New PowerMac 1.8GHz Released

[MacsRgr8]

The NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT DDL graphics card will be available for order in early November.

Pretty much what I expected. Unfortunetly. I was going to write this big, long whine fest. But by the time I hit reply, there'd be a hundred people saying the same things. Ah well, maybe next month.

I hear you man...

I ordered the 6800 ULTRA DDL in July at a local reseller.... and they still have no idea when nVidia is going to deliver them...

Could be that ATi has launched their X800 series for Mac and even made it available before even one of those 6800 series come into this country

I also assume that the buyers of the 30" display get their very rare GeForce included before the GeForce 6800 ULTRA-only buyers get theirs.

 

[JasonElise1983]

Never happy

You know, i don't know why all of you complain so much about the price. Let's look back a couple of months. You could get a SINGLE 1.25Ghz PowerMac G4 with a 167Mhz FSB, 256Mb DDR333(which was a waste on the FSB), 80Gb HD, 64Mb ATI 9000, and a combo drive for $1299.

Now you can get a SINGLE 1.8Ghz G5 with a 600Mhz FSB, 256DDR400, 80Gb HD, 64Mb Nvidia GeForceFX5200, and a SuperDrive for only $200 more. I have to say that i think this is great. I do disagree with the FSB being crippled, but at $1499 ($1349 for me) i think it is great.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Decoy

This is a trade and switch product. You will see the more expensive PowerMac as a bargin and buy that one. They never will have a headless mac under a $1,000. Darn!

 

[isgoed]

It still aint a PC gamers competitor. For 1500$ you can get a 3ghz pentium, 6800GT and a 17" screen. (notice that it's still short on the screen and graphics card)

Good deal that the 6800 GT will become available in november. Maybe apple really wants to please the game enthusiast.

Just one problem: They downgraded the 9800XT to 25MB!
(BTW, a recent artice on macbidouille stated that the 9600XT is actually underclocked so it isn't even a XT, but more a regular 9600 or even an SE.

 

[wdlove]

Man, and they lowered the FSB too!!!!! Damn apple, just when I think you get the picture, you do this

Kimo

I hadn't heard any rumors, so this is a complete surprise to me.

We still have the awesome Power Mac G5 case and the Superdrive. It's still a G5, just another for the low end buyer.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Just one problem: They downgraded the 9800XT to 25MB!
(BTW, a recent artice on macbidouille stated that the 9600XT is actually underclocked so it isn't even a XT, but more a regular 9600 or even an SE.

You beat me to it!

What is this new nVidia card, the GT model? Is it even better than the 6800 now?

I know who would buy this. People who have a screen, have the space, and have a couple of PCI cards. Example: G4 tower owners...ditch the Sawtooth and buy this new G5! Keep your screen, keep the same amount of desk space, increase the disk space...maybe drop in there your PCI video card, have some extra power there...

This new G5 is NOT for new computer buyers, it if for the people who need to upgrade.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

*raises hand*

Can I be the first to complain?

Why would you get this over the iMac G5 that's the same price? You get a 17" screen... I guess there's the whole expandability issue but...

I guess you can put more RAM in the tower, better vid card, more HD space, and a few other quirks but... even the FSB is at the iMac G5 level.

There are those of us that have decent 17" or better monitors that the $1499 price point of the PM is sweet. Also the expansion capabilities is a bonus. The 4gb RAM is the main reason that I might look at this one.

 

[isgoed]

What is this new nVidia card, the GT model? Is it even better than the 6800 now?

No the GT is a slightly slower version of the 6800ultra. It is priced about 100$ cheaper, so the price/performance ratio is very good.

 

[segundo]

I can se that many of you are sceptical to the new Power Mac, but I must say that it has made me think twice about what to do. I have an iMac G5 (20 inch) on order that is shipping nov. 1. Now I'm thinking maybe I shoud cancel my order and get a Power Mac G5 and a 20' Cinema Display. It will cost me about $1200 more, but I get a display that can last for many, many years to come. Plus I get more expandability. But is it worth it? To cansel or not to cansel, that is the question!

I'm in the same boat. Maybe we should flip a coin?

 

[wdlove]

No the GT is a slightly slower version of the 6800ultra. It is priced about 100$ cheaper, so the price/performance ratio is very good.

