Trade Mini to dual G5?

[js81]

Hey all:

This is my first post, though I’ve read the forums for years… Anyway, I’m considering making a “trade” and wanted some advice. I’ve been a full-time Mac user for 3.5 years now (dabbled with a second computer for years before that). My first full-time Mac was a dual G4 PowerMac @500 MHz that I absolutely loved! When it died on me a little over two years ago (Sept. 2006, R.I.P.) I sold the parts and bought a brand new Mac Mini, since I wanted to make the Intel transition. My Mac Mini is the computer I have today – though I have since upgraded the Core Solo to a Core Duo @ 2.0 GHz, the hard drive to a 200 GB 7200 RPM, and the memory to 2 GB. It still works great…

Now, here’s my dilemma (sorry for all the background) – I STILL MISS my awesome G4 tower. What I miss most, though, is the tower itself. Before making “the switch,” I always built my own PC’s – something I really liked doing. And I could still work on the G4, too – I had upgraded EVERYTHING in that machine and was ready to upgrade the processor when it died. I am strongly considering selling the Mini and buying a PowerMac G5. If I did this, I would get one of the 2005 models (hopefully the late 2005 with the dual-core G5’s).

Now, I realize that I would be losing the ability to boot into Windows – that’s OK; my wife has a new WhiteBook with 4GB RAM that does that just fine, thank you. If I got, let’s say, a 2.3GHz dual-core G5 and put at least 4GB RAM in it, how would it compare to my Mini that I currently have (which is NOT a Core2)? I mostly want the G5 for the tower (and the ability to expand!) and dual monitors (something I CANNOT do with the Mini). And what if there’s a new Mini in January at MWSF? Finally, what about a high-end G4 MDD? I did love my old G4… Help! Your advice is greatly appreciated…

And of course I mean sell the Mini and buy the G5 - not an even trade...

 

[js81]

Anybody?

Apparently I'm not going to get any response... thanks guys. I think my mind has been made up for me, if the rumors are true. IF (and only if) Apple releases a Mini that will push two monitors, then my problem is solved - I'll sell the old Mini and buy the new.

 

[jackiecanev2]

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If it matters, I'd keep the mini over the tower. Rumor has it snow leopard won't support PPC, so at least you're ahead of the curve in that regard.

 

[stainlessliquid]

What do you expect to upgrade? The window to expand a mac is not a very big one, Apple likes to close it very quickly. The opportunity to expand a G5 is gone, its like trying to upgrade a PC with only AGP.

You can do dual monitors but since Mac Pro video cards dont work in G5's you wont really be able to upgrade a G5 any more than you could a Mini.

Plus Snow Leopard might not support PPC.

 

[js81]

I mostly would like the tower, well, because I like to tinker, for lack of a better word. I've always enjoyed it - its my thing, I guess. I see about the PPC being a dead end; I just feel the dual monitors and better graphics may be worth it. However, if the upgraded Mini comes through, that'll make my mind up for me. If not, I'm leaning toward an iMac, as I want to play some games (not anything new - mostly AOE3 and GR:AW) and I have the Windows versions. I've pretty much decided against the G5 now, since my games are Windows and they can't run on the WhiteBook. If there's no new Mini (and I've tried both games on the Macbook's 9400M) then I'll probably buy/build a cheap PC (yuck!) just to play those games with and keep my Mini.

 

[mathcolo]

Rumor has it snow leopard won't support PPC, so at least you're ahead of the curve in that regard.

Rumor? It's pretty "for sure" at this point...

 

[Vulcan]

I mostly would like the tower, well, because I like to tinker, for lack of a better word. I've always enjoyed it - its my thing, I guess. I see about the PPC being a dead end; I just feel the dual monitors and better graphics may be worth it. However, if the upgraded Mini comes through, that'll make my mind up for me. If not, I'm leaning toward an iMac, as I want to play some games (not anything new - mostly AOE3 and GR:AW) and I have the Windows versions. I've pretty much decided against the G5 now, since my games are Windows and they can't run on the WhiteBook. If there's no new Mini (and I've tried both games on the Macbook's 9400M) then I'll probably buy/build a cheap PC (yuck!) just to play those games with and keep my Mini.

Just so you know, a new mini is pretty much confirmed, it's in the 10.5.6 code. If I were you, I'd sell my mini and buy a new one when they are released.

 

[js81]

Just so you know, a new mini is pretty much confirmed, it's in the 10.5.6 code. If I were you, I'd sell my mini and buy a new one when they are released.

That's definitely what I'm leaning toward. If the new Mini happens and is what everyone expects, then mine will be on eBay Tuesday night. All I want is the 9400m and dual displays - is that too much to ask? . I probably would do it without dual displays, but a man's gotta dream, right? I bet the new one will use DDR3, won't it? Surely it will come with 2GB... Here's hoping that dreams do come true, and that it's not just a crappy refresh. I am beyond sick of GMA 950!

