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Quadroclops1 · Aug 20, 2004, 06:41 PM

-anyone got the time to comment on whether I'd see a lot of difference? the powermac is a good price, & the g3 seems s-l-o-w... but should I sell my arm to buy a g5 instead?

Luca Rescigno · Aug 20, 2004, 07:36 PM

The PowerMac is probably better. Even though the clock speed is lower, it is a G4, and it is much more expandable. With the iMac, you're limited to the low quality built-in monitor, a slow graphics card, and the same processor. The PowerMac can use just about any monitor you want to use, and you can upgrade both the video card and the processor.

It also depends - what kind of situation are you in? How much would either one cost? If the PowerMac is inexpensive, say, $500 or less, go for it and remember that you can always upgrade later.

titan44 · Aug 20, 2004, 07:37 PM

loose the arm

t500 · Aug 20, 2004, 07:45 PM

What arm I do't see any arm, But look at that cool G5!

bgordon · Aug 20, 2004, 10:12 PM

FWIW, I'm using a 600Mhz G3 iMac at work, running 10.3.5, and it pretty much sucks. I feel like I'm running in sand, on the beach, without shoes.

Go G4. It has to be better. Plus, with the Powermac, you can expand to use a 32MB video card, necessary to take advanatge of Quartz Extreme. The iMac is stuck (I'm pretty sure) with 16 MB of VRAM.

- bgordon

tkmd · 09:26 AM

Besides being a G4, probably the most important aspect are these

OreoCookie · Aug 21, 2004, 01:17 PM

I would go for a PowerMac, because the iMac's screen was horrible when it was new and time certainly didn't make it better. You can upgrade it far easier, too.

But I would really consider the arm-leg-firstborn option ... those G5s are nifty.

Chinasaur · Aug 21, 2004, 03:48 PM

1. If you're even considering the iMac, you don't need the G5.

2. The G4 is much more expandable - just make sure you don't get a Yikes! model - no AGP. Road Apple at LEW - http://www.lowendmac.com/ppc/g4.shtml

3. The G4 can be taken straight to 1.x Ghz when/if you want, as well as expandable video card options.

Luck.

Luca Rescigno · Aug 21, 2004, 04:06 PM

That would be a nice setup. $500 for the G4/466, $250 for a 933 MHz G4 upgrade, $80 for a Radeon 8500, $60 for a new hard drive, and $100 for some extra RAM (damn expensive RAM). There you have a nice, powerful computer for under a grand, that still has plenty of room for expansion and upgrades if you're willing to put more money into it.

webb3201 · Aug 21, 2004, 08:19 PM

I agree, grab the G4 and upgrade it over the next year. At 900-1ghz with a gb of ram, the G4 still has plenty of power. The iMac will never let you go with enough ram to really run OSX well. That and the limits of upgrades are a problem.

A g5 machine is nice, but you can save quite a bit by going the G4 and upgrade bit. Then you can sell your G4 when the G5 machines have depreciated a bit more.

Good luck

Oneota · Aug 21, 2004, 09:40 PM

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
That would be a nice setup. $500 for the G4/466, $250 for a 933 MHz G4 upgrade, $80 for a Radeon 8500, $60 for a new hard drive, and $100 for some extra RAM (damn expensive RAM). There you have a nice, powerful computer for under a grand, that still has plenty of room for expansion and upgrades if you're willing to put more money into it.

$990?? Hell, just get an eMac! You can get a 1GHz eMac with a SuperDrive for $9 more! Even less if you qualify for an educational discount!

166 MHz bus, DDR RAM, Radeon 9200 graphics, 8x SuperDrive, 80 GB drive, decent monitor - if you're considering upgrading the crap out of a 466 G4 tower, the eMac is definitely the better deal. You'll get a much faster machine in the end.

Lateralus · Aug 21, 2004, 10:34 PM

Originally posted by Oneota:
$990?? Hell, just get an eMac! You can get a 1GHz eMac with a SuperDrive for $9 more! Even less if you qualify for an educational discount!

166 MHz bus, DDR RAM, Radeon 9200 graphics, 8x SuperDrive, 80 GB drive, decent monitor - if you're considering upgrading the crap out of a 466 G4 tower, the eMac is definitely the better deal. You'll get a much faster machine in the end.

And the eMac would be unexpandable, not have enough video memory to play any modern game, and need more RAM.

Luca Rescigno · Aug 21, 2004, 11:08 PM

And the eMac would be slower. Why? I don't know, but Apple's consumer machines just seem to be slower than their pro machines, even when you pit a brand new consumer machine against an aging pro computer. About one year ago, I bought a brand new eMac. 1 GHz, Combo drive, 60 GB hard drive, 640 MB of RAM (I added the RAM myself of course). But I just couldn't stand it. Within a week of getting it I had already nearly maxed it out, with the extra RAM, the tilt/swivel stand, and an external hard drive.

Two months later I replaced the eMac with a dual 450 MHz G4. Believe it or not, once I added a Quartz Extreme-supported graphics card, the then three-year-old PowerMac felt nearly as fast as the eMac. And that was without any upgrades. Over time, I added a 1.3 GHz processor, even more RAM to bring the total to 1 GB, and I even bought a bargain Quicksilver and moved all the components into it. Now I have a 1.33 GHz G4, a Radeon 9800, 1 GB of RAM, two 80 GB hard drives, an 8x DVD burner, and a very high quality 17" monitor (much better than the one included with the eMac).

Yeah, I paid more than someone would spend on an eMac. Then again, it was spread out over time, and I could have easily beaten the eMac for a lot less money. What I did was move from "nearly as good" to "far better" in comparison to an eMac, over the course of about six months. Am I happy with my decision? Absolutely. This Mac is going to last me another two years, at least. If I had kept that eMac, I'd be looking into replacing it sooner.

OreoCookie · Aug 22, 2004, 02:39 AM

I don't buy the argument that `when you are even considering an iMac, then the PowerMac is too fast for you' thingi. When you buy a G5 now, you'll have a machine that'll be compatible with all OSes to come for the next several years. Panther is not fun on such a slow machine, let alone Tiger with all of its gimmicks (which is faster than Panther, but if you want those nice CoreVideo and CoreImage features, you need an up-to-date graphics card).

So unless you get the G4 for really little, including its upgrades which might be necessary, then I would advise you to get a G5. Maybe you wait till September and get an iMac G5.

Quadroclops1 · Aug 24, 2004, 01:21 PM

Thanks for all this -it's great to get opinions & useful advice -the g4 looks a likely win, it's the digital audio job as far as I can tell, ati graphics card with cinema output as well as standard monitor plug, only a 30gb hd & (I think) 256 ram. It's awaiting the seller's opinion of my offer...

Quadroclops1 · Aug 31, 2004, 11:36 PM

I got it for �175 ($315) -& the vendor is happy with the price... now for the upgrades...

Lateralus · Sep 1, 2004, 12:49 AM

Excellent price for a machine with such expandability potential.

Congrats.

frock83 · Sep 2, 2004, 02:17 PM

Hi,

I have a DA 466mhz g4 w/ 1 gig of ram currently installed. How muh better will game performance be if I upgrade it to 1ghz and put in a ati 9800 video card? Also, would I see any major difference between 1 ghz and 1.25 ghz??