So would it run the 30" Display? Putting lower grade items on the low end G5 is going to make it more confusing for the consumer.

 

[nagromme]

This replaces the outgoing G4 tower. That gap needed to be filled.

This is NOT "the entry-level Mac." It's not meant to be. That's the eMac and iBook.

An entry-level headless is a nice thought, but this isn't it. This is just an expandable G5 tower cheaper than previously available.

 

[Abstract]

So for the same price of an iMac, people are going to be willing to pay the money to get a computer that has the option of upgrading the GPU?

Does it make financial sense? Since you're not getting the LCD as with the iMac, and yet you're paying the same price, you're essentially paying $300 (or whatever the cost of the LCD is) for the "option" of paying more money for a better video card. So to upgrade the video card to something beyond the Nvidia 5200, you're paying an additional $300 (ie: cost of monitor) + the price of the GPU upgrade.

Doesn't it suck that in order to use an Apple with a better video card, you're essentially paying the cost of the card + $300 or so? If you don't need a better video card desperately, you're better off getting an iMac. If you need to get a better video card THAT desperately, you probably need a dual proc PM.

 

[almostCrazyasU]

I had to register to explain this to you!

good god guys! for the first time i felt I had to register, because no one is pointing out truly how stupid the cost of this machine is. some of you are trying hard, but its quite simple: you are an absolute imbisle if you get this powerMac instead of the iMac. here's the proof

lets just take the top iMac model with no added features as our example, that's $1899.
now, go and configure a powerMac with exactly the same specs (by upgrading to a 160GB HD) that's $1599...i guess that "saves" $300 but only if you already own a monitor ($300 for a 20" cinema display seems like a good deal to me)

so here's where it gets really pathetic: add a 20 cinema display to the powerMac total, even just for compare the two. It's the same display the top of the line iMac has already. The powerMac cost comes to, drum roll, $2898.

okay let me spell it out for those who still don't get it, for the exact same specs, monitor, FSB, EXACT! you are paying a $999 premium for a pretty silver (and humongous) BOX!

that should be enough to convince you, but some people are saying upgradability. is it really worth a thousand dollars out of the gate for the OPTION to upgrade, you still have to pay for the upgrade on top of that grand

if buying this new machine still makes economic sense to you, email me, i have some interesting investment optortunities for you

sincerely,
almostCrazyasU

 

[gekko513]

good god guys! for the first time i felt I had to register, because no one is pointing out truly how stupid the cost of this machine is. some of you are trying hard, but its quite simple: you are an absolute imbisle if you get this powerMac instead of the iMac. here's the proof

lets just take the top iMac model with no added features as our example, that's $1899.
now, go and configure a powerMac with exactly the same specs (by upgrading to a 160GB HD) that's $1599...i guess that "saves" $300 but only if you already own a monitor ($300 for a 20" cinema display seems like a good deal to me)

so here's where it gets really pathetic: add a 20 cinema display to the powerMac total, even just for compare the two. It's the same display the top of the line iMac has already. The powerMac cost comes to, drum roll, $2898.

okay let me spell it out for those who still don't get it, for the exact same specs, monitor, FSB, EXACT! you are paying a $999 premium for a pretty silver (and humongous) BOX!

that should be enough to convince you, but some people are saying upgradability. is it really worth a thousand dollars out of the gate for the OPTION to upgrade, you still have to pay for the upgrade on top of that grand

if buying this new machine still makes economic sense to you, email me, i have some interesting investment optortunities for you

sincerely,
almostCrazyasU

Good! Someone had to spell it out clearly. This proves two things.

1. The iMac is excellent value!
2. Apple makes a very nice profit on the PowerMac line.

It also means I'll buy an iMac soon.

 

[swissmann]

Good work MacRumors - you pretty much nailed it.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

This replaces the outgoing G4 tower. That gap needed to be filled.

This is NOT "the entry-level Mac." It's not meant to be. That's the eMac and iBook.

An entry-level headless is a nice thought, but this isn't it. This is just an expandable G5 tower cheaper than previously available.

Good point.

A Mac with a G5 1.6 or 1.8 that uses external monitors with limited expandability (limited to RAM upgrades and the such) at $999 would be a nice thing to see. Is there enough demand for it though? Apple designs require so much in R&D that limited production runs don't make sense.