 

[svndmvn]

No need to miss the PowerMac, as strange as it can sound I'm pretty sure your current Mac Mini is stronger than a G5, more powerful, let's not talk about the next Mac Mini, especially if it will have the rumored dual screen support.

 

[js81]

No need to miss the PowerMac, as strange as it can sound I'm pretty sure your current Mac Mini is stronger than a G5, more powerful, let's not talk about the next Mac Mini, especially if it will have the rumored dual screen support.

That's kind of what I've gathered - that my "old" Mini is equal to or better than just about any dual G5, so any performance upgrade would be minimal, if any at all. Not to mention, it's newer and will be supported much longer (i.e., Snow Leopard, though I probably won't upgrade, as I could see a slow-down with 10.5.5 over 10.4.11) and PPC has gone the way of the dinosaurs. If the new Mini has dual screen support, I'm all over that - if not, I'll have to weigh it versus a 20" iMac, which will do dual screens, but won't be matched (a personal pet peeve of mine). Thanks for all the help - guess I'll have to wait and see what Tuesday holds...

 

[svndmvn]

That's kind of what I've gathered - that my "old" Mini is equal to or better than just about any dual G5, so any performance upgrade would be minimal, if any at all. Not to mention, it's newer and will be supported much longer (i.e., Snow Leopard, though I probably won't upgrade, as I could see a slow-down with 10.5.5 over 10.4.11) and PPC has gone the way of the dinosaurs. If the new Mini has dual screen support, I'm all over that - if not, I'll have to weigh it versus a 20" iMac, which will do dual screens, but won't be matched (a personal pet peeve of mine). Thanks for all the help - guess I'll have to wait and see what Tuesday holds...

don't be so sure about the 10.6 "weight", I believe Apple is stripping down the apps and optimizing the OS in order for it to run better with multiple cores and using GPUs, your next Mini or iMac, even your "old" Mini should run better with 10.6 than it does now with 10.5.5

 

[js81]

don't be so sure about the 10.6 "weight", I believe Apple is stripping down the apps and optimizing the OS in order for it to run better with multiple cores and using GPUs, your next Mini or iMac, even your "old" Mini should run better with 10.6 than it does now with 10.5.5

If all the rumors I'm hearing now come true about the Mini, my mind is made up. It would be double awesome if it came with Snow Leopard, though I really doubt that. I'm happy with what I have, don't get me wrong - but as a typical tech guy, I always want MORE. I was a bit disappointed with Leopard on the Mini, though it seems to run great on my wife's WhiteBook. But it does have 4GB of RAM... could that make a difference?

 

[LordOfTheMacs]

Keep the mini for snow leopard, plus it's newer than the g5 and will probablly last longer. Maybe you can get a G4 used for the expandability. There is tons of life left in G4 and G5 chips. And easel display of the same age would be cool!

 

[Cory5412]

You say you tested the games on the whitebook, but it's a good thing to note that the white macbook does *not* have the GeForce 9400m chip, it has the Intel GMA 3100, which is nearly the same as the GMA 950 in your current Mac Mini.

Tomorrow's announcement which is rumored to include a Mac Mini update will probably provide a Mac mini that will include the GF9400m chip, which should run the games in question a lot better than the GMA 3100.

Hopefully Apple brings out a machine that can help tomorrow!

 

[js81]

You say you tested the games on the whitebook, but it's a good thing to note that the white macbook does *not* have the GeForce 9400m chip, it has the Intel GMA 3100, which is nearly the same as the GMA 950 in your current Mac Mini.

Tomorrow's announcement which is rumored to include a Mac Mini update will probably provide a Mac mini that will include the GF9400m chip, which should run the games in question a lot better than the GMA 3100.

Hopefully Apple brings out a machine that can help tomorrow!

Yeah, the 3100 stinks, almost as bad as the GMA 950! I've also tried the games on my sister's new aluminum Macbook and they both play great. That's why I'm totally OK if the new Mini has the 9400M. I know its not the greatest chip, but its a huge improvement for me. I'm not looking to play anything new - most just AOE3. I can't play AOE3 on either of my current Macs. Actually, I was quite disappointed - the Mini plays AOE3 fine in all the beginning campaigns - until any naval battles are involved. I had played everything until I had to attack some pirate ships, then it literally slowed to a crawl. I had hoped the WhiteBook would fare better, but no. Oh, well - here's hoping for a new Mini (or to start saving for a new iMac)!

