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Help! Which route should I go used Mac pro or power mac g5?

Emitor

Emitor

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 30, 2009
12
0
Hello,

I own a white macbook from 2007 and have been using "Second Life" to help my dad design products and manage his company on "SL" I'm wanting to buy a used apple tower computer since the macbook can't even handle the demand "SL" is asking for via graphics and don't know which route to go towards. I've been wanting to upgrade my mac for some time and have finally got the money. My choices are;

1. Apple Intel Xeon/2x 2.66GHz Dual-Core Mac Pro 2.0/250GB SuperDrive-DL (7300GT 256MB)

Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" Processors
2.0GB RAM
250GB Hard Drive
DVD-RW/CD-RW SuperDrive-DL
7300 GT video card (256MB)
2- DVI ports (DVI to VGA video adapter NOT included)
5- USB 2.0 ports
4- Firewire ports (2-FW800, 2-FW400)
Ethernet port

For $1,382.38 via internet. (That's with shipping)

or

Power Mac G5 2.0 GHz

Dual 2.0 GHz processors

4 GB DDR SDRAM

240 GB of HD space (1- 160GB & 1- 80GB)

ATI Radeon 9650 Dual DVI out

Pioneer DVD-RW

OS - Leopard 10.5.8

Apple Keyboard & Mouse

For $800.00 on craigslist in my town.

-

Questions.

1. Is the 800 dollar G5 a good deal? Should I ask to reason with the owner if price is too high?

2. Is there graphics card out for the G5 that I can get that will handle "second life" with the graphics setting on high? What price range will they be in? Easy to find?

3. Should I not even think about buying the G5 and get the Intel? Also what would be the ideal graphics card to buy for running second life via high settings with this? What price range will they be in?

4. Do you have a better Power Mac G5 or Mac Pro that you are willing to sell for cheaper to help me get my first apple tower :D. Or know of a better place to shop?



Thank you for taking time to answer my question.

-James:apple:
 
Emitor said:
how so?

I see you own one, how does it disappoint?
Click to expand...

1. Its a PPC and Apple is slowly dropping support on PPC.
2. Your white macbook is probably just as fast as the G5.

The difference is you're getting a 6-year-old piece of technology with limited support, or a 2-year-old piece of tech, with full support.
 
Scippy said:
1. Its a PPC and Apple is slowly dropping support on PPC.
2. Your white macbook is probably just as fast as the G5.

The difference is you're getting a 6-year-old piece of technology with limited support, or a 2-year-old piece of tech, with full support.
Click to expand...

Ah thank you very much understand.

But is the intel 2.66ghz a good investment to get?
 
if ya got the money, go for the mac pro, the G5 as said already is pretty much out of date, it's not supported anymore, and intel is the future,

the pro should see you through for a good few years at least
 
Emitor said:
Ah thank you very much understand.

But is the intel 2.66ghz a good investment to get?
Click to expand...

From your original post, I'm assuming you are interested in the graphics-based benefits SL will offer. That Mac Pro is from 2006, and cannot easily/cheaply support newer PCI 2.0 Graphics Cards (according to Apple). I would buy the machine over a 2007 MacBook, but it won't be much of an upgrade, as the processors are 4 gens old and the RAM runs at the same clock as 2007 laptop RAM (667 MHz). If you can, save up for a 2008 Mac Pro (Harpertown), you will be much happier and it will future proof you as much as buying an outdated machine can.
 
Or if you wanted; I'd just say get the base iMac. Its $1200, has faster processers, faster ram speed, has a monitor included and also its graphics card is compatible with SL.
 
Techhie said:
From your original post, I'm assuming you are interested in the graphics-based benefits SL will offer. That Mac Pro is from 2006, and cannot easily/cheaply support newer PCI 2.0 Graphics Cards (according to Apple). I would buy the machine over a 2007 MacBook, but it won't be much of an upgrade, as the processors are 4 gens old and the RAM runs at the same clock as 2007 laptop RAM (667 MHz). If you can, save up for a 2008 Mac Pro (Harpertown), you will be much happier and it will future proof you as much as buying an outdated machine can.
Click to expand...

Yeah your right I'll just wait till the first of the year then and buy the newer one as a new years gift of happy birthday present to myself.
 
Scippy said:
Or if you wanted; I'd just say get the base iMac. Its $1200, has faster processers, faster ram speed, has a monitor included and also its graphics card is compatible with SL.
Click to expand...

I have a 23" HD Glossy LG screen already.
 
Emitor said:
Yeah your right I'll just wait till the first of the year then and buy the newer one as a new years gift of happy birthday present to myself.
Click to expand...

Hinty hint: If you find a good deal on the quad revision of the 2008 model there is a 2nd empty CPU slot waiting to be filled for cheap :D

You will be happy either way
 
What about a psystar? Or should I look away from them and pretend I never saw them lol.
 
I agree, the 2008 Quad Mac Pro is probably the sweet spot in the market right now if you can get one. It got EFI64 so kernel64 will also run on it and Windows64 will run without tweaks.
 
Techhie said:
For an average guy who has the money for a Mac Pro, I say that would be the better choice. Sure he may get more power, but along with that comes hassle. Does he really need more than the '08 MP has to offer anyway?
Click to expand...

500 bucks will get you a better more current machine that will run vanilla os.
 
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