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sarcastro · Oct 14, 2003, 11:19 PM

I am trying to find information on the performance of the 1.6 model, but am having a difficult time because most of the reviews are focussing on the Dual 2.0 model (understandably). So, I was wondering what your general impressions were of the 1.6. How does it handle games? Excellent? Adequate?...barely usable? Any impressions at all would be very useful and much appreciated!

Thanks!

The Mick · Oct 14, 2003, 11:41 PM

The machine overall is very snappy. It runs Unreal Tournament 2003 fairly well, but not perfectly smoothly. I think the GeForce card is holding it back, I would have bought one with a 9600 or maybe a 9800 but I didn't want to wait for a BTO unit. I am very happy with the machine so far, I bumped it up to 768MB RAM, and I may go for another 256-512MB soon since I still have some paging when I really push it.

MichiganRich · Oct 15, 2003, 12:15 AM

Hey there, I know what you mean about the reviews focusing on the Dual 2. I can't imagine that everyone is gonna spring the additional $1K for a home machine. I ordered the base 1.6 with the ATI 9600 upgrade, stuck in a gig of Crucial.com RAM, and I am super happy. Photoshop opens quicker on it than on any of the dual processor MDD machines we have at the studio I work at. OS X feels perfect now, as I came from a G4/600mhz upgraded Blue and White, where it didn't feel very perfect at all. The surprise was how much faster my cable modem is pulling data now, I didn't think that the processor had that much to do with download speeds. It doesn't peak any faster, it just is more consistently peaking. Everything feels nice and 'snappy', I am very pleased with my purchase. SimCity 4 is still a sluggish piece of bloat, but even high-power PC users are saying that. I don't feel any remorse over not going for the 1.8 or Dual 2. Extra bonus? The $1000 still in my bank account, as i prowl around looking for my first MiniDV camcorder. Canon Optura 20 plus new G5, or just new G5?.... I know which choice I would make....

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Oct 15, 2003, 01:48 AM

Originally posted by MichiganRich:
Hey there, I know what you mean about the reviews focusing on the Dual 2. I can't imagine that everyone is gonna spring the additional $1K for a home machine.

From the poll I took here the Dual was the most bought, followed by the 1.8 then the 1.6.

chrisutley · Oct 15, 2003, 03:00 AM

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
From the poll I took here the Dual was the most bought, followed by the 1.8 then the 1.6.

Isn't 3K for Apple's fastest PowerMac a huge breakthrough? Maybe my perception has just changed, but I remember a time when I wouldn't even dare to dream of buy the fastest PowerMac. For a well equipped dual proc box, 3K seems quite reasonable (at least by Apple's standards).

In any event, I guess what I'm trying to say is I wouldn't be surprised if the DP model is selling like crazy.

triplezoom · Oct 15, 2003, 07:31 AM

I've been very happy with the performance of my 1.6. Games play very well, although it helps that I have the ATI 9600 graphics card.

Cincinnatus · Oct 15, 2003, 06:12 PM

chrisutley,

You are absolutely correct. Back in 1990, Apple's high-end 40MHz IIfx would've set you back $9,900 (1990 dollars, so adjust for 13 years of inflation). Oh, and that was without a video card, so you'd have had to purchase a Radius or RasterOps card for ~$1000, if my memory is correct. Check out LowendMac for other reminders of how amazing the computing price/performance ratio has grown over the years. This is the first year I even considered getting a mid-range box (after owning a 6100/60 and a 300MHz B&W G3). I now have a G5 1.8

/Cincinnatus

powerbook867 · Oct 15, 2003, 06:52 PM

I have been very happy with my 1.6. What I like the best (besides my student discount) is the expandability coming from my powerbook. The machine takes care of everything I throw at it and I like to consider myself a power user. I do alot with Imovie and idvd as well as play some games and surf/email/itunes. You will not be dissapointed in my opinion.

