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Tired of me yet?

iGary

iGary

Guest
Original poster
May 26, 2004
19,580
7
Randy's House
OK, I've paired it down to two systems, both of which I will add 2GB of Crucial RAM to once they arrive, and more (want to get up to 4) when I can afford it.

Here's what I will be using the machine for:

1. Post-processing (Photoshop CS), cataloging (Extensis Portfolio) and saving (Lacie 1TB Drive) about 150,000 images over a two-year period, most of the submitted to me on DVD or CD.

2. Will be running Virtual PC in order to run mapping software and other PC-only programs on a daily basis, often time open at the same time.

3. The usual Mail, iCal, Safari blah de blah.

I'm down to two systems - ideas?

Option 1:

• Dual 2.3GHz PowerPC G5
• 1GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x512
• 250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
• ATI Radeon 9650 w/256MB DDR SDRAM
• Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
• Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• 16x SuperDrive double-layer (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• Bluetooth Module + Apple Wireless Keyboard & Mouse - U.S. English
• Mac OS X - U.S. English
• AppleCare Protection Plan for Power Mac (w/ or w/o Display)

Option 2:

• Dual 2.7GHz PowerPC G5
• 1GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x512
• 250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
• ATI Radeon 9650 w/256MB DDR SDRAM
• Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
• Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• 16x SuperDrive double-layer (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• Bluetooth Module + Apple Wireless Keyboard & Mouse - U.S. English
• Mac OS X - U.S. English
• AppleCare Protection Plan for Power Mac (w/ or w/o Display)
 
iGary said:
OK, I've paired it down to two systems, both of which I will add 2GB of Crucial RAM to once they arrive, and more (want to get up to 4) when I can afford it.

Here's what I will be using the machine for:

1. Post-processing (Photoshop CS), cataloging (Extensis Portfolio) and saving (Lacie 1TB Drive) about 150,000 images over a two-year period, most of the submitted to me on DVD or CD.

2. Will be running Virtual PC in order to run mapping software and other PC-only programs on a daily basis, often time open at the same time.

3. The usual Mail, iCal, Safari blah de blah.

I'm down to two systems - ideas?

Option 1:

• Dual 2.3GHz PowerPC G5
• 1GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x512
• 250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
• ATI Radeon 9650 w/256MB DDR SDRAM
• Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
• Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• 16x SuperDrive double-layer (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• Bluetooth Module + Apple Wireless Keyboard & Mouse - U.S. English
• Mac OS X - U.S. English
• AppleCare Protection Plan for Power Mac (w/ or w/o Display)

Option 2:

• Dual 2.7GHz PowerPC G5
• 1GB DDR400 SDRAM (PC3200) - 2x512
• 250GB Serial ATA - 7200rpm
• ATI Radeon 9650 w/256MB DDR SDRAM
• Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
• Apple Cinema Display (20" flat panel)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• 16x SuperDrive double-layer (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• Bluetooth Module + Apple Wireless Keyboard & Mouse - U.S. English
• Mac OS X - U.S. English
• AppleCare Protection Plan for Power Mac (w/ or w/o Display)
Click to expand...
I'd say go with option 2 if you can afford it, but either one would be an AWESOME machine for years to come.
 
So basicaly you are debating between the 2.3 and the 2.7, right?

I guess if you can afford the 2.7 go for it. Let your budget make the decision.

:)
 
Also VPC is terrible. If you have to use it everyday you'd be better off in the long run just dropping another $500 on an actual pc.
 
Have a look at your workflow and see where your bottlenecks are and where the 2.7 CPU speed would aid you, assuming that you have sufficient RAM to remove RAM as a bottleneck:

1. Post-processing (Photoshop CS) - yes: filters and transforms are highly CPU dependant, secondarily disk dependant

Cataloging (Extensis Portfolio) - no, mostly disk dependant

and saving (Lacie 1TB Drive) about 150,000 images over a two-year period, - disk dependant

most submitted on DVD or CD - Optical drive dependant

2. Will be running Virtual PC in order to run mapping software and other PC-only programs on a daily basis, often time open at the same time. -yes CPU dependant, however depends on the performance requirements of the PC software.

