[macjakob]

Is the new Dualcore 2.3GHz G5 noisier than the Dual Proc. 2.3GHz G5?
Is the new Dualcore 2.3 liquid-cooled, or is it still air-cooled?

Oh, and is the Nvidia 6600 fanless?

Thanks in advance!

Jakob

[darcybaston]

I've got a Dual core 2.0GHz and I can tell you that this machine runs virtually silent. It's quieter than my wife's Compaq laptop.

The Nvidia 6600 is fanless. Just a heatsink.

[macjakob]

Aha, sounds great
So it's (probably) quieter than its predecessors?

[darcybaston]

This is my first PM, so I can't give any real world experience besides what's current.

This is with the CPU speed speedometer in sys prefs set to 'automatic'. I was playing Halo last night and didn't hear any fans come on. The CPU fans are always on at a low speed mind you. But yeah, it's really shocking how quiet it is. I was NOT expecting that much silence!

I should run the hardware test cd though and see what it sounds like if it's true that they go on full during tests?

[KeyLimePi]

How did Halo play with the stock video card?

[darcybaston]

Here's what I've discovered:

Halo:
1680x1050, 30fps sync, all details/shadows set to 'high'
Felt like 20fps, a little choppy

1680x1050 vsync, same as above
Smoother. But a bit hesitant with quick head turns, like dropping frames

1280x9.. (can't remember) vsync
VERY smooth, with only slight and occasional hesitation when a bunch of fighting with 8+ NPCs on screen occurs.

So the 1280x9.. setting is where I've been playing it. Very comfortable and fun.

War CraftIII: put all settings as high as they could go, and zero hesitation. Completely smooth and realtime. Gorgeous.

Diablo II LOD: Amazingly, OpenGL mode can be a little choppy at times during refreshes. You can see horizontal lines refreshing themselves as the perspective calculations are made. But in 256 color mode, flawless play with zero hesistation even with a screen full of baddies.

Sims 2: just installed it and began playing with video settings, so I can't say much. I was doing a backup in the background (using Apple's backup app) which was making it "think" a bit too much while switching video modes.

[macjakob]

Hmm... i have one more question for you darcybaston:

What "latency" is the RAM? CL4, CL3 etc etc?

[darcybaston]

Whatever is the default config for the model. http://www.apple.com/powermac/specs.html I don't personally know that level of detail.

[macjakob]

Oh ok, np i couldn't find anything on it on Apple's site

[Lateralus]

Apple Menu > About This Mac > More Info... > Memory > Speed

[darcybaston]

I'll do that tonight as I'm stuck at work without access to the beauty.

[macjakob]

darcy, did you try what Lateralus came up with? ^

[darcybaston]

Originally Posted by macjakob

darcy, did you try what Lateralus came up with? ^

I won't get a chance to try that until about 18:00 CT.

[jamil5454]

I hate to ask another question, but does your machine make a slight "chirping" when you do something videocard intensive?

For instance, when you start up and play Halo, turn off the sound, and see if you hear a slight grasshopper-like noise.

If the new G5s don't chirp, I may have to sell my current one and just get a new one.

[darcybaston]

Happy to say, no chirping.

Memory speed: PC2-4200U-444

[Lateralus]

CAS 4... Eeew.

DDR2 is nice in that it does offer a speed boost over DDR. Problem is that it is also higher latency than DDR, so it needs to be running at a significantly faster clock speed than DDR for a noticeable speed boost. And DDR2 533 isn't fast enough for the new Power Macs to have an advantage in memory speed over the DDR 400 Power Macs.

I don't see why Apple didn't go with DDR2 667 or 800.

[jamil5454]

No chirping? It's a miracle! I wonder if the chirping is fixable via software (apart from disabling NAP), so Apple might release it as an update.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Lateralus

CAS 4... Eeew.

DDR2 is nice in that it does offer a speed boost over DDR. Problem is that it is also higher latency than DDR, so it needs to be running at a significantly faster clock speed than DDR for a noticeable speed boost. And DDR2 533 isn't fast enough for the new Power Macs to have an advantage in memory speed over the DDR 400 Power Macs.

I don't see why Apple didn't go with DDR2 667 or 800.

The latency doesn't matter that much. The difference between 3-3-3-8 and 4-4-4-12 is 4% at most, and usually closer to 2%.
DDR2-667 and 800 are expensive, offer limited capacities, and I haven't seen any with ECC yet.

[darcybaston]

I won't notice the ram difference at this point. My realm of immediate experience is iBook 933MHz vs. Dual Core G5 at 2GHz. Night and beautiful blissful day I tell you!