Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Norty · Feb 27, 2003, 06:22 PM

Anyone seen any rumors/analysis of the new 1.42 MHZ Macs coming out in terms of ability to process graphics, i.e. Photoshop, Painter, Final Cut Pro, and 3-d rendering?

Will buying a new maxed out $4500 Mac in March make me cry if a tower comes out this summer with a blazing fast new processor?

voodoo · Feb 27, 2003, 06:33 PM

If the tower in question is PPC970 based, you will shed tears.

But then again, nobody but the Man Upstairs knows when the next gen PPC will come to the Mac.

Buy your Mac whe you need it. A maxed out dual 1.42 G4 is nothing to sneeze at. It is pretty good.

MindFad · Feb 27, 2003, 06:36 PM

Wait if you can. And paying $4500 for a 1.42 MHz Mac is way too expensive.

As everyone says, if you absolutely need your Mac now, need a new machine for work, whatever -- just go ahead and buy. There will always be faster stuff ahead. And is it's looking, the next batch of Macs could have the 970 in them. It's very slim, but it's possible. And, of course, no one knows for certain if the next Macs will even use the 970. It's just very likely. Read the threads around here and you'll see why.

If you absolutley need, you buy.

Personally, if I didn't need a new machine, I would certainly wait until at least the next MacWorld, or a bit afterwards. Something good's bound to show up.

Superchicken · Feb 27, 2003, 07:18 PM

The best power mac right now is the Dual 1.25

Leonis · Feb 27, 2003, 08:11 PM

why not just buy the cheaper models that are available now?......if you really need one....

Getting the top-end model at this moment sounds kind of "risky"

SalBaker · Feb 27, 2003, 08:49 PM

Buy what ever speed current Mac that you need now, and wait for the rev.2 970's. You will pay less for a faster, more refined machine at that time (a year and a half maybe).

iChristopher · Feb 27, 2003, 09:00 PM

I'd argue that the best money you can spend right now would be on a used 1.25GHz, then add a nice Power Supply replacement for $20.

If your time is at a premium, a new 1.25 would do just fine.

Tiffany Mac · Feb 27, 2003, 09:42 PM

when will the 1.42 ghz machines be available. I feel like i've been waiting forever!!!?

SalBaker · Mar 1, 2003, 10:55 AM

Apple Store says they will ship in 7-10 days.

ReggieX · Mar 1, 2003, 02:24 PM

The top of the line Power Macs are never the best deal. You're almost always better off going for the middle one and maxxing out the RAM and video card.

SalBaker · Mar 1, 2003, 08:17 PM

For practical use, yes. If you sell your Mac every 2-years like I do, the high-end offers the best ROI.

Thain Esh Kelch · Mar 3, 2003, 11:29 AM

Originally posted by Superchic[k]en:
The best power mac right now is the Dual 1.25

And a revision ago it was the 2x1 Ghz, and nothing has changed!

I still say the low end is the best choice, since the processors are totally overfeeding the bus.

aehaas · Mar 3, 2003, 09:31 PM

Old argument.

When the 970 version does finally come out everone will say to wait for the next rev. When that rev comes out the same people will say to wait again because of rumors of another much faster one comming out in a few months. It is endless.

More important is that programs will have to be modified to take advantage of the new chip, esp the 64 bit part. Remember that the G3 and G4 are still about the same speed in non-Altivec programs plus or minus...

My rule of thumb is wait until the next machine is at least 2 times faster than my current one, all other things being equal. And I agree that you should never buy the first of a new series.

Do not forget that Motorola has a new chip coming out with rapid IO. I think this will be next, not the 970.

The next machine I would get is at least a year off.

aehaas

dual 800 1.5 gig, twin 80 HD's

carnagex2000 · Mar 4, 2003, 04:59 AM

I say pick up a G4 laptop, and if/when the 970 comes out, you can sell your laptop. (laptops seem to keep their value a bit longer, best time to sell is right before college starts in summer/fall, which will be about the time they start shipping a new G4-if it comes out-you know how apple is with shipping new items, it usually takes a month after they announce them.)

DrBoar · Mar 4, 2003, 07:22 AM

"Motorola has a new chip coming out with rapid IO. I think this will be next, not the 970.

