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ryarber · Aug 11, 2003, 04:39 PM

I saw that Mac Connection has the G5 (1.8 or dual 2.0) online for $2495 and you get an extra GB of RAM. They also have refurb apple 20" displays for $1099.

That would put the RAM at 1.5 GB. When installing RAM in the G5, do you need to install matched pairs? Is there any performance gain if you do this? Would you take a hit if you had one 1GB unit and one 500MB unit as Mac Connection is doing?

AssassyN · Aug 11, 2003, 04:43 PM

The 1.8Ghz & Dual 2.0Ghz aren't the same price by the way...but I've *heard* that RAM in the G5's benefits from being installed in pairs, and thus if you got 1.5GIGS, I'd certainly purchased another 512MB from a place like www.coastmemory.com to bump it to 2GB for safety.

And as for the cheapest price; Apple's EDU discounts are pretty deep right now, but if you can't get that, make sure you keep an eye at www.macprices.com for the best bundle deals.

Bbazzarrakk · Aug 11, 2003, 05:21 PM

Correction, G5 RAM must be installed in pairs.

Baz

msuper69 · Aug 11, 2003, 05:44 PM

Originally posted by ryarber:
I saw that Mac Connection has the G5 (1.8 or dual 2.0) online for $2495 and you get an extra GB of RAM. They also have refurb apple 20" displays for $1099.

That would put the RAM at 1.5 GB. When installing RAM in the G5, do you need to install matched pairs? Is there any performance gain if you do this? Would you take a hit if you had one 1GB unit and one 500MB unit as Mac Connection is doing?

Geez, do a little more careful reading before posting will ya?

Here's the scoop direct from MacConnection:

Apple Computer_
Bundle Power Mac G5 2.0GHz DP 512 160 SuperDrive 56K NIC w 1GB Upgrade_

Call For Availability
$3,094

Not exactly $2495, is it?

Memory Notes

1536MB PC3200 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB
There are 8 DIMM slots. Two slots contain removable 256MB modules, two slots contain removable 512MB modules and the other 4 slots are available. Memory must be installed in pairs.

Not exactly "one 1GB unit and one 500MB unit", is it?

idyll · Aug 11, 2003, 07:33 PM

Be easy on the guy.

ryarber · Aug 11, 2003, 10:36 PM

Originally posted by msuper69:
Geez, do a little more careful reading before posting will ya?

Here's the scoop direct from MacConnection:

Apple Computer_
Bundle Power Mac G5 2.0GHz DP 512 160 SuperDrive 56K NIC w 1GB Upgrade_

Call For Availability
$3,094

Not exactly $2495, is it?

Memory Notes

1536MB PC3200 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB
There are 8 DIMM slots. Two slots contain removable 256MB modules, two slots contain removable 512MB modules and the other 4 slots are available. Memory must be installed in pairs.

Not exactly "one 1GB unit and one 500MB unit", is it?

I'll type really slowly so maybe you can understand me this time.

You obviously glossed over the jist of my post and chose to nitpick it. I was referring to the price of the single 1.8GHz model ($2495) and the fact that they offer a 1GB upgrade on both models (1.8 and dual 2.0) for an extra $100.

This is copied directly from their website detailing the machine I was interested in. I did not read about every single product on their site. From the paragraph that follows, it sounds as if they are putting in a 512MG unit and a 1GB unit.

"In a sleek Quicksilver enclosure, the Power Mac G5 takes data and spins it around so fast you have to be careful not to get dizzy. It's configured with a 1.8GHz G5 processor, a 512KB on-chip, full-speed L2 cache, a 160GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive and 1536MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (512MB standard plus our 1GB upgrade, expandable to 8GB)."

I hope you will forgive me for not having the time to read about every other product on their site before I post. Seems some of us have too much time on our hands.

Is everyone here this much of an A$$HOLE?

Getting back to my original question... is there any better deal out there for the G5?

Arkham_c · Aug 11, 2003, 11:00 PM

The best deal, by far, is to find a friend who is a teacher. Teachers get the dual-2GHz for $2700. That will be my route. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are both teachers.

bih · Aug 12, 2003, 03:35 AM

You can get a great deal with a developer discount. I'm an undergrad CS student and I paid 100 dollars to sign up for a lifetime(I think) student developer membership. I get a monthly developer mailing, software discounts and a one time hardware purchase discount. I bought a 1.8 GHz machine, minus superdrive, plus 9600 Pro for 1776 before sales tax.

