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bigbri069 · Mar 28, 2005, 09:09 AM

I am currently a PC user looking to switch to an Apple. I already have a nice LCD, so I am looking at the Power Mac. However, I am not sure which one to get! I see there are single 1.8, dual 1.8, dual 2.0 and dual 2.5 models.

I currrently have an 1.83ghz AMD based PC with 512mb of ram and an ATI 128mb video card. What would be a comparable (or better) Power Mac? How much ram would I need? What video card?

I am looking to do video editing and some photo editing. I received a nice DV camcorder for Christmas and I am finding the PC and most PC based software VERY unfriendly to video editing.

Any help and guidance would be greatly appreicated to a Mac newbie.

Thanks!

Brian

CIA · Mar 28, 2005, 09:26 AM

Honestly if you are just starting out with video editing, any of the powermacs will do you right. Just like the PC world though, the faster the machine, the longer lifespan you will get from it, and of course the faster things will go while using it. Unlike the G4's, I don't see CPU upgrades coming anytime soon for G5's though, so what you get is what you got. Get the fastest machine you can afford, remembering for video work, a nice large HD is good also, and OSX (and the soon to be released OSX 10.4 tiger) love lots of RAM.
Unless you are gaming, any of the video card options should be fine.

bigbri069 · Mar 28, 2005, 09:36 AM

Thanks for advice. I see Apple offers a since 1.8ghz but then jump to a dual 2.0ghz. Will they be offering a single 2.0ghz or a single 2.5ghz Power Mac anytime soon??

OreoCookie · Mar 28, 2005, 10:22 AM

Originally posted by bigbri069:
Thanks for advice. I see Apple offers a since 1.8ghz but then jump to a dual 2.0ghz. Will they be offering a single 2.0ghz or a single 2.5ghz Power Mac anytime soon??

No they don't offer any and you shouldn't take a single CPU machine IMHO - especially if you do video editing. The Windows world is now on the multi-core band wagon, too. The dual 2.0 GHz is a good machine, I would add a better graphics card than the stock model and buy more RAM later, depending on what you do. 512 MB is fine for the beginning, though.

Mac Write · Mar 28, 2005, 05:02 PM

The OS, Video Apps, Photoshop all utilize Dual CPU systems. The performance gain from a Dual CPU vs Single CPU is very noticeable. All apps will benefit from dual CPU's even if they aren't optimized for DP CPU's. Try a Single 1.8GHZ G5 with all the apps then try the Dual 1.8GHZ and notice the huge performance difference.

bigbri069 · Mar 29, 2005, 11:33 AM

Thanks for all the responses. I just wanted to let you know I picked up my friends G4 400 running OS X 10.3 last night and I am liking it. It been a bit difficult for a life long M$ user to adapt the Apple way, but I am learning. My PC has been relagated to a 2nd class citizen and is now sitting in the corner with all the cords unplugged from it and the power off.

I am still debating weather to get the single G5 1.8 and hold out till the rumored new G5's are released at the WWDC or go ahead and get the G5 dual 2.0's because I want the PCI-x slots.

Is Apple going to be offering PCI-x based video cards in the next version of the Power Mac?

sworthy · Mar 29, 2005, 11:43 AM

Apple is perhaps one of the most secretive companies there is. Because of this, the best we can do is make educated guesses based on the introduction of technologies, rumor sites, and how long it has been since the last update. Make sure to be aware of the MacRumors Buyer's Guide. As you can see, there should be updates to the PowerMac line in the near future. And though it is dangerous to wait (because you can always wait for the next big thing), right now it's probably a good idea as long as you can find your older mac bearable for a couple of months.

bigbri069 · Apr 26, 2005, 01:09 PM

After the apparent release of the upgraded dual 2.0 with 512mb of ram , 160gb HD and 16x dual layer DVD today...I think I will be purchasing my 1st Mac on Friday to coincide with the OS X.4 release event at our local Apple store. I have been dying to get my hands on one ever since I had to give my friends back to him a few weeks ago.

On another note, what is the general opinion on RAM? Is aftermarket Ram acceptable? Currently, to jump from 128mb to 1gb of ram it is an incremental $202 from the online Apple Education store. I know I can pick up some quality dual channel DDR PC3200 for less than $100. Thats seems like a huge premium for "Apple" ram.

OreoCookie · Apr 26, 2005, 01:18 PM

Generally, you can put in any (quality) RAM. However, there is some special Mac-certified RAM, although I haven't had a problem with other (quality) RAM yet.

The amount varies. 512 MB (what seems to be standard on the new machines) is the minimum. Put in another 512 MB and you're on the safe side. Please keep in mind that PowerMacs (like many PC mobos) use dual channel RAM, so RAM has to be installed in pairs. If Apple continues its policy to `cripple' the low-end machine (e. g. less RAM slots, standard PCI instead of PCI-X, etc.), maybe you want to take a look at the middle model.

bigbri069 · Apr 28, 2005, 01:48 PM

I have to say everyone on this board has been extremely helpful with me and assisting in my decision to purchase a new PM. You all have made it very easy for me to decide to switch from a Wintel box (but I use AMD) to Apple.

