Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

TC · Jun 24, 2003, 08:03 AM

Just noticed that G4s are still available on the Apple site, here are the specs + prices compared to the G5:

$1,999.00
1.6GHz PowerPC G5
800MHz frontside bus
512K L2 cache
256MB DDR333 128-bit SDRAM
Expandable to 4GB SDRAM
80GB Serial ATA
SuperDrive
Three PCI Slots
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
64MB DDR video memory
56K internal modem

$1,599.00
Dual 1.25GHz PowerPC G4
2MB L3 cache/processor
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
80GB Ultra ATA drive
Combo Drive
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro
Mac OS 9 boot supported

I notice that in all their bake offs Apple compare the G5s to PC competitors, they never compare them to the old G4s.
So my question is, how would a dual 1.25GHz G4 compare to a single 1.6Ghz G5?
To my naive mind the dual G4 is looking like good value for money and you get a much nicer case with better expansion which is easier to work on.
Only caveat is $200 extra to put a superdrive in the G4.

scottiB · Jun 24, 2003, 08:15 AM

Here's a comparison of the Dual 1.42 to PIVs and dual Xeons.

http://www.barefeats.com/pentium4.html

Personally, I'd get the G5.

KidRed · Jun 24, 2003, 09:17 AM

I'd get the G5, not to mention every spec is better, but that the 1.6ghz G5 is like 3x times faster then the 1.2ghz. No brainer.

ixus_123 · Jun 24, 2003, 09:50 AM

I would also go with the G5 - it's not just a step up it's like leaping a whole flight of stairs.

Tarabella · Jun 24, 2003, 09:56 AM

Have you noticed that the previous "Ultimate" Power Mac -- the Dual 1.42 GHz model, is no longer available. The current "Ultimate" model is a dual 1.25 GHz G4.

radarbob · Jun 24, 2003, 10:41 AM

More than a faster-clocked CPU, I think THE story is the all new architecture. Everything CAN go faster now. The difference between running a Ferrari on the highway vs. on the race track?

Commodus · Jun 24, 2003, 10:44 AM

Tarabella:

That makes perfect sense, since no one in their right mind would spend gobs of money on a G4 now. I'm surprised that Apple even has an Ultimate option for the G4 at the moment. It probably also has to do with stock levels. The 1 GHz and dual-1.42 GHz PowerMacs were the ones to clear out of the channel first.

I agree with the others: get a G5. If you need the price to be a bit more down-to-earth, you can custom-order the G5 with a Combo drive isntead of a Superdrive. That makes the difference only $200 ($1599 versus $1799). You can drop the price even further if you don't need a 56K modem.

silverlode · Jun 25, 2003, 01:56 PM

Originally posted by KidRed:
I'd get the G5, not to mention every spec is better, but that the 1.6ghz G5 is like 3x times faster then the 1.2ghz. No brainer.

Wha?!? Where do you get that?! A 1.6GHz G4 is 3x timas faster than a dual 1.24GHz G4? As much as I want to believe that, I have a hard time beleiving it's even 2x faster.

I'd love to be proven wrong.

BrunoBruin · Jun 25, 2003, 02:06 PM

Originally posted by silverlode:
Wha?!? Where do you get that?! A 1.6GHz G4 is 3x timas faster than a dual 1.24GHz G4? As much as I want to believe that, I have a hard time beleiving it's even 2x faster.

I'd love to be proven wrong.

Well, the system bus alone is more than four times faster, and the bus is what's choking the G4. The G5 also uses its DDR RAM at full speed. It will be interesting when benchmarks comparing the G4 and G5 appear.

scottiB · Jun 25, 2003, 02:14 PM

It's been speculated that the G5 is twice as fast (for lack of a better term), clockspeed for clockspeed, than a G4 (i.e., 1 Ghz G5 = 2 Ghz G4). Even if it's only 1.5 as fast (1.5x1.6 =2.6GHz), it's still faster in clockspeed than 2 x1.25 GHz.

What really juices that box, though, is the G5's bandwith (using DDR as it was intended, separate busses to everything).

My gut instinct is that in MPEG encoding, the G5/1.6 will triple the DP/1.25's rate with both boxes having 2GB or memory. Even in less intensive tasks--or multitasking--the G5 will still smoke because the data moves much quicker.

If I were in the market, I'd beg, borrow, or steal to acquire the extra $500. Anyone who buys a G4 tower now (unless OS 9 booting is needed) will be kicking themselves in September once the real world test start rolling in.

entrox · Jun 25, 2003, 03:16 PM

I'd wait until more benchmarks start coming in to see how much faster it is, because I neither trust the Apple numbers nor do I value any speculation when no machine has been shipped yet.

Personally, I'd get the dual G4 if low on cash. I'll never ever buy a single processor system again - even if it means going with older hardware. It's a completely different feeling.