The next machine I would get is at least a year off."

Rapid IO or not If the G4 have had problem catching up with other CPUs since 1999 that will not change much. I will not get excited by a 1.6 G4 faster bus or not. In the portable computers and perhaps also in the iMac before the 970 goes into them.

But for the towers, if IBM have CPUs that are both not end of the line as the G4 obviously are and also substantially faster per clock cycle than the G4 why whould not Apple use them?

For the current G4 implementation to get on par with a 1.8 GHz 970 in SPEC2000 int it need to get past 3 GHz and for the fpu part past 6 GHz. My bet is that we will see 970 out at 1.8 Ghz before we see any G4s in the 3 to 6 Ghz range. I would not even be surprised to see the 970 to reach 1.8 Ghz before the G4 crawl up those 380 MHz as it took about 6 Months to get the 170 MHz from 1.25 to 1.42

With the current pace of 170-250 MHz per 6 month revison the G4 will will run a 1.something MHz for 12 to 18 more months...

No Apple has to get the 970 in the towers and servers ASAP, an other G4 even it is a G4.5.2revB or what ever will not do.

Green Room · Mar 7, 2003, 04:44 PM

I purchased a new G4
sweet

baglunch · Mar 8, 2003, 01:49 AM

Originally posted by carnagex2000:
I say pick up a G4 laptop, and if/when the 970 comes out, you can sell your laptop. (laptops seem to keep their value a bit longer, best time to sell is right before college starts in summer/fall, which will be about the time they start shipping a new G4-if it comes out-you know how apple is with shipping new items, it usually takes a month after they announce them.)

That's exactly what i'm doing. I do a lot of motion graphics, and video work. I was pulling my hair out deciding to wait for the new g5 (or whatever they will call it) or getting a 1.42ghz. Personnally I can't rationalize paying that much for such a slim boost in performance. The way I look at it, a laptop is a luxury, and whether I get it now or in two years, it will still be that. A desktop on the other hand is a work horse and should be leaps and bounds better in terms of performance. "For me" I feel getting a 17" AlBook now and a next generation desktop in 1-2 years makes a lot more sense than getting a desktop now which will be dwarfed by a laptop i buy within the next 1-2 years. Hopefully by then, Adobe will optimize their products to take advantage of dual processors.

Before the 17" powerbook came out, my other option was to goto a PC for after effects crunching with avid for the same price.

Gummi Bear · Mar 8, 2003, 11:12 AM

I just received my 1.42ghz computer from the Apple Store. I was upgrading my system from a single processor 400mhz G4. Simply put, it was time.

This computer is amazingly fast. If you are debating whether or not you should upgrade now...I recommend that you do so. I've used a friends 800 mhz and 1Ghz machine and this one blows it away. You can wait a year or more for a new processor to be released (who really knows the time frame). If you don't have the patience, get the dual 1.42ghz machine. You won't regret it!

MindFad · Mar 8, 2003, 11:29 AM

Awh man, you should've held out for a Radeon 9700.

Why the hell is Apple selling the GF4Ti and 9700 for the same price when the Radeon blows the Ti out of the water?

Blame nVidia?

I'm going to go and test out one of the new machines -- the last thing I tried was a dual 1.25 (the first set of MDDs). It was pretty fast. Dual 800, hold strong, baby.

msuper69 · Mar 9, 2003, 11:44 PM

Originally posted by Norty:
Anyone seen any rumors/analysis of the new 1.42 MHZ Macs coming out in terms of ability to process graphics, i.e. Photoshop, Painter, Final Cut Pro, and 3-d rendering?
...

At 1.42 mhz., they ain't gonna have much ability at all.

Oops, MindFad beat me to it. But my reply is pretty funny anyway.

graffix · Mar 10, 2003, 12:32 AM

The thing to keep in mind in the wait for the 970 is that at MWSF Steve Jobs said during his keynote that this would be the year of the laptop. That almost says to me that we should expect the new architecture towers sometime next January.
I could be reading more into that than I should but it could be a cryptic message from Apple not to expect too much from the tower line this year.
In that regard, I ordered a 1.25 DP yesterday. It was definitely time for me... my fastest Mac right now is my 500MHz iBook... I've never owned a G4-based Mac.
I think I'll like it.

