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PowerMac Dual G5 Vs. 09 13" MacBook Pro

Stephen Dowling

Stephen Dowling

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 29, 2009
128
0
GA
Hey everyone, It's christmas time and I'm a high school student that needs a decent Mac Desktop. I have a MacBook Pro (2009, 4GB RAM, 2.26 GHz, 160GB, 9400m, 13") and I wanted to know if a Dual G5 would be better, worse, or about the same performance wise. I'm planning to max out the G5's graphics, HDD's, and memory. I know G5's are old and almost obsolete, but I would think they are worth it for $400-500. Any help here is much appreciated!


-Stephen.
 
If you're going to spend 400-500, get a decent monitor, kb and mouse and just plug in your laptop to it.

G5s are awesome, I had a Dual 2.7 for four and a half years until it sprung a leak. I can't tell you if it was faster or slower then my two year old 2.4 SR MBP, but I know it probably wouldn't be worth buying one now, especially considering your new mac book is probably quicker then my old one and they can't run Snow Leopard. If you're hard up on a desktop go entry level iMac.
 
Stephen Dowling said:
I have a MacBook Pro (2009, 4GB RAM, 2.26 GHz, 160GB, 9400m, 13") and I wanted to know if a Dual G5 would be better, worse, or about the same performance wise. I'm planning to max out the G5's graphics, HDD's, and memory. I know G5's are old and almost obsolete, but I would think they are worth it for $400-500. Any help here is much appreciated!
-Stephen.
Click to expand...
The post above about using a monitor and the Macbook Pro is very appropriate. I have a G5 2.0GHz Dual, late model 2005 with PCI-e slots, and I can assure you the performance from your present Macbook Pro is much better. Still, the PPC G5 is a very usable computer for most tasks, depending on what you want to do with it. Are you making money with the machine, so minutes count? Or is this for personal "pleasure" use? Do you need Snow Leopard (the G5 is limited to Tiger or Leopard, and software development will move on, leaving the PPCs still in the water)? So, if the limitations of the old technology in the G5 does not bother you, it is a cheap alternative to a second usable machine.
On the other hand, a little more than 500 will get you a Mac Mini, which will blow away the G5 except for HD speed. It's your choice, but I would recommend buying a good monitor and maybe an mStand for use at home, and saving your money for use in a year or so as new Macbook Pros arrive and stabilize into the new faster generation of computers.
BTW, having both types, I only use the G5 as a glorified iTunes machine and for backup of important files. The Macbook Pro is that much better.
:cool::apple::cool:
 
I'd use a G5 for what they were designed for and not much else lol. Video editing with FCP 5-ish and Photoshopping with CS2 perhaps.

It'll run leopard just fine, but even as a casual machine you'll slowly hate how all of the new stuff deosn't run on PPC machines (chrome doesn't for example).

For a $500 budget, I'd definitely get the Mini. It's not much, and your MacBook Pro will be the same speed, but desktops do have their plusses (like not heating up much when you use them, and being used as servers).

The G5s have a good chance of just up and randomly crapping out. Sadly, so do the Mac Pros. Real sad, because I know most G4s still seem to be chugging along if anyone uses one. lmao.
 
Thanks for all of your answers everyone! I guess the G5 is out of the picture, but would it be worth it to spend an extra $500 and go for a 1,1 MacPro (2006, dual Xeons)?
 
Stephen Dowling said:
Thanks for all of your answers everyone! I guess the G5 is out of the picture, but would it be worth it to spend an extra $500 and go for a 1,1 MacPro (2006, dual Xeons)?
Click to expand...

The first gen Mac Pro is still an insane machine. I've had mine since they came out and it STILL beats the pants off my MacBook Pro.
 
From an earlier Poster

"On the other hand, a little more than 500 will get you a Mac Mini, which will blow away the G5 except for HD speed."

Is this true? Is the new Mini that much better than my dual 2.0 G5?
 
hoya87eagle91 said:
From an earlier Poster

"On the other hand, a little more than 500 will get you a Mac Mini, which will blow away the G5 except for HD speed."

Is this true? Is the new Mini that much better than my dual 2.0 G5?
Click to expand...

Sadly yes... Intel machines run OS X faster than G5s.
 
JoeG4 said:
I'd use a G5 for what they were designed for and not much else lol. Video editing with FCP 5-ish and Photoshopping with CS2 perhaps.

It'll run leopard just fine, but even as a casual machine you'll slowly hate how all of the new stuff deosn't run on PPC machines (chrome doesn't for example).
Click to expand...

I'll preface this by saying I agree with all of the purchase choices listed in this thread (i.e., monitor and keyboard for the macbook pro versus a G5; the MBP 09 will definitely outperform any G5, with possible exception the last gen quads). However, your view of the G5 is a little short-sited IMO. I use mine as a pro box and am constantly running 2-3 CS4 apps on it with no lag (with exception to Flash, but that wasn't even Adobe in the CS2 era). PSD CS4 runs amazingly well on a G5 tower, even a low-end one like mine (2X2.0).

As for incompatibility, well, that's why I agree with the purchase suggestions. The G5 will never again be supported outside of the Linux community, and slowly apps are coming out that are incompatible. That said, nothing I use has reached that point yet, but for example all the video editing apps from CS4 (premiere, after effects, etc) are all Intel-only, and CS5 will be Intel only. So yeah, if you need a server or a steady workstation for current or older software, the G5 is still a great option. Otherwise not worth buying one at this point...
 
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