Bbazzarrakk · Aug 12, 2003, 09:24 AM

(512MB standard plus our 1GB upgrade, expandable to 8GB)

When Apple put's 512MB in a G5 they do it with two 256MB chips. You can see this from Apple's build to order page.

The deal above will add two 512MB chips, bringing the total up to 1.5Ghz and filling half of the machine's RAM slots. This is the only way they could add 1GB.

I repeat, the G5 takes RAM in pairs. This is a requirement, not an opptional preformance boost.

Baz

Arkham_c · Aug 12, 2003, 12:35 PM

I realized after my above post that I was not taking sales tax into account.

I can get a dual-2GHz G5 from Apple for $2700, plus the 7% sales tax here, bringing the total to $2889 + S&H (does Apple offer free shipping?)

The other alternative is to buy through MacMall. My friend gets a bulk-purchase discount (he buys over $200k/year from them for his clients), and I can get the dual 2GHz from him for $2820.32 with free shipping. So I think that's the best deal that I have seen.

ryarber · Aug 12, 2003, 01:01 PM

Originally posted by Arkham_c:
I can get a dual-2GHz G5 from Apple for $2700, plus the 7% sales tax here, bringing the total to $2889 + S&H (does Apple offer free shipping?)

Apple does not offer free shipping. The sales tax is a big reason I choose to buy stuff from dealers other than apple.

Arkham_c · Aug 12, 2003, 02:07 PM

Originally posted by ryarber:
Apple does not offer free shipping. The sales tax is a big reason I choose to buy stuff from dealers other than apple.

Any idea on the shipping cost of a G5 from Apple? It might make me feel better about the deal I'm getting (I'm a bit bummed -- thought I was getting it for $2700 even for a while there).

DBvader · 03:47 PM

the best prices for macs are student developer prices. Join for 100 dollars (assuming your a student in a developing major) and you can get the G5s for the following prices:

1.6 for 1599
1.8 for 1919
2X2.0 for 2399

developer.apple.com

the downside? You can only purchase one computer a lifetime, and you have to pay a one year subscription fee of 100 dollars (this year, i did it and got my Dual 867 when they were new for super cheap...and i was sent a few Jaguar installs for free including 10.2 and 10.2.3...youd probably get panther for free this year.)

EDIT: Monitors, Upgrades, and iPods are cheaper too.

Conscript · Aug 12, 2003, 04:03 PM

Originally posted by AssassyN:
The 1.8Ghz & Dual 2.0Ghz aren't the same price by the way...but I've *heard* that RAM in the G5's benefits from being installed in pairs, and thus if you got 1.5GIGS, I'd certainly purchased another 512MB from a place like www.coastmemory.com to bump it to 2GB for safety.

lol, safety for what? It's got to be installed in pairs, not in whole numbers

. Meaning if you have 256mb of ram, it has to be two sticks of 128, and if you have 1.5gb, it has to be two 512mb sticks and two 256 (or 6 256).

macrophyllum · Aug 12, 2003, 06:02 PM

Originally posted by bih:
You can get a great deal with a developer discount. I'm an undergrad CS student and I paid 100 dollars to sign up for a lifetime(I think) student developer membership. I get a monthly developer mailing, software discounts and a one time hardware purchase discount. I bought a 1.8 GHz machine, minus superdrive, plus 9600 Pro for 1776 before sales tax.

FYI: The Apple Student Developer program costs $100 each year.

Bbazzarrakk · Aug 12, 2003, 06:14 PM

Apple is offering free shipping on the G5. If you go to the Apple Store and refresh until the G5 ad comes up top center, you'll see the red sticker for this deal. They didn't add any shipping to my order, which was a G5, plus a few extras.

Baz

natan · Aug 12, 2003, 06:37 PM

Originally posted by DBvader:
the best prices for macs are student developer prices. Join for 100 dollars (assuming your a student in a developing major) and you can get the G5s for the following prices:

Major intention/declaration has no effect on student ADC acceptance.

natan · Aug 12, 2003, 06:39 PM

Originally posted by DBvader:
the downside? You can only purchase one computer a lifetime, and you have to pay a one year subscription fee of 100 dollars (this year, i did it and got my Dual 867 when they were new for super cheap...and i was sent a few Jaguar installs for free including 10.2 and 10.2.3...youd probably get panther for free this year.)

Another downside: tax.