Power Mac G5 Dual 2.5 vs. Mac Mini 2.0 Core 2 Duo

[edward-k]

How do they compare performance wise?, primarily with I-Life apps and Safari. I've been reading a lot about coolant leaking powermacs lately and am thinking about a replacement if need be. Unfortuantly another Powermac is probably out of the budget right now.

Thanks Ed

 

[0007776]

for anything other than non universal or grafics intensive programs the Mini will beat out the PowerMac.

 

[dollystereo]

Just Crunching, the Mac mini wins (not for much), anything else, the Powermac.

 

[dollystereo]

Sorry, the dual 2.5 Powermac is 15% faster than the C2D Macmini 2.0GHZ.
(GeekBench 2)

 

[MacinDoc]

Or wait for a bit, if you can; new Mac Pros should be coming by November, and the price of the older models should drop further.

Also, keep in mind that in the future, the Power Mac G5 can be upgraded with more RAM (which has a huge impact on OS X performance, although maybe less with PPC Macs), bigger HDs, a better optical drive and a better graphics card. Of course, upgrading isn't always much cheaper than buying a new Mac.

 

[QCassidy352]

Sorry, the dual 2.5 Powermac is 15% faster than the C2D Macmini 2.0GHZ.
(GeekBench 2)

that sounds about right. I think people are waaay too quick to dismiss the G5 as outdated. The dual processor G5s have plenty of life left in 'em.

 

[seany916]

consider the low end iMac for your purposes

The Mini is not such a great computer

I still use a 1.8 Dual G5 PM for less-CPU intensive work (and CS2).

I'm not a big fan of the Mini, but for the price, it's not too shabby a computer.

I would recommend saving up a bit more (or stretching the credit) and getting the lowest end iMac. It's a great computer for the price. $450 or so more. Depending on your cashflow, consider how much time you might be spending on your computer.