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Should I use my Mac Pro or Power Mac?

A

AlexJolly

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 18, 2009
4
0
Hello all. My company owns:
(1) Power Mac G5 Quad 2.5 Ghz with 6 GB of ram
(1) Mac Pro 8-core 2.8 Ghz with 2 GB of ram

I have two uses:

Machine (A):
Audio playback (Reason 3.0)

Machine (B):
Audio editing, video editing, 3D design (Sketchup)

My question...
Which machine is stronger, faster, more stable (assuming that all software works with both / either machines), and assuming, I could / should match the memory (6 GB in each machine). I've heard mixed opinions from different people about the Mac Pro being better than the Power Mac G5. I don't know much about it, but it seems that the Mac Pro would be best, and I really want to use the machines in the best way possible to maximize speed. What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

-Alex
 
Mac Pro 2.8GHz 8 core will easily out do the Power Mac by 4x-5x.

No brainer get the Mac Pro!!!
 
Thanks. It seemed that simple. One more thing...

How about as the two machines stand right now? Which would out perform the other? The Power Mac has 6 Gigs of ram and the Mac Pro has 2 Gigs of ram.

Thanks again.

-Alex
 
Wow. Thanks. I've had it all backwards for some time now. I really appreciate the fast response.

-Alex
 
I was told that the PowerPC processor in the Power Mac was better than the new Intel. It didn't make sense why Apple would go backwards in quality.
 
AlexJolly said:
I was told that the PowerPC processor in the Power Mac was better than the new Intel. It didn't make sense why Apple would go backwards in quality.
Click to expand...

I see, no, a same speed and same amount of cores PPC vs intel might be close but more often than not the intel will win, and especially with twice as many cores running at .3Ghz faster each.
 
To give you an easy way to see the power difference:

Geekbench scores measures cpu + memory overall speed of the machines.

Power Mac G5 2.5GHz Quad: 2083

Mac Pro 2.8GHz 8 core: 7650

Mac Mini 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo(For fun): 2800

All ran in 32-bit mode.
 
might it also depend I. Whether old ppc based apps are being run? If so, and the intel system was using rosetta (and swapping due to less ram), the g5 could be faster then.

But with universal binaries and same ram, the power mac has little chance.
 
If you're doing something that requires 5 GB of RAM, your PowerMac will beat your Mac Pro, as the former has 6 GB of RAM while the Mac Pro has but 2 GB.

Put the same amount of memory in the Mac Pro, and it will win, every time.

The PowerMac will remain perfectly adequate for many tasks for several more years- up until the liquid cooling fails (ha, ha). Depending on usage, a more power efficient Mac Mini may end up saving your company money if you replace it.
 
OP-
Are you serious?!

If you have to ask then I suggest you stick with the Power Mac then ship me your Mac Pro so I can keep an eye on it for you.
;)
 
kevink2 said:
might it also depend whether old ppc based apps are being run? If so, and the intel system was using rosetta (and swapping due to less ram), the g5 could be faster then.
Click to expand...
I think this might be what the OP was thinking of. If they're Universal Binaries, then the Mac Pro with 6GB RAM.
 
jjahshik32 said:
To give you an easy way to see the power difference:

Geekbench scores measures cpu + memory overall speed of the machines.

Power Mac G5 2.5GHz Quad: 2083


Mac Mini 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo(For fun): 2800

All ran in 32-bit mode.
Click to expand...
Okay, this has got me scratching my head. How can a computer with half as many cores, each running 500MHz slower be faster?? Ya the RAM is a little faster, but the system bus in the G5 is much faster than the Mini. I just can't bring myself to believe the Mini can actually outperform a quad G5.
 
Hrududu said:
Okay, this has got me scratching my head. How can a computer with half as many cores, each running 500MHz slower be faster?? Ya the RAM is a little faster, but the system bus in the G5 is much faster than the Mini. I just can't bring myself to believe the Mini can actually outperform a quad G5.
Click to expand...
The PowerMac should be faster than the Mac Mini. Something doesn't add right up here. I hope Geekbench is not reliable. :D
 
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