I have to say that I am not impressed at ALL with the video card offerings on the new PM's upgrades yesterday. There is a very large gap between the ATI 9650 and Nvidia 6800. I am thinking about going with the lower ATI 9600, selling the 9600 on ebay and purchasing a card between the ATI 9650 and Nvidia 6800. What would everyone reccomend? My main use for the Mac will be audio, importing video from my DV camcorder and making movies with iMovie and DVD's from iDVD, playing a few games like Tiger Woods Golf and X-Plane, some spreadsheet work and web browsing.

Thanks!

Brian

OreoCookie · Apr 28, 2005, 02:48 PM

I agree there's a gap. Take a look at the 9800 XT. Note that regular PC graphics cards won't work, you either have to flash them to work or buy a Mac version.

bigbri069 · Apr 28, 2005, 02:57 PM

Already know about Mac version of video cards. However, I don't even see the 9800 XT listed on ATI's site anywhere. The only one I could find was the 9800 Pro Special Edition. Is there any real difference between the Mac versions of ATI's cards vs. Nvidias?

Commodus · Apr 28, 2005, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by bigbri069

Already know about Mac version of video cards. However, I don't even see the 9800 XT listed on ATI's site anywhere. The only one I could find was the 9800 Pro Special Edition. Is there any real difference between the Mac versions of ATI's cards vs. Nvidias?

Apple will often have Mac versions of cards that aren't listed on the Mac section of ATI's site. As far as comparing the Mac versions of ATI cards to nVidia's Mac cards, the only real differences are that ATI's drivers are better-optimized for the Mac, and that ATI's retail cards often keep one ADC port for the sake of compatibility.

One thing to remember: occasionally, there have been issues with 3rd-party cards being unsupported with an OS change (this isn't intentional). You may want to keep the factory-default card rather than put it up for sale. That said, I'd like to hear from others if their experience with non-factory cards has been better than I'm suggesting.

power142 · Apr 28, 2005, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by bigbri069

I am still debating weather to get the single G5 1.8 and hold out till the rumored new G5's are released at the WWDC or go ahead and get the G5 dual 2.0's because I want the PCI-x slots.

Is Apple going to be offering PCI-x based video cards in the next version of the Power Mac?

I believe that you might be mistaking PCI-X for PCI Express as the latter is now found in many new Intel/AMD systems and does indeed support video cards (instead of AGP). PCI-X is an extension of PCI with 64-bit wide paths and clock speeds up to 133MHz, and is generally backward compatible with 32-bit 33MHz PCI cards as well. No Power Macs have PCI Express slots at this time, and as they were just speed bumped, it will likely be a good few more months before such a machine might emerge.

Incidentally, be careful when purchasing a dual 2.0GHz G5 - the model released yesterday has only 4 memory slots, whereas the previous model had 8. This may or may not matter to you, but I thought I'd mention it just in case. The video card and Superdrive of the previous model are also different and aren't up to the same specs as the new machine, though, FX5200 and 8x respectively. The Apple online store has been selling the old 2.0 new and boxed at $1899 (take a look in the Sale section of Special Deals if you are interested). In a retail store, this should be enough to distinguish them (shy of looking up the model number of course!)

bigbri069 · Apr 29, 2005, 03:20 PM

I did not realize that PCI-X and PCI Express were totally different standards. So what does the benefit of PCI-X bring to the Mac table?

OreoCookie · Apr 29, 2005, 04:00 PM

PCI-X was used for some time in the pc world, but only in high-end servers and workstations. Because it is backwards compatible to PCI (3.3 V), it was a no-brainer.

power142 · Apr 29, 2005, 04:58 PM

One of the main benefits of PCI-X was/is throughput. Regular PCI is 32-bit at 33MHz, with many motherboards adding a 66MHz slot. As OreoCookie said, PCI-X largely made a difference in servers. The top two models of the G5 range feature 1 64-bit 133MHz slot and 2 64-bit 100MHz slots. As you can probably guess, the increase in bus width and clock frequency gives substantial increases in peak throughput over the original PCI spec for things such as SCSI and Fibre Channel cards - and I'm sure there are other uses that I haven't seen.

The Xserve RAID is a good example of why you might use a PCI-X card in a Mac. Those units support up to 200MB/s transfer rates, which 32-bit 33MHz PCI doesn't have a hope of keeping up with, whereas with a decent PCI-X Fibre Channel card, it's no sweat.

bigbri069 · Apr 30, 2005, 10:42 AM

Just wanted to let everyone know that I bit the bullet and bought a dual 2.0 last night at the Tiger event at my local Apple store. I didn't win anything except a free iTune.