3. The usual Mail, iCal, Safari blah de blah. - no, Internet connection and operator dependant


The areas you'll see the most improvement on are Photoshop and VirtualPC. I can't see that the other functions would be measurably faster. So decide on the relative importance and speed-requirement of these two areas vs. the budget and the presumed lower long term reliability of a machine that runs so hot it has to have a water cooling system.

You may want to invest in an internal WD Raptor 10,000 K for a boot/scratch drive based on others experiences here.
 
CanadaRAM said:
Have a look at your workflow and see where your bottlenecks are and where the 2.7 CPU speed would aid you, assuming that you have sufficient RAM to remove RAM as a bottleneck:

1. Post-processing (Photoshop CS) - yes: filters and transforms are highly CPU dependant, secondarily disk dependant

Cataloging (Extensis Portfolio) - no, mostly disk dependant

and saving (Lacie 1TB Drive) about 150,000 images over a two-year period, - disk dependant

most submitted on DVD or CD - Optical drive dependant

2. Will be running Virtual PC in order to run mapping software and other PC-only programs on a daily basis, often time open at the same time. -yes CPU dependant, however depends on the performance requirements of the PC software.

3. The usual Mail, iCal, Safari blah de blah. - no, Internet connection and operator dependant


The areas you'll see the most improvement on are Photoshop and VirtualPC. I can't see that the other functions would be measurably faster. So decide on the relative importance and speed-requirement of these two areas vs. the budget and the presumed lower long term reliability of a machine that runs so hot it has to have a water cooling system.

You may want to invest in an internal WD Raptor 10,000 K for a boot/scratch drive based on others experiences here.
Click to expand...

I do think I will get by just fine with the dual 2.3, I just hate to "settle" for a machine if I can (though grudgingly) afford it. If it lasts me three years, that'd be great, but obviously not a track record on this. That said, computers have been liquid cooled for ages.

I am considering the Raptor drive.

The dual 2.3 is nice and quick - I've used one here at work, but I also used a dual 2.7 at the Apple Store - and WOW. Fast.

I just don't want beachballs and the like when I have 60 images open, Photoshop, Portfolio, VPC, Mapping Software, E-Mail etc.
 
Maybe I'm missing something blindingly obvious...you can't decide between 2.3 and 2.7 right? I'm assuming because you wonder if 2.3 will be fast enough and 2.7 might be overkill.

So why not go for the dual 2.5? It's considerably cheaper than the 2.7 (Apple's top end are always over-priced), yet noticeably faster than the 2.3. Then put the money you saved by not going with the 2.7 towards something else.

AppleMatt
 
I'd say get the dual 2.3, and add tons of ram as u said...u'll save money, but how big of a difference would 2.3 and 2.7 be? It's fast either way (i think) If you want 60 images open, and run all these programs, I'm pretty sure u'll need a load of ram..
 
I recommend the 2.7 Ghz model.

I have the G5 2.0 Ghz model and 8 GBs of ram. I created a simple 2 GB ram disk and put a stripped down Win98 virtual PC file on that disk so that Windows runs 100% in ram. It still doesn't compare to having a dedicated PC and using a monitor switch to toggle between machines. Having said that, Virtual PC is faster than some older PCs I have used in the past. It is fine for business apps. Having lots of memory helps keep your Mac happy and you can do crazy stuff like my Windows idea for fun.
 
AppleMatt said:
Maybe I'm missing something blindingly obvious...you can't decide between 2.3 and 2.7 right? I'm assuming because you wonder if 2.3 will be fast enough and 2.7 might be overkill.

So why not go for the dual 2.5? It's considerably cheaper than the 2.7 (Apple's top end are always over-priced), yet noticeably faster than the 2.3. Then put the money you saved by not going with the 2.7 towards something else.

AppleMatt
Click to expand...

Where do I get a new Dual 2.5?
 
I agree with getting the dual 2.5 its quite a bit cheaper than the 2.7 but will give you better performance than the 2.3 at an affordable price,

ShadOW ;)
 
iGary said:
Where do I get a new Dual 2.5?
Click to expand...
Just look around. CompUSA through Amazon has them in stock. If you use Google, there are lots of places that supposedly have them.

