How good is the iMac G5 compared to the Powermac?

[dferigmu]

I have two problems with the iMac G5: the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64MB SDRAM graphics card and 4X Superdrive.

Does it make sense to pay hundreds more for a Powermac to be able to have an 8X Superdrive and Radeon 9600 or 9800? I'm trying to stay under $2000 for a new Mac and I'm only a casual gamer, if even that. If I play games, I usually play video games.

 

[edesignuk]

If you play video games (using a console) why does the video card bother you?

4x write a DVD in about 15mins, I can live with that.

If you have no NEED for a Power Mac, and don't just have money to burn, then get an iMac!

 

[Elan0204]

I'm trying to stay under $2000 for a new Mac and I'm only a casual gamer, if even that. If I play games, I usually play video games.

If you don't want to play games on your computer, or are only a casual computer gamer, then the video card is no problem. I too greatly prefer console games to computer games, so the while having a nicer video card is nice, it isn't necessary.

Also, if you want to stay under $2000, there is no way you can get a PowerMac with a 17 or 20 inch display for that money. It sounds like you are much better off with the iMac G5. It's great, and I'm sure you will love it. I highly recommend the 20 inch model, and depending on how you configure it, you can stay around $2000. The cheapest PowerMac G5 is $2000 without a display, so I'd say the iMac is an excellent value.

The only thing is, you are going to want to put more than Apple's 256MB of RAM in there, so buy some extra RAM from Crucial or someother third party. Apple overcharges for RAM. Extra RAM is really the only thing you NEED to add to the iMac G5, things like Bluetooth and Airport Extreme are nice, but are luxuries.

 

[Mord]

refurb dual 1.8, 9800se, 17" display = cheap and fast as hell.

 

[jestershinra]

refurb dual 1.8, 9800se, 17" display = cheap and fast as hell.

Well...theoretically, at least.

Many refurb machines are still Rev. A, which, as we know, was plagued with freezing and sleeping and other problems.

That machine still isn't that cheap- I don't think you'd be able to escape under 2k. Apple doesn't have any right now, but I'd say around $1700 for the PM and between $350-500 for the 17" display. You may be able to get it cheaper from eBay though.

I think that vid card is fine for the casual gamer. I was planning on upgrading the 5200U in my PoweMac, but now I think I'll hold off until Tiger and see if its really necessary.

As for the SuperDrive...that really depends how many DVD's you burn. I've got an 8x, but I don't even use it that much. I will be upgrading to 16X soon or maybe I'll wait for 32, but to me its clear that the speeds are changing so quickly that its pointless to spend extra hundreds of dollars on something that will be half of the top speed in a few months. (case in point- LaCie is already selling an external 16X DVD burner for only $229) Remeber when 8x was the cream of the crop?? Wasn't that long ago.

 

[dferigmu]

Well...theoretically, at least.

Many refurb machines are still Rev. A, which, as we know, was plagued with freezing and sleeping and other problems.

That machine still isn't that cheap- I don't think you'd be able to escape under 2k. Apple doesn't have any right now, but I'd say around $1700 for the PM and between $350-500 for the 17" display. You may be able to get it cheaper from eBay though.

I think that vid card is fine for the casual gamer. I was planning on upgrading the 5200U in my PoweMac, but now I think I'll hold off until Tiger and see if its really necessary.

As for the SuperDrive...that really depends how many DVD's you burn. I've got an 8x, but I don't even use it that much. I will be upgrading to 16X soon or maybe I'll wait for 32, but to me its clear that the speeds are changing so quickly that its pointless to spend extra hundreds of dollars on something that will be half of the top speed in a few months. (point in case- LaCie is already selling an external 16X DVD burner for only $229) Remeber when 8x was the cream of the crop?? Wasn't that long ago.

Yeah, I don't really want to go the ebay route. You never really know what you're going to get. About the Superdrive, I'm mainly concerned with CD-R/RW speeds since I'll probably only burn DVDs for backup purposes.

 

[mms]

Fast, external CD-RW/DVD-RW drives are an option, and definitely don't cost as much as the difference between a PowerMac and an iMac. And besides, would you rather have the sleek, minimalistic iMac the size of a regular display or a huge PowerMac with the added space and cost of a display?

 

[Elan0204]

About the Superdrive, I'm mainly concerned with CD-R/RW speeds since I'll probably only burn DVDs for backup purposes.

Well, the drive burns CDs at 16x, which is still very fast. I burnt a 50 minute disc in about 3 minutes, so a full disk will take about 4:30 to 5 minutes. If that really isn't fast enough, then you can get a cheap external CD-RW, as mms suggested. CD-RWs only burn at 8x in the SuperDrive, so if you burn a lot of them, I guess that could be a problem for you.

 

[Sun Baked]

I'm trying to stay under $2000 for a new Mac and I'm only a casual gamer, if even that. If I play games, I usually play video games.

If you plan on it as a casual computer user, then either machine is fine.

If you plan on using the professional applications, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, etc. -- applications that make use of the 2nd CPU -- then the PowerMac would be a decent choice.