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Will you buy a Quad G5 now?
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Yes get the Quad G5. I have a quad 2.5 but I did not buy mine. My quad was a replacement machine for my Dual 2.5 but I am very happy with it and would recommend it to anyone who needs absolute raw power.
My Quad 2.5 with Geforce 7800GT can pretty much beat an intel Core Duo imac or MacBook Pro in almost every task imaginable and that's with Just one of my four cores active!! With all four cores active there is no comparison against a Core Duo.
I am not worrying much about intel based PowerMacs either as they are at least 6 months or more away. Also even once intel towers ship the old top of the line PowerPC machines will probably still outperform on non-universal apps. Remember some Apps may never go UB, others may ship a year or more from now and in some cases software upgrades would be required. Even with native Apps intel and Apple would be hard pressed to build a machine that can Double the performance of the Quad 2.5
My Quad 2.5 with Geforce 7800GT can pretty much beat an intel Core Duo imac or MacBook Pro in almost every task imaginable and that's with Just one of my four cores active!! With all four cores active there is no comparison against a Core Duo.
I am not worrying much about intel based PowerMacs either as they are at least 6 months or more away. Also even once intel towers ship the old top of the line PowerPC machines will probably still outperform on non-universal apps. Remember some Apps may never go UB, others may ship a year or more from now and in some cases software upgrades would be required. Even with native Apps intel and Apple would be hard pressed to build a machine that can Double the performance of the Quad 2.5
Quad 2.5GHz PowerPC G5
http://www.barefeats.com/mvdcpc.html
The Quad is a desktop computer for professional work. It will be a great system for the next few years.
[Don't forget the NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT 256MB for the Quad]
http://www.barefeats.com/mvdcpc.html
The Quad is a desktop computer for professional work. It will be a great system for the next few years.
[Don't forget the NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT 256MB for the Quad]
If I had enough money and wanted a PowerMac (only one of those apply to me - no money >.<) I would get a Quad G5 for sheer power.
BUT, from what I have noticed compared to the new intel machines, the PowerMac needs an upgrade on the video card, etc. AND maybe have bluetooth and AE built in with the price instead having to add it for $100. The PowerMac has power, but not as many features as say an iMac.
I would actually say since the PowerMac line needs updating, you should probably wait off. $3200+ for a machine thats already outdated in my eyes is not the right way to do things.
BUT, from what I have noticed compared to the new intel machines, the PowerMac needs an upgrade on the video card, etc. AND maybe have bluetooth and AE built in with the price instead having to add it for $100. The PowerMac has power, but not as many features as say an iMac.
I would actually say since the PowerMac line needs updating, you should probably wait off. $3200+ for a machine thats already outdated in my eyes is not the right way to do things.
I'd personally wait for Intel Powermacs (or whatever they're going to call the Powermacs with Intel chips inside them)
cnakeitaro said:
I don't understand what you mean when you say that the PM's graphics cards are outdated? They are the very best that Nvidia has to offer, I guess that you can get a 7800GT (512MB, rather than 256). Also, clock for clock the G5 is more powerful than any intel chip that is out there (until Conroe perhaps). The quad is an awesome machine and I would get one if I had the money. Hey you won't even have to shell out another grand for your pro apps
godbout said:I don't understand what you mean when you say that the PM's graphics cards are outdated? They are the very best that Nvidia has to offer, I guess that you can get a 7800GT (512MB, rather than 256). Also, clock for clock the G5 is more powerful than any intel chip that is out there (until Conroe perhaps). The quad is an awesome machine and I would get one if I had the money. Hey you won't even have to shell out another grand for your pro apps
You still have to upgrade to the 7800GT, and comes standard with 512 MB of RAM. The high-end MacBook Pro comes with more ram. Wouldn't it be nice for such an expensive machine, that it had more to offer. Atleast thats my thoughts on it. I know its a pro machine, so its gonna be expensive, but it is a bit much for not even having a display with it.
cnakeitaro said:
You are right about the RAM, the PMs should have more standard and the 7800GT should become standard too (but at least it is available) Still though... I would not go so far as to say that it is outdated.
I guess I should be more careful with the words I use, of course if you pimp out the system, its gonna be far from outdated. Its still going to be pretty far out there, I mean even the whole design of the system cooling was revolution with the 4 different segments with individual cooling in the system, but......when you compare it to what you get with the new iMacs or Powerbooks, it takes a little of the kick away from it.
