Real processing power of G4 verses G5

[Chip NoVaMac]

I like many are/were hoping for a iMac G5. And I'll admit that I lust after the new PM G5's, but can't justify the overall cost.

Been looking at XBench marks for various systems. My PB 12" rev. B ranks in at 97. It appears that the newer PB's with the G4 1.5 rank in at 130, and the older single G5 1.6 in at 150.

It would seem that there is little rational for the G5 processor right now. Once OSX goes 64bit and apps do the same that should shift. Is my thinking correct?

 

[Chaszmyr]

I like many are/were hoping for a iMac G5. And I'll admit that I lust after the new PM G5's, but can't justify the overall cost.

Been looking at XBench marks for various systems. My PB 12" rev. B ranks in at 97. It appears that the newer PB's with the G4 1.5 rank in at 130, and the older single G5 1.6 in at 150.

It would seem that there is little rational for the G5 processor right now. Once OSX goes 64bit and apps do the same that should shift. Is my thinking correct?

Yes and no. The G5 has drastically enhanced speed for some things, even some things that aren't 64 bit. Furthermore. Within a year, OSX will be 64 bit

 

[caveman_uk]

Furthermore. Within a year, OSX will be 64 bit

I seriously doubt it will be 64 bit-only. Releasing a G5-only OS will be pointless when say 95% of your installed base can't run it. Now, it may well have 64 bit optimised libraries that are installed when a G5 is detected but saying it will be a 64-bit OS is a sweeping (and probably incorrect) statement.

 

[bousozoku]

I seriously doubt it will be 64 bit-only. Releasing a G5-only OS will be pointless when say 95% of your installed base can't run it. Now, it may well have 64 bit optimised libraries that are installed when a G5 is detected but saying it will be a 64-bit OS is a sweeping (and probably incorrect) statement.

There will probably be one version installed for the 64-bit, another for the 32-bit processors. Apple are re-introducing the fat binary to contain applications with code for both.

I don't see a G5 iMac as pointless since it's great at running applications which are not AltiVec-enhanced and the G4 is not. The majority of applications, whether 3D, 2D, scientific, or games are not AltiVec-enhanced and will benefit from the PPC970's superior floating point capabilities.

 

[7on]

Actually I think Tiger will be like Panther. Panther can run 48-bit Apps (or is it 42?) so Panther is like a 48-bit OS. Tiger itself won't be 64-bit (as in Finder, mail, addressbook, etc), but it will run 64-bit apps. I could see iLife having 32 and 64 bit versions, but Tiger will just have 64-bit extension support. that's what I got out of reading Tiger's preview pages.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

There will probably be one version installed for the 64-bit, another for the 32-bit processors. Apple are re-introducing the fat binary to contain applications with code for both.

I don't see a G5 iMac as pointless since it's great at running applications which are not AltiVec-enhanced and the G4 is not. The majority of applications, whether 3D, 2D, scientific, or games are not AltiVec-enhanced and will benefit from the PPC970's superior floating point capabilities.

Thanks to everyone so far.

My main suite of programs are MS Office X.v., Adobe Indesign and Photoshop, Toast, and of courser Safari and Mail. I guess the two Adobe products are the only ones that will benefit then from a G5?

 

[Fukui]

Thanks to everyone so far.

My main suite of programs are MS Office X.v., Adobe Indesign and Photoshop, Toast, and of courser Safari and Mail. I guess the two Adobe products are the only ones that will benefit then from a G5?

Well, think of it like when Intel switched to P4 and suddenly everybody's apps actually ran slower! With the G5, things run faster, but not as much as they should; this is because like the P3 to P4, the architecture of the G5 is so different that certain optimizations that compilers make, actually slow things down! Speed will really come when the OS and other apps are recompiled with newer GCC or preferably XLC... hopefully. 64-bit or not shouldn't impact that so much, unless you need to open a word doc with 50 billion pages or something...