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redoid · Jan 29, 2005, 02:00 AM

Dual 2,5ghz system with a 30 HD display.

Now, do I need to worry about an imminent speed bump or even worse, a new design ?

I need all your precious advices on this one guys

Cheers

Thinine · Jan 29, 2005, 03:06 AM

There will be a speed bump between now and WWDC. I don't think anyone know more than that, aside from Apple.

The Placid Casual · Jan 29, 2005, 05:11 AM

I would say that unless you *need* to buy... wait.

It has been a long time since the Powermacs were refreshed, it will come sooner rather than later...

UnixMac · Jan 29, 2005, 09:25 AM

Originally posted by redoid:
Dual 2,5ghz system with a 30 HD display.

Now, do I need to worry about an imminent speed bump or even worse, a new design ?

I need all your precious advices on this one guys

Cheers

If I were a betting man, I'd say new speed bump by June (possibly as fast as dual 2.8), and delivery dates well into August.

So you can buy now, or wait 7+ months.

Lateralus · Jan 29, 2005, 10:51 AM

Yeah, I'd say jump as well. The whispers of speed bumps to the G5 are few and far between. I smell stagnation.

You should be safe until summer, or closer to it.

Mafia · Jan 29, 2005, 11:36 AM

i'd go ahead and get it. but if you can wait till wwdc you might want to.

jamil5454 · Jan 29, 2005, 11:46 AM

2x2.5 won't be slow (by ANY software standards) for at least another 3 years. The 30" display will never be obsolete, unless it gets worn out. Considering this, I would go ahead and splurge on an awesome system, and not have any regrets. Even if they do announce new PowerMacs, they won't be available for quite some time, and now that Apple has been shipping dual 2.5s for a while they should have most of the heating issues and bugs worked out by now. But, you may want to wait until Tiger is included on your machine so you don't have spend extra when it comes out.

Detrius · Jan 29, 2005, 01:09 PM

My general advice is that if you *can* wait, then wait until the new ones are released/announced. This applies to all models. Then, you are guaranteed to not have a new one released a day/week/month after you purchase yours.

redoid · Jan 29, 2005, 04:58 PM

Thanks for all the replies dudes,

I thought about it quite a long time today and think that even if there is a speed bump I really dont need that extra speed and defnitely not that 3 months wait.

As for Tiger, I wanted to have it preinstalled yeah, but what the hell, if i can spend 5g's on a setup i can drop a 100$ for a new OS i guess.

Again, thanks

The Godfather · Jan 29, 2005, 05:24 PM

Originally posted by The Placid Casual:
I would say that unless you *need* to buy... wait.

Unless-you-need-to-buy-wait (TM), (C) is the new celebrity phrase, in the ranks of Snappy, and New Hotness.

Detrius · Jan 30, 2005, 10:44 AM

Originally posted by The Godfather:
Unless-you-need-to-buy-wait (TM), (C) is the new celebrity phrase, in the ranks of Snappy, and New Hotness.

If you wait, the new hotness will be extra snappy.

schvenk · Jan 30, 2005, 01:54 PM

I'm also considering taking the plunge for a G5. My Quicksilver dual 800 is starting to seem awfully slow, and doesn't seem to get along with software as well as it used to. Anyway, I'm hoping to get some advice from those who know:

(1) Elsewhere, I've seen recommendations to stay away from the dual 2.5 and go for the dual 2 instead. Any thoughts on that? I'm usually inclined to avoid getting the top-of-the-line machine anyway, since in 2 years the difference between a dual 2.5 and a dual 2 will be far less significant than the difference between either and whatever's current then. Better to save the cash and figure on upgrading sooner.

(2) I have my own home business, and currently do most of my work on a Power Mac but keep a TiBook around for doing some mobile work. It's somewhat inconvenient at times but has always seemed like a better option cost-wise since I can put most of my cash into the desktop and make the laptop more of a compromise. The rumors of G5 Powerbooks make me wonder if I should consider going to a single machine...but my guess is they'll be expensive and underpowered compared to G5 desktops. Any advice?

(3) I don't know much about graphics cards. I'd like to run two 21" monitors and do a bunch of Photoshop stuff. I like to play the occasional game and do some 3D graphics work as a hobby. However, I just don't know how to select a graphics card when putting together a machine. It seems there's a lot more to it than how much VRAM I have. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated. I currently have a Radeon 9000 128MB that I installed in my Quicksilver and while it's a vast improvement over the original card I'd definitely like something better.

Thanks!