Your pretty much paying for expandibility, and feature wise, I still think the iMac kicks the crap out the PowerMac. Of course you can add the things that the iMac has, but for a higher cost. I think the iMac is the deal for your money. For the price of the PowerMac I could get two fully loaded iMacs at different times and still have some left over.
Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a PowerMac, especially with a 30 inch ACD. But, I don't think its worth the money for what your getting.
Adding 4 gigs of RAM, a 20 inch ACD, and the 7800GT took it to $5400. Ouch. I want more features for my monies.
Your pretty much paying for expandibility, and feature wise, I still think the iMac kicks the crap out the PowerMac. Of course you can add the things that the iMac has, but for a higher cost. I think the iMac is the deal for your money. For the price of the PowerMac I could get two fully loaded iMacs at different times and still have some left over.
Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a PowerMac, especially with a 30 inch ACD.
But, I don't think its worth the money for what your getting.Adding 4 gigs of RAM, a 20 inch ACD, and the 7800GT took it to $5400. Ouch. I want more features for my monies.
I'm holding off till the intel based ones are released.
I'd pick one of the PPC ones up usually, but this is gonna be my last mac purchase for a good couple of years, so I'm gonna get a top of the line intel one and then no matter what Steve decides to do, I know my machine can handle it.
I'd pick one of the PPC ones up usually, but this is gonna be my last mac purchase for a good couple of years, so I'm gonna get a top of the line intel one and then no matter what Steve decides to do, I know my machine can handle it.
arcsbite said:
Really? I don't know, maybe not next year but the more architecture independant our progs become with universal binaries etc, I can see transitioning between the two systems being not a problem at all. Then you can use what ever is the best at the time be that IBM, Intel or AMD.
Who knows... POWER6 SOI might be pretty good
arcsbite said:
Steve has been full of surprises lately. Honestly tho, I could see IBM pumping out some new chip that could get Apple's attention. Although it would take them a billion years.
Realistically tho, they could easily keep the Universal Binary going. I think the main reason for the switch was the mobility versions of the new IBM chips? If thats the case, I wouldn't be surprised if IBM pumped out a nice desktop chip, and we saw the desktops going PPC and the laptops go Intel.
Of course its highly unlikely, but hey it could happen. Even tho IBM says they are relieved of not having to supply Apple with chips anymore.
cnakeitaro said:
Wow they actually said that?
So what do people think about the possibility of AMD chips being brought into action with Apple? Sort of like the ATI Nvidia thing that apple does? Is this going to happen do you think?
godbout said:Wow they actually said that?
So what do people think about the possibility of AMD chips being brought into action with Apple? Sort of like the ATI Nvidia thing that apple does? Is this going to happen do you think?
Not anytime soon. It could happen in a few years, but not with the big hype of the Intel marketing campaign. Don't get me wrong, but Intel will become very competitive with the AMD chips very soon. I would like to think that Steve did his homework and actually considered AMD as an option when he was looking for a new processor type. I think Intel had the best roadmap (even if they don't deliver) that was better than AMD's.
And if they do both, it probably won't happen until they phase out only after they phase out PPC completely. Having 3 processor types in computers would start to get really confusing.
BTW, I will try and find that article I found IBM say that in, and post it.
7800GT too slow ?
1. You shouldn't buy RAM at Apple anyway, unless you want to pay a bit more. [512 MB in Quad]
2. The NVidia Geforce 7800GT is one of the best cards. There is no GTX Sli version for Mac, but considering the fact that Mac isn't made for gaming anyway, we can live with it.
3. AMD would make sense for gaming macs - but who needs that.
Rumor&Speculation: ATI will probably bring a X1800XT MacEdition soon... http://www.barefeats.com/mwsf06.html
1. You shouldn't buy RAM at Apple anyway, unless you want to pay a bit more. [512 MB in Quad]
2. The NVidia Geforce 7800GT is one of the best cards. There is no GTX Sli version for Mac, but considering the fact that Mac isn't made for gaming anyway, we can live with it.
3. AMD would make sense for gaming macs - but who needs that.
Rumor&Speculation: ATI will probably bring a X1800XT MacEdition soon... http://www.barefeats.com/mwsf06.html
FarSide said:
You are forgetting that the ONLY video cards available for the dual core G5 Macs (which have PCI-E, not AGP, video cards) are the GeForce 6600LE, 6600, 7800GT and Quadro. Only the 6600 is available a la carte. The 6800 series and X800XT/X850XT are only available for the AGP PowerMacs.