Get this on sale or wait for update?

[soloer]

So, with the updated G5's hopefully coming out soon, the school I work at is having specials on their in-stock inventory. One of their specials right now is as follows:

Dual 2.5Ghz PowerPC G5
1.25Ghz frontside bus/processor
512K L2 cache/processor
512MB DDR400 SDRAM
160GB Serial ATA
8x SuperDrive
ATI Radeon 9600 XT
56K internal modem

(I just cut/pasted the special, I'm not trying to state the obvious )

Price is $2199 (+ tax)

Is this a good deal? Or should I wait in hopes that there will be updated G5's on the market soon? I imagine one of the first questions will be "What do you plan on using it for?".. Well, it's mainly going to take the place of my Powerbook, which isn't quite beefy enough for some of the things I do. I plan on playing some games, doing a bit of graphics work, and general multitasking with a ton of applications open at once. Obviously I will upgrade the memory should I get this.

Advice wanted. Thanks!

 

[Sun Baked]

Take a look at the front page... and check out the regular price for you on the midrange dual (probably won't change with the new machines.)

All depends on whether the 2.5Ghz moves down a slot or is replaced with a cooler running 2.3Ghz machine.

 

[zelmo]

A great price for the computer, which sells for $2,699 EDU today.
Even if they release new spec's, most think there will be a smallish speed bump to 2.7, and that might drive this dual 2.5 to mid-range status, and this deal is still $100 below the EDU price of $2,299 (for the current model dual 2.0).

No matter what, that's a nice computer at a great price. How much more firepower than a dual 2.5 do you need for your uses?

 

[soloer]

How much more firepower than a dual 2.5 do you need for your uses?

Probably none, since an update to 2.7 wouldn't do much of an increase for gaming performance. One of my questions is, how good is the video card included with this deal? And how much RAM is optimal? I have 2GB in my Powerbook, so I'm sure I'd want at least that for this desktop as well.

 

[CanadaRAM]

And how much RAM is optimal? I have 2GB in my Powerbook, so I'm sure I'd want at least that for this desktop as well.

The optimal RAM has to do with the number of programs you run simultaneously, and the size of your data sets. Some off the cuff: Surf the Web and Appleworks, min 512 Mb, graphics, minimum 1 Gb, audio production 1 Gb - 2 Gb, video production min 2 Gb