[a64]

Hey, i'm new to this forum but this is the best Mac forum i've seen on the net.
I'm pc person so i don't know that much about mac, but my gf needs new mac for work(graphic design).

We were initally looking at Mac Mini but i don't think it would be fast enough, cos she has 1.8GHz 20" iMac at work and she prefer something bit faster. So what should she get? 20" iMac 2GHz or PowerMac Dual 2GHz? I guess my questions is Dual 2GHz PowerMac much faster than 2GHz iMac?

[Todd Madson]

Personally I'd go for the dual. In fact, in the future all of my computer equipment will either
be duals or dual cores. It makes a big difference. Especially in apps optimized to use it.

[Chinasaur]

Dual. The extra "push" from the 2nd processor will be very welcome when she starts trying to drive huge files in real time.

Just need a DVI monitor or a VGA adatper which comes with.

Enjoy!

[Lateralus]

Depends on her display preferences.

Personally, I'd say go with the dual and a nice CRT like a Mitsubishi/NEC. But if she's set on a nice LCD and the extra horse power wont be used by her, I'd say go for the iMac. I had a 20" 2GHz iMac myself, no slouch at all.

[Chinasaur]

Lateralus is my God.. if he agrees the Dual is the best way to go..then Go that way young Luke.

Unless you "desire" a flat panel, single processor solution...go with Dual and mate it to a nice display. I almost bought a cheap a.. G5 iMac 1.8 over the wekeend for a kitchen applicance..so they are not bad devices..

But if "I" were looking for a computer to push huge MB files around and apply Photoshop filters etc,...I would definately go with a Dual 1.8 and above.

Luck.


/ObiWan relaxing before the end.....

[a64]

Ok thanks for the replies. She's got 19" Samsung 193T already (PVA panel) which she reckons is slightly better than the 20" iMac screen so we were leaning towards PowerMac.

I did homework by searching for reviews on the net but i unfortunately couldn't find any decent Mac reviews, in terms of performance anyway, and after reviewing many reviews things just got more confusing..

http://reviews.cnet.com/Apple_iMac_G...5.html?tag=top
According to this review, "iMac G5 1.8GHz offers slight improvement in application performance over the previous-generation 20-inch iMac 1.25GHz G4"

http://www.macintouch.com/imacg5/review.html
But according to this review, "These tests (iMac G5 Benchmarks) revealed that the iMac G5/1.8GHz performed on par with the single-processor Power Mac G5/1.8GHz system, which is very well indeed"

http://www.macintouch.com/macmini/review.html
And according to this review, Mini is fast, quick as standard G4 besides the hdd performance.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Apple_iMac_G...5.html?tag=top
And if you look at the graphs in this review , G4 1.25GHz isn't much slower than G5 1.8GHz, which makes me wonder if G4 1.42GHz could almost match G5 1.8GHz.. in that last 3D result iMac G5 1.8GHz got beaten by iMac G4 1.25GHz.

Mini 1.42GHz might be similar performance to G5 1.8GHz PowerMac if i add up these diff results/comments from diff reviews.. ??

[Chinasaur]

Dude,

Listen up. The G4 is a great computer..no doubt. BUT!!!

Couple the Front Side Bus (FSB) of a G5, with killer graphics card options..with SATA drive capabiliy...and!! Dual CPU's..and you've got a KILLER graphics workstation that a G4 cannot touch!

Go Dual G5 young man!!!

[macmad]

Originally Posted by a64

She's got 19" Samsung 193T already (PVA panel) which she reckons is slightly better than the 20" iMac screen so we were leaning towards PowerMac.

Get the Dual! She already has a nice display, and performance/expandability of the dual will make it last longer. Later you can put a faster graphics card in it, more RAM, or a bigger HD, or whatever. My GF took one look at the iMacs Jay Leno chin and said "get a dual!"

[d.fine]

Get a Dual machine. I myself use one for graphic works, and I'm glad I got the PM. It's an awesome machine, and it does anything you throw at it. Future-wise you're better off the the Dual 2.0, get it!

[a64]

Ok thanks guys its PowerMac then. We need all the power we can get. She's got AMD Athlon XP3200+ (2.2GHz) system atm and she says its noticeably faster than iMac G5 1.8GHz on Photoshop, etc. I'm sure G5 Dual 2GHz should be faster than Athlon XP3200+ but i'm not sure if it'll match my Athlon64 4000+.

Just two quick questions regarding PowerMac, do i need to buy memory from Apple store or can i get a OEM one that would work on Mac? (cos i can PC parts for very cheap) I heard that it is possible to use the PC vertsion of the Radeon 9700 video card on Mac by flashing the bios.. anyone tried it? (i have two GeForce 6800 series video cards for PCs and i want to use one for Mac if possible)

[bells0]

Get your memory elsewhere, crucial are good as they have a guide as to which ram to buy, and is a lot cheaper than Apple. Buy as much as you can afford to [2 gig in my Dual 1.8]

[a64]

Yeah, i might try to get the aftermarket memory, but i can't get crucial, i can get Corsair at good prices tho.. Anyway just saw a ex-demo G5 Dual 2.5G advertised (with 3 year warranty) on local shop for about $100 more than the new Dual 2.0G. i'm gonna call them tomorrow, hopefully its still avail.. does all G5 Dual 2.5 and 2.7s come with water cooling?

[reader50]

Originally Posted by a64

... do all G5 Dual 2.5 and 2.7s come with water cooling?

Yes. The dual 2.3 is the fastest G5 that is air cooled.

[a64]

Found some good comparisons at http://www.barefeats.com and i think ex-demo Dual 2.5 is much better deal(i have to wait til next week to find out). Dual 2.5Ghz should be cool and quite and fastest memory speed. How crap is the motherboard on current Dual 2.0GHz?

[mousehouse]

I don't understand what you mean with "how crap is ...", but the motherboard in the current dual-2.0 only has PCI and 4 DIMM slots. The 2.5 will give you PCI-X and 8 memory slots.

Personally I think the extra RAM slots will extend the lifetime of the machine significantly as you can get additional memory and drivespace to keep the machine up to reasonable spec in the next few years.