redJag · Oct 15, 2003, 07:15 PM

We got a Quadra660AV with apple monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, mic brand new for $3,000. I think you're exaggerating a bit.

edit: Ok, holy crap you were right (according to the site). My apologies

For the mistake on my part, and that horrid price!

vsurfer · Oct 15, 2003, 07:39 PM

Originally posted by sarcastro:
I am trying to find information on the performance of the 1.6 model, but am having a difficult time because most of the reviews are focussing on the Dual 2.0 model (understandably). So, I was wondering what your general impressions were of the 1.6. How does it handle games? Excellent? Adequate?...barely usable? Any impressions at all would be very useful and much appreciated!

Thanks!

FYI

The dual G5 2 ghz
The G5 1.8
The G5 1.6

Are reviewed side-by-side in the November 2003 issue of Macworld, and are also compared with the Dual G41.4 Ghz and G4 1 Ghz.

sarcastro · Oct 15, 2003, 08:55 PM

Thanks for the helpful replies! I just put in an order for the 1.6 a couple minutes ago! Huzzah!

Originally posted by vsurfer:
FYI

The dual G5 2 ghz
The G5 1.8
The G5 1.6

Are reviewed side-by-side in the November 2003 issue of Macworld, and are also compared with the Dual G41.4 Ghz and G4 1 Ghz.

Yes, this is about the only review of the 1.6 I was able to find. Besides, I'm not that interested in a comparative review since the 1.6 is the only realistic model for me to buy, financially speaking. Thanks anyways.

Anand · Oct 16, 2003, 09:16 AM

I just changed from a 933 Mhz G4 with 1.5 GB Ram to a 1.6 Ghz G5 with 1.25 Ghz Ram and I will say that I am not all that impressed. Yes, its faster, but not by a lot. I recently upgraded a friends machine to a 1.4 G4 and that thing flies in panther. My G5 actually feels much slower. Very odd. The thing holding back speed is not machine only but rather the poor software written for the mac. That is, except for apple and a few others.

dantley · Oct 16, 2003, 03:42 PM

I would opt for a single or dual G4 1.4 over a 1.6 G5. The speed difference is not very noticable to justify the extra money.

Perhaps you should wait for the 1.8 to become the low end Power Mac.

rambo47 · Oct 16, 2003, 06:05 PM

Imgaing how a Dual G5 3 GHz will fly!

chrisutley · Oct 17, 2003, 01:20 AM

Originally posted by redJag:
We got a Quadra660AV with apple monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, mic brand new for $3,000. I think you're exaggerating a bit.

edit: Ok, holy crap you were right (according to the site). My apologies For the mistake on my part, and that horrid price!

Big Mac · Oct 17, 2003, 05:51 AM

Macworld found, for those who haven't read the article, the 1.8 to be the best value. While no slouch, the 1.6 isn't that great in terms of bang for one's buck. And Macworld felt that the DP was overkill for non-professionals; they didn't see significant gains with the DP in their (single processor) tests. It's too bad they didn't run multitasking tasks in order to demonstrate the DP's lead there. I'm tempted to jump now, myself, but I think I shall wait for Rev B.

Crusoe · Oct 17, 2003, 06:56 AM

I am considering one come Xmas time along with a 20". I wouldn't go with a G4 desktop at this point mainly for bus speed. I want to have a good dev machine, play games, do some light design, movie and photo editing. 800Mhz vs 167Mhz FSB is reason alone for me to go a with a G5 1.6. Lastly I usually want to get 4+ years out of my desktops and the 1.6 should easily provide me with the power I need.

I want to check out a side by side review with all of them running Panther.

powerbook867 · Oct 17, 2003, 10:26 AM

Crusoe, I agree with your Panther comment. I belive all G5 owners will see a dramatic boost in performance in a couple of days...now I just have to order my copy!! I wish the apple stores would just let us buy a copy for 20 dollars!!

PS The 20 inch cinema is amazing!!!!!!!!!!