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PowerMac G5 Update?
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Erm...
Yep, I guess I do.
I'd love to see 3.0 reached soon. I'd love to see 4.0, 6.0, whatever.0 reached eventually. But to me an update is an update. Chances are they (Apple? IBM?) are having troubles producing 3.0 chips and they are going to be delayed. Would you rather not hear anything from Apple for the rest of the year, or get some sort of upgrade that shows they're at least trying to make progress?
dopefiend said:
Yep, I guess I do.
I'd love to see 3.0 reached soon. I'd love to see 4.0, 6.0, whatever.0 reached eventually. But to me an update is an update. Chances are they (Apple? IBM?) are having troubles producing 3.0 chips and they are going to be delayed. Would you rather not hear anything from Apple for the rest of the year, or get some sort of upgrade that shows they're at least trying to make progress?
bar italia said:
OK, but I still strongly believe that most users Power users do not need more than a 2.0 GHz.
Also, everyone seems to be forgetting that the real advantage that the G5 has over its predecessors is not the increased processor speed, but other factors such as the much faster FSB, etc.
The top end rev. B model will sport many more improvements than just the processor speed. Thus a 2.6 GHz rev. B model would probably be significantly faster than a 2.6 GHz rev. A (if it existed and had all the same specs as the current 2.0 GHz machines).
My stupid prediction:
Single 1.6-----256MB RAM---160GB HD---FX 5200---$1599
Dual 1.8-------512MB RAM---160GB HD---FX 5200---$1999
Dual 2.0----------1GB RAM---250GB HD----9600XT---$2499
Dual 2.6 (2.5?)---1GB RAM---250GB HD----9600XT---$2999
(Dual 2.6 also gets another bonus like included Airport or something)
ALL 8x SuperDrive
(ALL included AirPort Card? hehe, I wish)
Rusty
Single 1.6-----256MB RAM---160GB HD---FX 5200---$1599
Dual 1.8-------512MB RAM---160GB HD---FX 5200---$1999
Dual 2.0----------1GB RAM---250GB HD----9600XT---$2499
Dual 2.6 (2.5?)---1GB RAM---250GB HD----9600XT---$2999
(Dual 2.6 also gets another bonus like included Airport or something)
ALL 8x SuperDrive
(ALL included AirPort Card? hehe, I wish)
Rusty
We also really need hardware accelerated sound!
UT2004 runs dogslow (20-3d fps) on a 9600Pro video card with a G5 1.6 with sounds enabled, but on my PC, it runs much faster with hardware sound and a 8500AIW card.
I remember barefeats did an article on this and they concluded the same thing...
Either that or a dualie with 2 3ghz G5.5 procs running at sub-1 volt voltages and consuming less than 10 watts, that would be literally cool....
UT2004 runs dogslow (20-3d fps) on a 9600Pro video card with a G5 1.6 with sounds enabled, but on my PC, it runs much faster with hardware sound and a 8500AIW card.
I remember barefeats did an article on this and they concluded the same thing...
Either that or a dualie with 2 3ghz G5.5 procs running at sub-1 volt voltages and consuming less than 10 watts, that would be literally cool....
Maxx Power said:
M-Audio makes PCI audio cards for Macs. While I'm not sure if you could use it with UT2004, third party cards are available.
When will they ever learn?
If this rumour is correct, then it's really bad news for me. I'm waiting for the next iMac, and a 1.8GHz entry PM means that they'll probably 'cripple' the next iMac again. Apple have to learn the lessons. The 'consumer' Mac has to get much faster and cheaper. It can be more expensive than your average PC and it can be a bit slower but in Europe an iMac is twice the price of a PC and half as fast.
That's not the recipe to win switchers.
I do hope this rumour is wrong.
I'll update again, but then I'm one of the converted.
If this rumour is correct, then it's really bad news for me. I'm waiting for the next iMac, and a 1.8GHz entry PM means that they'll probably 'cripple' the next iMac again. Apple have to learn the lessons. The 'consumer' Mac has to get much faster and cheaper. It can be more expensive than your average PC and it can be a bit slower but in Europe an iMac is twice the price of a PC and half as fast.
That's not the recipe to win switchers.
I do hope this rumour is wrong.
I'll update again, but then I'm one of the converted.
alexf said:
Maybe not today. But unless you're planning to buy a new machine every time a new revision comes out, you may well need that power in two, three, or four years. It's about thinking ahead, not what you're going to need today.
I'm not going to buy a new power mac when they're announced because I need that much juice right now. Rather, I'm buying it because that much power and expandability should last me for years. I'm still running a beige frankenmac that I've had for 7 years, and it's just now getting to the point where it's not really usable.
-d
Yes, they do make that 7.1 card or something but it makes no performance difference. Also, I don't know if this is what you we're talking about or not, but there was a bug in the demo version of ut2004 that made it run very slow on single g4/g5 macs, the retail version fixed this.
Rusty
Rusty
Charko said:
This is something I've always wondered. What if these slight product updates are not meant to gain marketshare, but are instead used to milk the hard core user base (i.e. us, as die hard Mac users.)
Not a chance
I don't believe for a minute that this will be the lineup for rev B - it just makes no sense and will do nothing to address the slow sales of PM's. If it happpens, I'd be seriously concerned for the future of the PM line - people just have no compelling reason to upgrade, which is really bad news for Apple. Remember, a few PM's sold equals about 6 containers of iPods for Apple's bottom line - they need to get this line right and get some impetous behind it. This (rumoured) bump wouldn't do it.