MindFad · Mar 10, 2003, 12:56 AM

But then didn't he also say in an interview afterwards that they had "plans for the desktop" thi year, too? Anyone have the links? This is what I remember reading.

aaanorton · Mar 10, 2003, 12:20 PM

He said something like "We have something up our sleeve..." in terms of desktops. I don't have a link (I think it was on TechTV?).
When marketing a product, you say good things about it. You try to make it attractive. Nobody in their right mind would do this at the expense of another product in their line. "Buy our widget, because our bobbles suck." Jobs would never do this, he is a master marketer. He was simply saying that the laptops are great and will only get better, not that they're great and that the PM line sucks and won't get any better. Whether, in fact, the PMs do get updated remains to be seen, but Jobs would not intentionally caniballize the PM line in a public statement to garner more laptop sales.

Norty · Mar 11, 2003, 06:11 PM

I recently spoke with someone who works at Apple who said in not so many words, beating around the bush, hint, hint, that there is a good chance that a new tower might be out by the end of September (for what that's worth)... Then, I'll splurge on a new computer that is actually worth the price of an upgrade... So, yes, Steve Jobs does have something up his sleave for us. The question is will we have it before Thanksgiving or will we have to wait and look under the tree Christmas morning?

It's not how fast, slick, pretty or cute your computer is; it's what you CREATE with it

kentuckyfried · Mar 11, 2003, 06:56 PM

The anticipation is killing me.

leperkuhn · Mar 11, 2003, 07:50 PM

Originally posted by Leonis:
why not just buy the cheaper models that are available now?......if you really need one....

Getting the top-end model at this moment sounds kind of "risky"

I saved like a grand by getting a dual ghz instead of dual 1.25 ghz late last year and I don't regret it for a second.

DrBoar · Mar 12, 2003, 10:08 AM

If price is an object at all I think it is insane to get the 1.42 if CPU speed is the main objective. The 1.25 is a much better deal. If on the other hand you really need 2 GB of RAM, the Superdrive and and GF4 the top of the line is quite resonable.

The SPEC2000 marks of a 1.8 GHz 970 is on par with a G4 running somewere like 3 to 5 GHz, so a significant speed boost is to be expected. How significant IRL depend on spped of aviable 970 at the time singel or dual CPUs as well as how well SPEC marks correspond to real clout

well a 4500 dollar computer will not get slower later this year, but If I bought a 4500 dollar computer and then could get say twise the speed at half the price I would not cry but at least cringe.

When the B&W G3 came out the botteom end 300 MHz model was actually faster than the previous top of the line beige G3/333 at 2 to 3 times the price. These things happen from time to time and I hope it will do this soon

KidRed · Mar 12, 2003, 03:44 PM

Originally posted by ReggieX:
The top of the line Power Macs are never the best deal. You're almost always better off going for the middle one and maxxing out the RAM and video card.

Not sure about you, but I'm getting the top of the line 1.8ghz 970 when it comes out as it will be the best deal for obvious reasons.

Green Leaf · Mar 13, 2003, 07:28 PM

you will be waiting a long long time before you see the 970. It took 4 months for 1.42 to ship

when 970 is released next march...you won't have it till the summer of '04

SalBaker · Mar 13, 2003, 09:48 PM

Let's check our math here. The 1.42 Macs were announced late January. Users have received their 1.42 Macs. This is March 13.

Are we rounding 1.5 months up to 4 months for any particular reason?

Green Leaf · Mar 15, 2003, 10:59 AM

Oh, my bad. I was thinking of the Powerbook 17 inch. How long is this delay? What makes you think that the 970 would be any different?

you foolish child

CheesePuff · Mar 15, 2003, 11:52 AM

Originally posted by Green Leaf:
Oh, my bad. I was thinking of the Powerbook 17 inch. How long is this delay? What makes you think that the 970 would be any different?

you foolish child

The 17" PowerBook took 3 months to ship, and Apple said it would ship to customers on March 20th, but many people here at the MacNN forums said they have tracking numbers as of the 15th of March.

Also, the Dual 1.42 GHz is shipping. SmallDog I believe has had them in stock for some time now.