MORT A POTTY · Jan 30, 2005, 02:43 PM

unless you need two 30" displays, then I'd suggest the Radeon X800XT because right now it offers the best bang for the buck definitely.

a G5 PowrBook... I don't have a clue how they'd get a decent battery life if they released one soon. have you seen the power figures for a G5 vs. a G4? apparently not. cooling is a nother matter completely but also quite the challenge. I'd hold off on a faster G4 (maybe till the 7448 or better) because it'll offer decent performance (as long as you don't need to edit HD video or a lot of audio. the FSB will be up to 200Mhz, but still a far cry from what it could/should be.

as far as PowerMacs. if you can afford a dual 2.5 over a dual 2.0, there is no reason not to. a 25% increase in performance is nothing to sneeze at.

gee308 · Jan 30, 2005, 03:16 PM

Originally posted by redoid:
Dual 2,5ghz system with a 30 HD display.

Now, do I need to worry about an imminent speed bump or even worse, a new design ?

I need all your precious advices on this one guys

Cheers

wow, dual 2.5 with a 30", thats like $6000, have fun!!!

macaddict0001 · Jan 31, 2005, 12:08 AM

Originally posted by redoid:
Thanks for all the replies dudes,

I thought about it quite a long time today and think that even if there is a speed bump I really dont need that extra speed and defnitely not that 3 months wait.

As for Tiger, I wanted to have it preinstalled yeah, but what the hell, if i can spend 5g's on a setup i can drop a 100$ for a new OS i guess.

Again, thanks

I'd say that if you don't need a powermac 3.0 or 2.8 then you probably don't really need a 2.5 and would be well suited to something like a 1.8 dual. It will still be very fast. and unless your doing rendering or something the hard drive will be the slowest part of the system.

redoid · Jan 31, 2005, 05:57 AM

Update:

Well i bought my setup.

2.5 GHZ, 2 Gigs RAM and 30 inches DP.

I got Apple care for free and a 300 dollars rebate on the display. Free Wireless KB

I will post pics in that megathread soon then !

Greets

MORT A POTTY · Jan 31, 2005, 10:49 AM

sweet. new (liquid cooled) hotness.

congrats... I am QUITE envious.

jamil5454 · Jan 31, 2005, 06:33 PM

Sigh, me too. My iBook 4200RPM hard drive is driving me nuts (no pun intended). For some reason I don't notice a big speed improvement even while using my external Firewire 5400 20gb disk, even though its a desktop hard drive and should be much better than the iBook's internal. In iMovie I notice a slight difference (ugh iMovie is *so* slow) - is this right? I should probably splurge on the Maxtor 16mb buffer hard drive and use that externally for a few years, but that 100gb 7200rpm notebook hard drive by hitachi seems like a winner. Unfortunately I won't be able to install it until October, when my warranty runs out, and even later if I decide to buy AppleCare.

I do realize this post contributed absolutely nothing to the thread. I love hearing myself talk on the Internet.

mak_attack · Jan 31, 2005, 07:35 PM

hi redoid,

you are a brave person for buying even though a change could occur any moment now....

well who cares.....you got an excellent set-up and will be happy for years to come

i on the other hand am still undecided....

i could go and purchase the dual 2.0 anytime soon as i have saved up enough....but a nagging thought in back of mind keeps saying NO.....

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh such a hard decision

any more news on updates?

thanks,

Mafia · Jan 31, 2005, 07:54 PM

Originally posted by mak_attack:
any more news on updates?

no

PointBlank · Feb 1, 2005, 02:59 AM

I am in the same situation mak_attack. Past experience has taught me that waiting for the next best thing will get you nowhere; there will always be something new on the horizon. Despite this, you still feel you would kick yourself if apple introduced an upgrade just days/weeks after you placed an order!

redoid · Feb 1, 2005, 06:02 AM

Originally posted by PointBlank:
I am in the same situation mak_attack. Past experience has taught me that waiting for the next best thing will get you nowhere; there will always be something new on the horizon. Despite this, you still feel you would kick yourself if apple introduced an upgrade just days/weeks after you placed an order!

Enough said, hell i purchased a PB 17 last year in Jan and two months later, speed bumps occured. i didnt give a damn though as I love the hardware i bought - like you said, when it comes to technology, something new will always come out. Especially where i live!!!!!

PointBlank · Feb 1, 2005, 07:16 AM

Originally posted by PointBlank:
I am in the same situation mak_attack. Past experience has taught me that waiting for the next best thing will get you nowhere; there will always be something new on the horizon. Despite this, you still feel you would kick yourself if apple introduced an upgrade just days/weeks after you placed an order!

Speaking of which, I have just placed my order for a G5 2.0GHz!!! I feel excited, nervous and a little bit guilty (parting with all that money!)

macmad · Feb 1, 2005, 10:37 AM

mmm, I just ordered a 2.0GHz G5 too - I couldn't stand the wait any longer! Even if a speed bump does appear in the next 6 months, it will probably be closer to 8 before they ship - and that's a long time to wait. I just hope its not next week. But what the hell, it'll still be a great machine.