I don't believe for a minute that this will be the lineup for rev B - it just makes no sense and will do nothing to address the slow sales of PM's. If it happpens, I'd be seriously concerned for the future of the PM line - people just have no compelling reason to upgrade, which is really bad news for Apple. Remember, a few PM's sold equals about 6 containers of iPods for Apple's bottom line - they need to get this line right and get some impetous behind it. This (rumoured) bump wouldn't do it.
I Guess The Only Way A PM Refresh Will Happen Is When We Least Expect It.
I Guess The Only Way A PM Refresh Will Happen Is When We Least Expect It. Until yesterday, I was expecting it to happen at the WWDC. Then last night I got update fever with that Think Secret promise and now I am all anticipated out again. With less than 3 weeks to the Stevenote, seems like these updates could happen any day before or not until Steve tells us himself on the 28th. The video card rumor is very disheartening.
FYI, if ya gotta have one cheap right now, the store SAVE page has refurbished dual 1.8 GHz G5 for $1999 and dual 2 GHz G5 for $2399 right now.
I Guess The Only Way A PM Refresh Will Happen Is When We Least Expect It. Until yesterday, I was expecting it to happen at the WWDC. Then last night I got update fever with that Think Secret promise and now I am all anticipated out again. With less than 3 weeks to the Stevenote, seems like these updates could happen any day before or not until Steve tells us himself on the 28th. The video card rumor is very disheartening.
FYI, if ya gotta have one cheap right now, the store SAVE page has refurbished dual 1.8 GHz G5 for $1999 and dual 2 GHz G5 for $2399 right now.
alexf said:
Well what makes some one a "power user"?
It is important that the top of the line Mac are a fast as possible because the people who need the fastest computers in particular those who need to render huge files (I imagine that even on a Dual 2.0 GHz rendering out an HD movie is going to take some time) will be quick to switch to PC's even they discover they can get their work done in significantly less time.
At my work, the design department is often finding other things to do while After Effects animations are rendering on their duals. So while they may not need 3.0 GHz, they could certainly be more productive if they had them.
job said:
Nope, tried. It has the same problem, there is no drivers avaliable that takes advantage of the 24bit Envy VIA chip on that board. Basically you'll just be dealing with a different set of DAC's instead of the onboard. OpenAL doesn't have hardware acceleration.
Soire said:I think if these revised estimates prove to be true, we are all going to band together in an angry mob and storm Cupertino with torches and pitchforks.
Most of us want that Rev. B and have held our breaths for a whole year. 365 days of waiting and that's what we get? Say it isn't so!
The current shipping G5's are Rev. B's, excluding the speed bumps. There have been numerous changes made by Apple to the current G5's since the were originally released.
I really find all of this very amusing...
Anyway, for what it's worth, I just got an email back from Nick dePlume who is the editor and publisher of ThinkSecret. Here's our correspondence:
Me:
"This makes no sense! Thinksecret says Apple will continue to sell the current G5 models at a discount to clear existing inventory (Dual 1.8 and 2.0's)... and yet they are going to introduce new Dual 1.8 and 2.0's? Is this right?"
Nick:
"Check back later in the day; that point should be clarified."
Me:
"This makes no sense! Thinksecret says Apple will continue to sell the current G5 models at a discount to clear existing inventory (Dual 1.8 and 2.0's)... and yet they are going to introduce new Dual 1.8 and 2.0's? Is this right?"
Nick:
"Check back later in the day; that point should be clarified."
numerous changes..?
All seriousness here, what changes have been made to the PowerMac's since their introduction?
Zoidberg wants updates!
sblasl said:
All seriousness here, what changes have been made to the PowerMac's since their introduction?
Zoidberg wants updates!
What Advantage Is The New 970FX Going To Give Us?
I can't believe that after a year Steve isn't going to have more than a speed bump and 8x Superdrives to talk about in three weeks. Man that would not be much engineering progress.
Pardon my ignorance, What Advantage Is The New 970FX Going To Give Us? What is a Power5 based chip? I've lost track of what different G5 chip numbers mean. Is that the 90 nm 2004 version of the 130 nm 2003 model or is it more? A short executive summary tutorial would be appreciated. Thanks.jocknerd said:
I can't believe that after a year Steve isn't going to have more than a speed bump and 8x Superdrives to talk about in three weeks. Man that would not be much engineering progress.
ANY G5 owners out there: How many WATTS?
Can anyone confirm the # of Watts on a G5's power supply?
If they put in a 250W to keep down heat.... the 9600XT card is the best card you CAN put in it. On a recent crusade to add a video card to a cheap PC (HP a520n) with a 250W supply (not upgradable) - all cards better then the 9600XT/9800 pro, require 300W (9800XT) or larger supplies the big guns (x800/ 6800) I think were 350W or 400W supplies...
I do not know much about how the PC and Mac use power - but if for some strange reason the G5 uses a 250W power supply....bummer...
Can anyone confirm the # of Watts on a G5's power supply?
If they put in a 250W to keep down heat.... the 9600XT card is the best card you CAN put in it. On a recent crusade to add a video card to a cheap PC (HP a520n) with a 250W supply (not upgradable) - all cards better then the 9600XT/9800 pro, require 300W (9800XT) or larger supplies the big guns (x800/ 6800) I think were 350W or 400W supplies...
I do not know much about how the PC and Mac use power - but if for some strange reason the G5 uses a 250W power supply....bummer...
iriejedi said:
G5 power supplise have 450W. look'n'buy
Uh! And the big boys (dual) even have 600/650 watts... no wonder your mums gettin angry...hello electricity bills...
Big Block of power