Quad G5 vs. 2006 iMac for Adobe CS3 Apps?

[lastmile]

Looking for advice on which Mac would perform better for the CS3 versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat. I may also be looking for a CAD program and might use Aperture (Have 2.x for the G5 have to figure out how to get my version of 3.x back from the App Store).

Some planned projects include stitching together or breaking apart large images (floor plans, etc.) and sometimes converting them to PDFs. Will also be doing some document and photo scanning.

The Macs:

2005 Quad 2.5 GHz G5
16 GB ECC RAM
512 MB Nvidia Quadro FX 4500
120 GB SSD
Additional SATA drive for storage
OS 10.4 (So I can use Classic)

2006 24” iMac 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo
4 GB RAM (3 GB usable)
128 MB Nvidia 7300GT
256 GB SSD (to be moved to optical bay)
Additional SATA drive to be added for storage
OS 10.6.8

Both are in excellent shape and I plan on holding onto them. I’m trying to pair down my computer collection so Id rather not go buying a Mac Pro even though I know a 2006 would outperform both of the Macs above.

 

[eyoungren]

Not in your question, but were you aware that Adobe CS4 runs on PowerPC Macs and on Intel Macs running up to El Capitan (probably further, but I only have an El Capitan Mac)?

Of course it would require Leopard on the Quad though.

My opinion though, if you are sticking with CS3, is to use the Quad. You've got more RAM on that Mac.

 

[z970]

Quad, without question.

The Quad was only first beat by the Mac Pro. Otherwise, it outperformed all Mac Minis, iMacs, MacBooks/Pros, etc. until then.

Besides, it'll last longer. Who knows how long until the iMac's GPU fails, which those models are known to do. Not only that, but the Quad has four times as much RAM as the iMac does, which will serve you very well in Creative Suite.

I daresay the Quad is prettier as well.

 

[lastmile]

Quad it is then. Need to get it set up again (hope no LQS problems).

The reason I asked about CS3 is because I have the CS3 Master Collection that I bought while in school. Academic version but still cost me more than both of these Macs. And these are personal projects so I think Im within the licesing restrictions.

 

[nglevin]

The one issue with CS3 is that Adobe recently took the activation servers offline, but if you don't mind setting up an Adobe ID you can get a replacement disk image and serial from this Adobe Knowledge Base page that works fine with Windows and Mac.

You'll also find that the Adobe Updater no longer works as intended, because the security cert for it expired in 2011. You could try setting your Mac's system clock back to 2010 or just remove the Updater and download patches from Adobe.com as necessary.

Bit of a pain, but CS3 still plays nicely with Tiger and (after updates) Leopard. Also the last PPC capable version of After Effects fwiw.

 

[jst333]

One thing also to keep in mind is that with CS3 "Premier, Encore, and Soundbooth" all require an Intel based mac. I remember not reading the fine print and learning that the hard way back when i bought CS3 MC.

 

[eyoungren]

One thing also to keep in mind is that with CS3 "Premier, Encore, and Soundbooth" all require an Intel based mac. I remember not reading the fine print and learning that the hard way back when i bought CS3 MC.

I know that Adobe made that a 'requirement' with the Adobe CS4 installer. Turns out that several of the suite apps (CS4) will install and run on PowerPC if you use each individual installer instead of the master suite installer.
I'm guessing then that Adobe did this first with CS3.

 

[jst333]

I know that Adobe made that a 'requirement' with the Adobe CS4 installer. Turns out that several of the suite apps (CS4) will install and run on PowerPC if you use each individual installer instead of the master suite installer.
I'm guessing then that Adobe did this first with CS3.

Very Interesting, I'll have to check that out! TX

 

[eyoungren]

Very Interesting, I'll have to check that out! TX

Sure!

You at least get the big three. InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. There's others in the suite that are also PowerPC but I rarely use(d) them so I couldn't name them offhand.