A thin PM with out the PCI slots would have been a killer in design and cost at $999.

 

[halse]

put in an airport card and another disk, toss it in a closet and this may be the "music server" Mac in my future for about $1400 (edu price), I'd like to see it for $1000 but this is worth thinking about

 

[nagromme]

Cheapest PowerMac G5 is actually $1233

You can subtract the modem and downgrade the SuperDrive to a DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive (which lots of people will do) and save some more.

With student/teacher pricing, that makes the cheapest PowerMac G5 config $1233. (Cheapest that can run a 30" screen... $1683 )

For the rest of us, $1370 is the bottom config.

 

[GroundLoop]

This is a pretty good buy

for $1638 I will have -

PM 1.8 Single Processor
ATI X800 XT 256MB
8x Superdrive (compared to the 4x in the iMac)
256MB RAM
no AE, BT, or Modem

Now I can add the things that I already own:
Dual 19" LCDs
An extra GB or RAM that I have sitting in my desk
an extra 80 GB SATA HDD that I have sitting around

Not a bad price for that setup. I understand that I am in tha minority in this group. But hey, that's a sweet deal. I just think it is funny how everyone was pissed about the upgradeability of the iMac's GPU, the slow SuperDrive, and the fact that you were stuck with that display (and the costly repairs if it needed to be fixed), and all of that is now forgotten.

You guys are a fickle bunch.

Hickman

 

[habibbijan]

good god guys! for the first time i felt I had to register, because no one is pointing out truly how stupid the cost of this machine is. some of you are trying hard, but its quite simple: you are an absolute imbisle if you get this powerMac instead of the iMac.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

I agree. Actually, I'm extremely disappointed in this "release." Why on earth would Apple release a Powermac rated at the same clock speed as its predecessor from ONE YEAR ago, and cripple it so that it's a mere shadow of its former self? Why did they needlessly reduce the FSB by one-third? Sorry, this machine is not going to impress anyone, especially not any potential switchers.

In fact, if Apple keeps making asinine judgments like this, I'm through with them.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Right now the iMac makes more sense, but several years down the road that 5200 is going to really be wheezing - more than it is now - and the tower will come into its own since it will be able to take a new video card/display.

I don't like the hobbled motherboard though.

I think this is 3/5 the way towards a true "consumer" tower. Do we need one? I dunno, but people here are always throwing around the idea of a cheap, expandable, "headless" Mac. Trouble is, I don't see how the price of the new low-end tower could be slashed without further compromising performance or expandability. Maybe Apple's mad scientists are working on that.

 

[nagromme]

In fact, if Apple keeps making asinine judgments like this, I'm through with them.

Better start preparing for the wonderful world of Windows How dare Apple add a model that meets some people's needs but is not what YOU would choose?

 

[dejo]

Please enlighten us, headless Mac wanters

All those who think Apple needs to come out with a headless Mac, and feel this new PowerMac doesn't fit the bill, please explain to the rest of us how you would define a 'headless Mac', including things like expandability, price, etc.

 

[nagromme]

All those who think Apple needs to come out with a headless Mac, and feel this new PowerMac doesn't fit the bill, please explain to the rest of us how you would define a 'headless Mac', including things like expandability, price, etc.

I think what many people seem to mean is, they want a small tower that makes NONE of the sacrifices bargain PCs make, but costs the same as a bargain PC, while keeping all the benefits of a G5 pro tower too

What I mean when I suggest Apple could sell a low-end headless is take the screen and battery away from an iBook, and use cheaper non-portable parts (like the HD). Or take the screen and speakers away from an eMac. Either way would be cheaper than an eMac and equally powerful.

 

[Rod Rod]

you are an absolute imbisle if you get this powerMac instead of the iMac.

when attempting to convince people that you are correct, it helps to not insult them in the process. these forums have rules against name-calling, including when done indirectly.

I'll give you credit for comedy though. it's generous of you to have misspelled the word imbecile in this context.

congratulations on your first post, please read the rules and I'm sure you'll find it easy to contribute in a non-insulting manner.

concerning your post though, when a person doesn't need a 20" integrated display (as in the G5 iMac), that display just does not figure in the value equation.