what would you prefer?

[kingcrowing]

What do you think would give you the most performance for the money?
~1GHz G4 (Quicksilver or similar)
~900MHz Dual G4 (DP Quicksilver, or DP MDD, w/ or w/o processor upgrade)
~1.25-1.42GHz Dual G4 (MDD or upgraded QS)
1.6GHz G5 (iMac)
1.8GHz G5 (Powermac G5)

i've got a 933MHz QS, and i'm looking into upgrading it or selling it, would it be better to sell it (they fetch around $1000+ on ebay, i have 1.25GB RAM, 170GB HD space, 128MB GeForce 4 Ti, and a superdrive) and buy a and buy a MDD DP, or just buy a DP upgrade card(~$500 for a 1.2GHz G4 dual)? or, should i get a single processor G5? I know G5s are 64Bit, but OS X loves dual processors... thanks!

 

[Bear]

The answer to your question all depends on what applications you are running.

Things to consider:

1. Are you running any heavy hitting applications? If so are they designed to take advantage of the dual drocessors?
2. How much memory bandwidth do you need for the applications you use?
3. Would adding more than 2GB of memory help performance? (If yes, this points to a G5 PowerMac)

The G5s have better memory badnwidth. The MDDs have a faster bus (at least the one with the faster bus) thann the QuickSilvers.

And I would say that Mac OS X works well with dual processors (not loves them) but it still depends on what you are doing.

The PowerMac 1.8GHz gives you your fastest single proc system with the largest memory capacity and highest system bus speed.

From your cost analysis, it sounds like you are probably better off selling the QuickSilver and replacing it. Whichever model you decide to get.

 

[hcuar]

~1GHz G4 (Quicksilver or similar)
~900MHz Dual G4 (DP Quicksilver, or DP MDD, w/ or w/o processor upgrade)
~1.25-1.42GHz Dual G4 (MDD or upgraded QS)
1.6GHz G5 (iMac)
1.8GHz G5 (Powermac G5)

Out of the list you mentioned, i'd recommend the dual 1.24 - 1.42 Ghz Dual G4. The later model dual G4's outperform the single processor G5 PM.

That being said, it might be difficult to find a system that someone is willing to part with. I recently purchased a dual 1.8 Ghz PM from a guy here on MR. I got it for a similar price to the single 1.8 Ghz PM. So, I felt I got a reasonable deal. I guess I'm saying, maybe you could find someone trying to sell a similar system.

 

[Darwin]

I would think that the Dual 1.42GHz PM will do ok against a G5

As long as the noise isn't too bad, and as mentioned it depends what you running

 

[kingcrowing]

Ok, well if i got a G5 powermac, it would be pretty much stock, i have the education discount, so i would upgrade to 512MB RAM, and take out the modem, it would cost $1390, and thats about the best i could pull. With so much less RAM, and a lower end GPU, would it be much better? and then how would that compare to a iMac of similar stats?
the most intensive program i use is Photoshop CS, i'd like to get into Maya 6 PLE as well

 

[Blue Velvet]

As long as the noise isn't too bad...

And that can be a make or break deal.

The MDD G4s are noisy -- I spent a lot of money on my 1.42 G4 to shut it up. The 1.25 at work is bearable 'cos it's in a noisy office.

 

[Darwin]

Hopefully the one that he/she purchases will come with the quiet fan upgrade already installed

 

[kingcrowing]

Oh, i had a desktop PC for a while, i sold it for two reasons, 1) it was a PC lol, and 2) Noisey as hel*, so if the MDDs are real noisy, i may want to steer away from that route, how are they compared to the quicksilvers? and compared to the G5s?

 

[Bear]

And that can be a make or break deal.

The MDD G4s are noisy -- I spent a lot of money on my 1.42 G4 to shut it up. The 1.25 at work is bearable 'cos it's in a noisy office.

Funny, I don't have a noise issue with my dual 1.42 MDD. Maybe you got a bad fan with yours?

 

[Darwin]

Oh, i had a desktop PC for a while, i sold it for two reasons, 1) it was a PC lol, and 2) Noisey as hel*, so if the MDDs are real noisy, i may want to steer away from that route, how are they compared to the quicksilvers? and compared to the G5s?

Well Apple did offer a kit to upgrade the noisey fan, so chances are you will get a PM with that already installed

Don't know how much of an improvement the new fan made though

 

[Darwin]

Oops repost 😀

 

[Bear]

Hopefully the one that he/she purchases will come with the quiet fan upgrade already installed

The MDD FW800 series came with the quiter fans. If the MDD is a 1.42GHz as released by Apple, it should be fine, sound wise. Although the iMac will be quieter.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Hopefully the one that he/she purchases will come with the quiet fan upgrade already installed

That 'quiet fan upgrade' that Apple was promoting was nothing of the sort... mine was one of the ones that already had had it done.

Still absolutely appalling -- took a Verax kit to fix it and that replaced 5-6 fans if I remember rightly. 2 in the power-supply, 1 in the drive bays, 2 over a new heatsink and maybe the side-door fan. Almost 300 euros...

Worth every penny -- like night and day.

 

[Darwin]

It might be under a desk as well so what little sound you hear isn't in your face

 

[Bear]

Ok, well if i got a G5 powermac, it would be pretty much stock, i have the education discount, so i would upgrade to 512MB RAM, and take out the modem, it would cost $1390, and thats about the best i could pull. With so much less RAM, and a lower end GPU, would it be much better? and then how would that compare to a iMac of similar stats?
the most intensive program i use is Photoshop CS, i'd like to get into Maya 6 PLE as well

Maya will love memory. And depending on what you are using photoshop for, well Photoshop does love memory a lot.

So for you it sounds like getting a system with more memory might be a better choice tradeoff wise. However, could you gather the money to buy memory in a month or so? Remember buying memory form Crucial will usually save you money over buying memory from Apple. Although due to the slots limit the PowerMac G5 1.8GHz, I would recommend trying to squeeze out the extra money to upgrade to 1GB(2 DIMMs) CTO while buying the machine so you leave 2 slots free for more memory later.

 

[kingcrowing]

well, i guess my thinking is, i'd rather buy a more powerful mac (processor wise), and then i can upgrade the memory later on... If i got a G5 with less RAM, i could eventually upgrade the a RAM, and thats a pretty simple thing to do and its not all that costly. However if i got a DP G4 with more RAM, it's a lot harder and more costly to upgrade the prosessor... and after looking on ebays completed listings, if i keep my eyes open, i might be able to find a dual 1.8 for less that $1400...

 

[Bear]

well, i guess my thinking is, i'd rather buy a more powerful mac (processor wise), and then i can upgrade the memory later on... If i got a G5 with less RAM, i could eventually upgrade the a RAM, and thats a pretty simple thing to do and its not all that costly. However if i got a DP G4 with more RAM, it's a lot harder and more costly to upgrade the prosessor... and after looking on ebays completed listings, if i keep my eyes open, i might be able to find a dual 1.8 for less that $1400...

Very good thought there. And the memory bus speed is likely to be an issue in the G4s anyway.

Another choice (if you can wait) for the next PowerMac update (most likely before the end of June - there are a few threads on this currently) the Current 1.8 might go on sale at the Apple store for a price you can afford.