 

[andrei14]

I mostly would like the tower, well, because I like to tinker, for lack of a better word. I've always enjoyed it - its my thing, I guess. I see about the PPC being a dead end; I just feel the dual monitors and better graphics may be worth it. However, if the upgraded Mini comes through, that'll make my mind up for me. If not, I'm leaning toward an iMac, as I want to play some games (not anything new - mostly AOE3 and GR:AW) and I have the Windows versions. I've pretty much decided against the G5 now, since my games are Windows and they can't run on the WhiteBook. If there's no new Mini (and I've tried both games on the Macbook's 9400M) then I'll probably buy/build a cheap PC (yuck!) just to play those games with and keep my Mini.

Not a lot to tinker with.... it's absolutely perfect inside and out. The only issue I had with the powermacs and the macpro is weight....

 

[econoline06]

That's definitely what I'm leaning toward. If the new Mini happens and is what everyone expects, then mine will be on eBay Tuesday night. All I want is the 9400m and dual displays - is that too much to ask? . I probably would do it without dual displays, but a man's gotta dream, right? I bet the new one will use DDR3, won't it? Surely it will come with 2GB... Here's hoping that dreams do come true, and that it's not just a crappy refresh. I am beyond sick of GMA 950!

Sick of the 950? Try the x3100 (ugh). It can't even minimize windows smoothly on my MacBook with 4GB of RAM!

 

[js81]

Sick of the 950? Try the x3100 (ugh). It can't even minimize windows smoothly on my MacBook with 4GB of RAM!

Amen to that - they both officially suck (I have both - believe, I know...). Whatever happened to Apple's "no integrated graphics" way of thinking? I sure miss that... I'd gladly trade either of these crappy Intel Integrated graphics cards for anything dedicated.

 

[clyde2801]

The powermac is a technological dead end. Unless you had to use software that was not optimized for both processors (say, you had CS2 and couldn't afford to upgrade to CS3 or 4) it wouldn't make sense to make the trade.

I loved my 2.0 DP G5 powermac. But there came a time when I realized that a C2D mini could smoke it processorwise if Rosetta wasn't factored in.

If you want to upgrade, fine, cram the ram, find a c2d chip on ebay and replace the harddrive to the biggest, fastest one you can find. If they make a 7200 rpm ATA drive, put it in for a performance boost.

Personally, I'd wait to see if there is going to be a new mini today at Macworld. Good luck.

 

[js81]

The powermac is a technological dead end. Unless you had to use software that was not optimized for both processors (say, you had CS2 and couldn't afford to upgrade to CS3 or 4) it wouldn't make sense to make the trade.

I loved my 2.0 DP G5 powermac. But there came a time when I realized that a C2D mini could smoke it processorwise if Rosetta wasn't factored in.

If you want to upgrade, fine, cram the ram, find a c2d chip on ebay and replace the harddrive to the biggest, fastest one you can find. If they make a 7200 rpm ATA drive, put it in for a performance boost.

Personally, I'd wait to see if there is going to be a new mini today at Macworld. Good luck.

Yeah, I believe my mind is made up about the G5 - funny how this thread has changed directions, at least for me, to the new Mini. I've already upgraded my Mini about as far as I can - 2 GB RAM, 7200 RPM drive. I DID upgrade the Core Solo to a Core Duo, but its not a C2D. If I choose NOT to get a new Mini, would a C2D make THAT big of a difference? I have a T2500 2.0GHz CD right now...

 

[svndmvn]

, would a C2D make THAT big of a difference? I have a T2500 2.0GHz CD right now...

if I'm not mistaking a 2.0GHz C2D should be about 30% faster than your CD, with everything staying the same, FSB and RAM, CPU only that is.
Today's Mac Mini should be a lot better, especially with nice graphics,DDR3 etc, once Snow Leopard is available.

 

[js81]

if I'm not mistaking a 2.0GHz C2D should be about 30% faster than your CD, with everything staying the same, FSB and RAM, CPU only that is.
Today's Mac Mini should be a lot better, especially with nice graphics,DDR3 etc, once Snow Leopard is available.

I wanted a C2D when I did the upgrade (about a year and a half ago), but it was WAY EXPENSIVE at the time. I could only get a 1.66GHz C2D for what I paid for the 2.0GHz CD. Guess that's not the case (as much, at least) now. Anybody here know what the max C2D I could put in a current gen Mini is? I'm still really leaning toward the new one, if the price is similar, but just curious...

 

[ziwi]

Buy a G4 case and stuff the mini inside it if you like the look so much...it will still work and you can be satisfied in your tinkering..

 

[svndmvn]

Core2 Duo (socket M) (early Dec. 06 pricing)
1.83GHz - appx $242
2.0GHz - appx $296
2.16GHz - appx $420
2.33GHz - appx $650

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/mac_mini_core_2_duo_swaps.html

 

[js81]

No New Mini?!?!?

Well, there's apparently no new Mini in sight... *sigh* what a let down... Guess mine lives with me for a while longer.