermac, and a way to make money from it. That would be a dream come true.
 

SpaceMagic

macrumors 68000
Oct 26, 2003
1,742
2
Cardiff, Wales
Coca-Cola said:
Both of my macs are refurbished. It really is the way to go if you can wait. I only wish I could have a G5 powermac, and a way to make money from it. That would be a dream come true.

don't we all ;)
 
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