Need Suggestions/Comments on New System

[viclindsay]

I'm about to purchase a new Mac and wanted a little advice from the Mac community. Please let me know if you think there's something I should upgrade/downgrade or a component that could be swapped for another one at a lower price. All prices from the Apple Store are educational discount

2.0 GHz Dual Processor G5 (512MB, 250GB) -- $2,389
+ 1GB of Crucial RAM (2x512MB)-- $185
+ 250GB Western Digitial Caviar 250GB Harddrive -- $172
+ ATI Radeon 9600 XT -- (128MB) $45, (256MB) $315
+ Airport Extreme -- $71
+ Bluetooth Module -- $41

New 20" Cinema Display -- $1169

iSight -- $129

There's a couple other things, but I won't go into them. Basically, I'm looking for advice on the RAM, the second internal harddrive, and the graphics card.

Apple lists the two ATI 9600 cards, but ATI's website is only selling the 9800 now. It it worth going for that one? What's the deal with the NVIDIA card you need to run the 30" Cinema display?

I'm going to use the second harddrive as a mirrored RAID for automatic backup.

Thanks
Vic

 

[Abulia]

I have little Mac experience so take this with a grain of salt.

I'd shy away from the graphics card. The 9800 isn't that new (in PC terms) and you're paying top dollar for something already lagging behind. I'd be more inclined to get the $45 upgrade and wait for the "next big thing" down the road. That is unless you're a power gamer.

I think wireless is a great idea for laptops, PDAs, and tablets; for a desktop the size of a PM not so much. Use the NIC and eschew the AirPort (unless you need it for something else). Course, now we're talking nickles and dimes. Based on the subtotal you've got there I guess money is no object.

 

[musicpyrite]

If your looking for a better price try newegg.com, they almost always have the best prices, and their reliable.

If your looking to ask how good you system is - Damn, thats not a bad one at all. You'll love it, and I'm jelous.

(but I still love my iMac more )

 

[Sabbath]

Make sure you have enough ram and hard disk space to keep you going but as they are standard pc parts don't get them from Apple and you can add them when you need them.

For the graphics card I would say go for the 9600, unless you are a heavy gamer, in which case consider the 9800, but it is a sizeable investment right now, when the next line of cards are around the corner. The GF6800 (30" graphics card won't be out till August and I doubt you want to wait that long?) it does seem like a good card however, significantly faster than the ATI 9800 but how it will compare to the ATI x800 on mac we will have to wait and see.

 

[thehuncamunca]

think your prices are slightly off, cause they don't match the educational ones
looks like a great setup, i just don't think you'll need the wireless card and i'd recommend the 9600 for the extra $45 unless you are a serious gamer (in which case you probably already have a ps2 xbox or PC and won't need a better graphics card on your mac)

I'm about to purchase a new Mac and wanted a little advice from the Mac community. Please let me know if you think there's something I should upgrade/downgrade or a component that could be swapped for another one at a lower price. All prices from the Apple Store are educational discount

2.0 GHz Dual Processor G5 (512MB, 250GB) -- $2,389
+ 1GB of Crucial RAM (2x512MB)-- $185
+ 250GB Western Digitial Caviar 250GB Harddrive -- $172
+ ATI Radeon 9600 XT -- (128MB) $45, (256MB) $315
+ Airport Extreme -- $71
+ Bluetooth Module -- $41

New 20" Cinema Display -- $1169

iSight -- $129

There's a couple other things, but I won't go into them. Basically, I'm looking for advice on the RAM, the second internal harddrive, and the graphics card.

Apple lists the two ATI 9600 cards, but ATI's website is only selling the 9800 now. It it worth going for that one? What's the deal with the NVIDIA card you need to run the 30" Cinema display?

I'm going to use the second harddrive as a mirrored RAID for automatic backup.

Thanks
Vic