[hahacky]

What if....you could get the DP 2.7 plus a 4GB mini-iPod for $2200? I would upgrade to an ATI x800 for another $350 for total of $2550, although maybe I could sell the 9650 so ultimate cost might be $2500. (Could also get the mini-iPod plus a DP 2.0 for $1500, seems like a steal)

Even with the new DC 2.5 quad I would need a DVI-ADC converter for $90, so given my educational discount it would cost about $3100.

What would you choose for gaming, surfing, some Photoshop, MS Office, iTunes, iPhoto, surfing, surfing etc...?

[CaptainHaddock]

The DP 2.7 is going to be a smoking machine for pretty much everything. You can't go wrong with it. And yet, the Quad is probably twice as fast. It really comes down to what you can afford.

For some purposes, the DP 2.7 with an upgraded video card might be a better choice. Apple's pro apps are going to place a much greater reliance on CoreImage in the future.

[crooner]

While the Quad is certainly likely to be faster than the 2.7GHz in many operations, it isn't going to be twice as fast. It simply doesn't work that way... 2x2.5 does not equal 5Ghz (which, in turn, does not mean 2X5Ghz = 10).

It seems that your biggest decision is whether or not you wish to use existing PCI-x cards or PCI-e. If you don't have any PCI-x cards now and don't have an immediate need for them you might consider the Quad. There will soon be a variety of PCI-e cards coming to market. It's the bleeding edge and represents a great deal of the future architecture of Mac mobos.

OTOH, as the Cap'n said, the 2.7 is a FAST son of a gun. I got one a couple of months before the Quad announcement and didn't flinch. My 2.7 will more than hold me over until the rev. B Macintels.

So, it would seem that the two biggest questions you need to ask yourself is if you can swing the cash difference and what to do about the PCI card types.

Hope this helps a bit. I know it can be a tough choice.

Let us know what you choose!

[Madrag]

I you're worried about the money, then I would say to get the DP 2.0 (it's more than enough for the things you need (for now!)).

BUT

I wouldn't care about the extra money, because every $ will be worth all the years of life that the 2.7 will last!, so I recommend getting the 2.7 (or the DC 2.5 if you've got the money).

[Big Mac]

Apple's own marketing of the Quad states it is up to 70% faster than the 2.7.

[Todd Madson]

Back in June I got a new 2.5 for $2499. At that time it was a great price.
That also included three years of Applecare which made it a no brainer.

I read about the person who got one for $2199 - even better.

If you can't get a 2.7 the 2.5 would be a close second.

But since the 2.5 and 2.7 had a liquid cooling system you might want to
seek out Applecare since if in two years you have a pool of some kind of
industrial liquid under the machine you've got recourse.

I know the recent 2.0 / 2.3 / 2.7 cpus had 250 gig drives in addition to
dual layer DVD writers.

Consider also the 2.5 has a dual layer drive dumbed down - there's a way
to convert it back to dual layer status.

[mduell]

I'd go with the quad if you can afford it... AGP and PCI-X are deprecated, so unless you already have non-PCIe cards that you want to use there is little reason to stick with them.

[mhuie]

I'd go for the cheaper last gen machines. Its not like the new ones are a huge bump in processor speed, and it doesn't look like you are doing anything that needs such power.

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Apple's own marketing of the Quad states it is up to 70% faster than the 2.7.

And AMD says its X2 will perform up to 80% faster than a single core Athlon 64.