You probably don't want the dual 2.5, because you can no longer get it BTO. You would have to do a lot of upgrades to get the hard drive, graphics card, airport card, and also have an external bluetooth module. I don't think it's worth the hassle. I would just get the Dual 2.3 and then spend thee extra money on like a 2 gig kit. That will probably make it faster than a 2.7 with a gig of RAM, when it comes to doing tons of Photoshop stuff.
 
I've just gone over all the benchmarks at all the sites and basically with most actions in Photoshop, we're talking 5.0 seconds an image difference between the 2.3 and 2.7. I'm not gonna notice it that much, and I plan to soup uo the 2.3 with about 4GB of RAM. And as CanadaRAM said, I'm not all thrilled with the liquid cooling at all.

I can use the extra money for a new desk I've been (and will) need.

So, the dual 2.3 it is - thanks!
 
iGary said:
I've just gone over all the benchmarks at all the sites and basically with most actions in Photoshop, we're talking 5.0 seconds an image difference between the 2.3 and 2.7. I'm not gonna notice it that much, and I plan to soup uo the 2.3 with about 4GB of RAM. And as CanadaRAM said, I'm not all thrilled with the liquid cooling at all.

I can use the extra money for a new desk I've been (and will) need.

So, the dual 2.3 it is - thanks!
Click to expand...

That set up sounds awesome. Just curious - where do you plan on buying your 4 gigs from?
 
macbaseball said:
That set up sounds awesome. Just curious - where do you plan on buying your 4 gigs from?
Click to expand...

I'm gonna go ahead and pay 90.00 for 1GB from Apple to save on slot space, and then order 2GB to start from Crucial. If I find that getting eaten up, I'll order another from them.

Just always had really good luck with those folks and like to give businesses I like my loyalty. They're a bit more, but I know it will work, and this is an expensive investment.

I'll wait on adding a Raptor unless I find that write/read speed is really an issue.

The video card is way beyond what I'll ever need, but for twice the VRAM at $40.00 is worth it.

I need the AE so the PM can talk to my iBook.

The wireless keyboard and mouse is just to clean up the desk.

I'll need to add a FW and USB 2.0 card for the dual monitors, but those panels should be awesome.

OK, now that I have decided, is it here yet? :D
 
iGary said:
I've just gone over all the benchmarks at all the sites and basically with most actions in Photoshop, we're talking 5.0 seconds an image difference between the 2.3 and 2.7. I'm not gonna notice it that much, and I plan to soup uo the 2.3 with about 4GB of RAM. And as CanadaRAM said, I'm not all thrilled with the liquid cooling at all.

I can use the extra money for a new desk I've been (and will) need.

So, the dual 2.3 it is - thanks!
Click to expand...

Excellent choise. I personally believe it's probably top notch stuff and a-quality, but im not comfortable with the liquid cooling either.... get the real thing, 2.3ghz is enough for everybody <ouch, who said something like that?>
 
you commit to do 150,000 pics in 18 month. that's 300 pics a day.

what is your backup system when your g5 goes down and apple keeps it for 2 weeks for repair? do you have to return a minimum nuber of images weekly?
you end up with 3000-4000 pics backlog. can your dual g4 handle that?

if you have a friend with a g5 you might want to ask him to help you out just in case. ;)
 
VPC alternative

iGary said:
2. Will be running Virtual PC in order to run mapping software and other PC-only programs on a daily basis, often time open at the same time.
Click to expand...

As an alternative to using Virtual PC is using VNC.
The scenario that I have with my new G5 on order is that i already have a winTel machine that i currently use. I still have applications that i need to use on the Wintel PC (Visio 2003) until i can migrate my work completely over to Mac.

Instead of using Virtual PC, I will install RealVNC on my WinTel box and use it remotely from my Mac.

http://www.realvnc.com/
 
andiwm2003 said:
you commit to do 150,000 pics in 18 month. that's 300 pics a day.

what is your backup system when your g5 goes down and apple keeps it for 2 weeks for repair? do you have to return a minimum nuber of images weekly?
you end up with 3000-4000 pics backlog. can your dual g4 handle that?

if you have a friend with a g5 you might want to ask him to help you out just in case. ;)
Click to expand...

I have subcontractors just in case. ;)

The PM G4 is for sale...check the marketplace!
 
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