Should I Trade/Sell My G5?

[jcook793]

I have a rev. A dual 2GHz G5. I absolutely love it, it's just insanely fast. I also have a 12" iBook which I use constantly because it's so convenient. I hate to see the G5 go to waste -- I do use it for GarageBand and some programming and occassionally some video editing, but that's not an everyday task.

What I'm tempted to do is trade it (or sell and use the money) for one of the new 15" 1.5GHz PowerBooks (my wife says if I do that she'd like to have the iBook). But I have a couple of concerns:

• Will I miss the amazing speed?
• I love the portability of the 12", will the 15" seem big to tote around? I take my Mac to work every day.
• My G5 has a 9800 and is ready for Doom 3. Will the PowerBook handle it? I'm not a hardcore gamer but I do like the id games.

So what do you think? I do love the widescreen of the 15". I sorta wish I could pay more and get a higher resolution LCD and a faster processer (who doesn't?).

 

[mr_mac]

Well, it's all a question of where you spend the most of your time. Is it away from your desk or not? If you spend more than 75% of your computing time out of the office, get a Laptop (powerbook.)

But to be honest, you'll GREATLY miss the speed of the G5. I own a Dual 2GHz too and i can say that no other mac comes within miles from it!

A powerbook isn't great at playing games if you like very high details. but if you're willing to play without FSAA 4x, max resolution and extreme details, the PowerBook will do just fine.

The best solution is to do like me... wait a little and keep the dual, and get a PowerBook!!

hehe,

Mrmac

 

[jared_kipe]

I was looking to trade my powerbook 15" ALU 1GHZ 768MB , let me know if you are interested.

 

[yoda13]

Hold on to the G5. You'll miss the speed. If you want to play those id games in all their glory, I wouldn't plan on doing it on a laptop. So, once again, IMO, keep the G5.

 

[grabberslasher]

I'm really confused about those people who say that a powerbook isn't good for games.

My 800Mhz TiBook, 32Mb ATI Radeon 7500 gets better framerates on max resolution than my friend's AMD 1.6GHz, 256Mb GeforceFX 5200.

(Don't ask me how to explain that)

Believe me, you will be able to play Doom 3 in its full glory on a 15inch Powerbook - probably full resolution 1280x854. I have played most Mac games on this powerbook and all are fully playable on max res. The only exceptions to this are SimCity 4 (no excuse) and C&C: Generals (but I am below the minimum specs, I think).

Quake 3 gets ~150fps
Unreal 2004 ~ 40-50fps

A new Powerbook (with 128Mb VRAM) will pretty much play anything that comes its way for the next couple of years.

 

[netytan]

I wouldn't trade in my dual 2Ghz PowerMac for anything lower, and sorry to say it but it is a class above the PowerBooks right now . Save some money up and get yourself a PowerBook that way - then by all means give your wife the IBook . That way you have the Latest PowerMac; which will no dout last you for years to come, and a PowerBook which you will probably want to update before your G5. Just my $0.02.

Have fun,

Mark.

 

[jcook793]

Thanks for the replies. Grabberslasher, I agree, the 9700's that are in the PowerBooks now are pretty great. Probably ranks right next to the 9800 in my G5.

It will be a while before I can save up to get a PowerBook. I just went into business with a friend, so any extra money will probably be wrapped up in that venture for a few years. I suppose the G5 will hold up over time better than the PowerBook, so I'll stick with that.

I do wish that Apple could offer a laptop that is 90% as fast as the desktops. A single 1.5GHz G4 doesn't hold a candle to the dual 2.5GHz G5. Maybe as the dual core procs become mainstream we'll see the gap close somewhat...

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[cubist]

... A single 1.5GHz G4 doesn't hold a candle to the dual 2.5GHz G5. ...

It can hold the candle, but all those fans will blow it out!

 

[oingoboingo]

Thanks for the replies. Grabberslasher, I agree, the 9700's that are in the PowerBooks now are pretty great. Probably ranks right next to the 9800 in my G5.

Not really. Don't be fooled by the '9700' tag. The ATI Radeon 9700 Mobility is not equivalent to the desktop 9700 GPU. It's more closely related to the desktop 9600 GPU. It certainly doesn't keep up with a desktop Radeon 9800.

Check this benchmark roundup at Barefeats.com:

http://www.barefeats.com/pb11.html

It compares dual G5 and G4 PowerMacs to the latest crop of PowerBooks on a variety of tasks. The results aren't pretty. The gaming results are:

UT2003 Flyby, 1024x768, Max details:
- Dual G5 2GHz, Radeon 9800: 152fps
- PowerBook 1.5GHz, Radeon 9700: 72fps

Q3 Arena, 1024x768, Max details:
- Dual G5 2GHz, Radeon 9800: 306fps
- PowerBook 1.5GHz, Radeon 9700: 108fps

UT2004 Botmatch, 1024x768, High details:
- Dual G5 2GHz, Radeon 9800: 66fps
- PowerBook 1.5GHz, Radeon 9700: 24fps

Halo 1024x768, High details:
- Dual G5 2GHz, Radeon 9800: 45.6fps
- PowerBook 1.5GHz, Radeon 9700: 26.3fps

Basically, the dual 2GHz G5 and the latest 1.5GHz 15" and 17" PowerBooks are in no way comparable in terms of 3D graphics/game performance. The performance difference is similarly exaggerated in PhotoShop CS, AfterEffects and Final Cut Pro benchmarks. Let me repeat...even the fastest available PowerBook will barely be half as fast as your dual G5, and in some cases, will be close to 3 times slower. Of couse, it goes without saying that you can't sit a G5 tower on your lap...if you're spending a lot of time travelling or in other people's offices, then a PowerBook is the logical choice. You should just be aware of the vast gap in performance between your current PowerMac and the fastest PowerBooks on intensive graphical/video type apps, and of course gaming.

As for Doom3, there isn't any word yet from ID as to the recommended system specs (AFAIK). In fact, I don't think there is even official word yet if the Mac will be supported. If anything is going to run Doom 3 well, it will be the dual G5. Just look at the difference in gaming scores above.