RAM's easy to upgrade, CPU's not. Get the 2.5G and 1GB of RAM. Upgrade to more RAM when you have more money or needed.
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DP 2.0 with extra memory or DP 2.5 with less memory
- Thread starter macharrington
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pighuddle said:
I get a free computer from work up to $4k for a contract I'm doing.. Buying a TOTL mac is the fastest way to eat up 4 grand!
By the way, I do need a new computer for the work I'm doing.. this date setback (mentioned in my sig) WILL MEAN more work for me to get my project done in time. We're talking 80 hour weeks here. So it's not like I can just sit on my old computer--giving up this G5 means giving up the contract (the breakpoint is the 14th, and one of the clauses IS technical setbacks). I HAVE to cancel if they don't get it to me before the week of the 8th, because I simply won't have the time to meet the deadline if it's any later.
pighuddle said:
But it's not 25% more power, and 20% more money is $450.
When used for every day tasks, ALL parts of the computer come into play, I wouldn't be surprised if it's only a 10% boost in photoshop and 5% boost in 3D Games.
Cinebench ONLY focuses on the processor, so naturally a 25% clock speed upgrade would bring the processor speed up *gasp* 25%.
However, for ALL OTHER TASKS, it would not be that much faster.
You'd be much better off spending the $450 on the GeForce FX 6800, because in tiger, that will make MUCH it faster. We're talking ~40% here.
Ive been reading threads and I know this question gets asked all the time. I am in the market for a second home computer. This will be my first Mac. I use Sun workstations at work. I am definitely looking for something I can build on. If this Mac works out for me, Ill be saving for the 30 (plus graphics card) and adding more ram next year.
Here is what I'm currently looking at:
1) The morning madness refurb blowout special
2) The military appreciation program
3) The education big bang sha-bang!
Primary Uses
So, what should I get?
Here is what I'm currently looking at:
1) The morning madness refurb blowout special
- $1999--Refurb 2.0 (rev-a I think)
- $150---Tax
- $450---2gb ram (crutial)
- ---------------
- $2600
2) The military appreciation program
- $2299--New 2.0
- $175---Tax
- $450---2gb ram (crutial)
- ---------------
- $2900
3) The education big bang sha-bang!
- $2699 2.5
- $205 Tax
- $450 2gb ram (crutial)
- ---------------
- $3350
Primary Uses
- Photoshop CS
- Flash
- Dreamweaver
- No Games
So, what should I get?
If you can get the 2.5, get it. In a few months you'll probably want to add more RAM.....and you can.......and you can continue to do this up to 8GB's. But in a few months or a year you will not be able to increase processor speed....probably not for a long while. But you'll have to wait for this one.
2.0 versus 2.5
I had the same dilemma and went with the "sweet spot", which is of course the dual 2.0. I had a lot of questions about the jet sounding fans which signals overheating in the dual 2.5's. This also means that the processors' life spans are going to be shortened if they are indeed overclocked 2.0Ghz chips. The watercooling sounds great as well, however, if the cooling unit fails for some reason its certainly not as simple as changing out a fan.
Bottom line is, both are extremely fast and will serve you well far into the future. All the hype about new lower powered chips is great, but in reality, it will be a while before that power is perfected or even realized. When it finally does happen, you'll be ready to update anyhow.
Save the cash, get at least 1GB Ram in the dual 2.0, and use the rest to upgrade into a great cinema display!!
Just my 2 cents..
I had the same dilemma and went with the "sweet spot", which is of course the dual 2.0. I had a lot of questions about the jet sounding fans which signals overheating in the dual 2.5's. This also means that the processors' life spans are going to be shortened if they are indeed overclocked 2.0Ghz chips. The watercooling sounds great as well, however, if the cooling unit fails for some reason its certainly not as simple as changing out a fan.
Bottom line is, both are extremely fast and will serve you well far into the future. All the hype about new lower powered chips is great, but in reality, it will be a while before that power is perfected or even realized. When it finally does happen, you'll be ready to update anyhow.
Save the cash, get at least 1GB Ram in the dual 2.0, and use the rest to upgrade into a great cinema display!!
Just my 2 cents..
i would get the dp 2.0. i know the 2.5 would technically be faster but not worth the extra $500. plus the complexity of the system is up a notch from the 2.0 since it is liquid-cooled. this tells me the chips are running _extremely hot_ and liquid cooling is a stop gap to tweak some more peformance out of the system. heat kills processors/electronics faster than bush kills iraqis. so the long-term reliability would be my main concern. a fan is much simpler mechanically than a water-cooling system so it is a win in my book for the 2.0.
i would ugrade the ram first, then the display and video subsystem before i got the extra .5ghz per proc. much better use of your money. seriously why bother getting a high-end mac if you can't couple it with at least a 23" cinema display? (yeah i know the 20" are respectable too)
but put at least 2gb of ram in that dp 2.0 and watch the performance ratchet up. it really depends though on the "sample" of applications you will be running. you know at any given moment what will you be using your computer for? games, video stuff, cad, checking e-mail, posting to macrumors? that is the most important question to ask first, what do i need this for and how much horsepower will i really need at any given moment. otherwise i think you are burning money for no reason.
but i personally am waiting for the dual-core 3ghz G5 machines. i know they aren't coming out until january but hey i can wait...
jaromski
i would ugrade the ram first, then the display and video subsystem before i got the extra .5ghz per proc. much better use of your money. seriously why bother getting a high-end mac if you can't couple it with at least a 23" cinema display? (yeah i know the 20" are respectable too)
but put at least 2gb of ram in that dp 2.0 and watch the performance ratchet up. it really depends though on the "sample" of applications you will be running. you know at any given moment what will you be using your computer for? games, video stuff, cad, checking e-mail, posting to macrumors? that is the most important question to ask first, what do i need this for and how much horsepower will i really need at any given moment. otherwise i think you are burning money for no reason.
but i personally am waiting for the dual-core 3ghz G5 machines. i know they aren't coming out until january but hey i can wait...
jaromski
G5 dual 2.5 higly recommended
The 1.25 bus.
Ram is cheap.
Drop the SuperDrive to save.
Do what you can, but get the 2.5 man.
The 1.25 bus.
Ram is cheap.
Drop the SuperDrive to save.
Do what you can, but get the 2.5 man.
bcorgan20 said:
I think you can't go wrong between the $1999 rev A dual 2 and the dual 2.5... but I think you can do better money-wise than Crucial. Barefeats.com did a comparison test of different brands of RAM in a dual 2GHz G5. The conclusion was that RAM brand makes no difference, and CL2.5 wasn't any better than CL3 RAM. I can't find the link but the article was from late 2003. Go to www.ramseeker.com and get yourself more RAM for the same money.