[csimon2]

Because of the way some things have worked out in our budget, we have some extra cash to spend on a new G5, but it must be spent this week. My question is, and yes I do realize Macworld is right around the corner but this order MUST be submitted this week, who believes it would be wiser to get a G5 with dual 2GHz processors plus the 6800GT w/ 1.5GB RAM and APP, or would it be better to get a G5 with dual 2.5GHz processors with only the Radeon 9600XT and 2GB RAM w/out APP? Thanks for any help/opinions you can provide.

This station will be paired with an Apple 20" Cinema Display. It will be used primarily with the following apps, in descending order of time used: InDesign CS, Photoshop CS, Acrobat 6 Pro, Quark 6, Illustrator CS, FreeHand MX, Final Cut Pro HD, Compression Master 3, Cleaner 6, Director MX 2004, DVD Studio Pro, Motion, and Sorenson Squeeze 4. CoreImage in Tiger is also a concern, and while I imagine we could always update the graphics card, because this purchase is for an institution, its a lot easier said then done, and thus is usually a hassle.

[Cadaver]

Most of the applications you list, with the exception of Motion, are CPU-bound. They would all benefit from the faster processors in the DP 2.5 GHz as compared to the 2.0. Only Motion in your list would benefit from the faster graphics card in your 2.0GHz configuration.

Depending on the machine's main use will be, the dual 2.5/9600XT might be the better way to go, IMHO.

Another thought would be going with a DP 2.0GHz and the 9600XT (an inexpensive option), and boosting the RAM to as much as your budget permits. With applications like you've listed, more RAM would help easily as much as processors that are (only) 500MHz faster.

Tiger's CoreImage, according to Apple's website at this time, will operate on the 9600XT.

AppleCare is your choice, though advised if you can work it in.

[csimon2]

Thanks for your thoughts Cadaver. I am pretty much on the same page. This station certainly won't be used for gaming, so I was only concerned about the video card in terms of Motion and CoreImage. Obviously, the video card is easy to upgrade, but it can take like four months to get a purchase order for equipment around here, and I didn't want to rely upon that. (This is the reason for the urgency; with the recent price drops in displays, we now have an extra $300 to spend on a G5, but we originally spec-ed a PO in October, and it is just now found its way to Apple.) But, with Tiger still at least five months away, we should be good. As far as the RAM, yes it will be much more. I was just quoting what we would purchase from Apple directly. The rest is going to be purchased separately through another vendor. If we have to skip AppleCare at this time, at least we can still purchase it later and most definitely will do so within the year allotted.

[Al G]

For the video card you could also split the difference in both price and performance by going with the 9800XT.

[Scotttheking]

Buy the minimum amount of ram from apple, and the rest elsewhere.
Bam, dual 2.5, 6800GT, and applecare.

[csimon2]

Well, we only have about $2875 to spend. The 9800XT upgrade isn't much cheaper than the 6800GT, so that wouldn't help. And the RAM I was adding to the order was only $135, so all I could do here would be to drop that and add the $199 Applecare possibly. Thanks for your thoughts though.

[macaddict0001]

too bad powermacs will probably be released at macworld which is in a week and a half
but out of the current crop i would have to say a dual 2.5 with all non-apple ram except what comes with the machine and app and a 9600xt.

[eddiecatflap]

if pci-express powermacs are released next week , i'm DEFINITELY buying one !

[csimon2]

Originally posted by eddiecatflap:
if pci-express powermacs are released next week , i'm DEFINITELY buying one !

Yeah, with the release of the Retail Radeon X800 today, I'm going to see what I can do to keep Apple from building this order. I may have to call them everyday until the keynote, but it will probably be worth it. Thanks for everyone's suggestions thus far.

[Leonard]

Since MacWorld is only days away, you can (and probably should) wait, but I think it's unlikely new PowerMacs will be announced there.

[csimon2]

Originally posted by Leonard:
Since MacWorld is only days away, you can (and probably should) wait, but I think it's unlikely new PowerMacs will be announced there.

What makes you doubt that new machines or lower-priced machines won't be announced next week? Its been 210 days since the last update, which is longer than the normal 6 month time frame. Fortunately, it looks like I may have found a way to cancel the current order for this week, and just resubmit an admendment (what I have to do anyway) next week for the adjusted products.

[Lateralus]

Because IBM is still having problems scaling the 970, and there has been no news of any clock speed gains in months.

[MORT A POTTY]

I'd say the dual 2.5Ghz and the 9600XT. you can upgrade the video card later to the X800 XT, you can't do this with processors (not for the G5s anyway)

my two cents.

and please, don't buy RAM from Apple.

[Leonard]

Originally posted by csimon2:
What makes you doubt that new machines or lower-priced machines won't be announced next week? Its been 210 days since the last update, which is longer than the normal 6 month time frame.

The last update was 6 months ago. The one before that was almost 1 year ago. If you go to the Apple spec database you'll see the true G5 release dates were:

Power Macintosh G5: 2004.06
Power Macintosh G5 (Original): 2003.07

Sure some of that was delay, but I think Apple's been trying to also get away from the 6 month updates on Power Macs now that speeds aren't increasing that fast.

The other question is, does IBM have anything to replace 2.5GHz PowerPC 970FX chips. They seem to be doing better with the PowerPC 970FX chips at 2.3 and 2.5 Ghz since Apple is now keeping up to demand and has announced the Xserver G5 2.3.

That little voice in my head also tells me no-one is really clamouring for a Power Mac update - the current Power Macs are a good deal.

My guess is late Feb or Mar for a Power Mac update, which is what I've been saying for a few months now. Most people I see in forums seem to agree with this.

[MORT A POTTY]

maybe update to dual 2.0, 2.3, and 2.5Ghz