need your assistance. what is better , a Power Mac G5 Quad 2.5GHz with 16gb of ram vs a new imac 21.5 in, or even a 20/24 inch imac. isn't the ram the great equalizer in the g5. i want to do video and the g5 machine seems set up for that . is the new mac that much better with just 4gb of ram?
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what is better deal loaded G5 or Imac
- Thread starter sparky2000
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I would say go with the iMac. As it is newer and you could upgrade the RAM to fit your needs over time.
I agree. Get the iMac. However, make sure you get the 21.5", as it can be upgraded to 16gb of RAM (4x4gb) instead of just 8 in the 20 or 24s (2x4gb). The G5's processor, while it was phenomenal when it was new, is just too old and outdated to compete well. I say get the high-end 21.5" with only 4gb RAM (or 8gb, if you can spare $200). It is dual core, 3.06ghz, and can run all the new 64bit apps that are coming. The G5 has already been left behind by Mac OS X, and I think that the pro apps will follow suit soon enough.
New iMac. 21.5" or 27" (20" and 24" iMacs are old iMacs)
Install your own ram. Adding an additional 4 gigs to any current iMac costs $110 to bring you to 8 gigs.
Heres some food for thought -- Geekbench numbers:
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
PowerPC G5 (970FX) 2.5 GHz (2 cores) >> 2098
iMac (Late 2009)
Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 3.06 GHz (2 cores) >> 4297
LOL! And no amount of ram is going to fix that.
Install your own ram. Adding an additional 4 gigs to any current iMac costs $110 to bring you to 8 gigs.
Heres some food for thought -- Geekbench numbers:
Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
PowerPC G5 (970FX) 2.5 GHz (2 cores) >> 2098
iMac (Late 2009)
Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 3.06 GHz (2 cores) >> 4297
LOL! And no amount of ram is going to fix that.
You're right about that... all more RAM will allow is more apps to be open pretty much and more video overlay since it'll have more to store.. but if he upgrades the RAM in the iMac to the same capacity or roughly close enough it'll perform better as it's faster RAM.
Thats not quite fair, he's talking about a quad not dual. A quick look on geekbench and the first quad number i see is 3609 and thats with 12 gigs not 16. I'm not saying one is better than the other but i'm just making sure the right system was listed.
Go with the iMac. If you buy it from MacMall (and probably some other resellers) you can have them install the extra 4GB of RAM for you for around $120.
