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worldwidewille · Nov 7, 2007, 06:49 AM

Now, i've always avoided a Mac, mainly because I have connections with PC components and I could build a much more powerful system for about a 1/3 of a mac price but now I am a graphic design student and I find it beneficial to own a Mac.

Now, I have 2 options, buy a new G5 tower, which isn't looking too affordable with my current situation. I do receive 30% off all new mac products though. So i might have to bite the bullet.

Or

Buy a used G5 tower and upgrade. I can get Nvidia Video cards for dirt cheap prices, as well as memory and Sata hard drives. Would this be a better route? And what G5 should I shoot for a budget performer?

Last question, other than Apple cinema displays, what display would you run at as a more cost effective solution that will replicate a true color? Right now what I see on my PC, color wise, doesn't print accurately.

Thanks in advance!

eggman · Nov 7, 2007, 09:27 AM

There are new G5 towers?

And here I thought that all the current Mac Pros were Intel-based.

ninahagen · 11:17 AM

Welcome!

You won't be sorry.

Mac towers have been all intel for nearly 2 years. I bought the very last G5 Quad and it was made in December 2005.

This is a good community. Tell us your needs, wants and budget and members will have some helpful suggestions for you.

nina

PS Specifics please: gaming, scientific, photoshop, vid edit, surf+office? How much data do you have and how fast does it grow? How big a screen do you need/want? Do you watch HD video?

Big Mac · Nov 7, 2007, 11:06 AM

Additionally, don't assume PC GPUs will work in OS X.

worldwidewille · Nov 7, 2007, 03:38 PM

I will be using the mac for the full adobe cs3 suite.

Forgive my ignorance when it comes to all things mac. I avoided the company like a virus. Gaming was always more important to me, but I grew up and also have a PC to play games.

I don't think I will do any or much video editing.

I am not assuming a PC GPU will work for a mac at all. I can get any card Nvidia makes so it's not a problem.

shinji · Nov 7, 2007, 04:12 PM

A used Eizo or ACD maybe, for the display. I can't see how else you can get a cost-effective display with good color accuracy.

Waragainstsleep · Nov 7, 2007, 05:44 PM

Apple displays are the best around. Thats why the cost the most. If colour quality is what you want, you could look at high end CRTs, I gather that technically they are still better than LCD.

ninahagen · 01:53 AM

Originally Posted by worldwidewille

I will be using the mac for the full adobe cs3 suite.

Will you be working on...
— one file at a time in one app?
— multiple files in one app?
— one file across several apps (PS, AI, InDesign)?
— many files accross multiple apps?

What is the range of file sizes you work on? (we work on files from a few hundred KB all the way up to 1.5 GB monsters) Do you do a lot of layering? (very important to helping you decide HD, RAM, etc)

Will you be using Aperture at all? (CS3 is not GPU intensive, Aperture needs the very best card you can get)

Originally Posted by worldwidewille

Forgive my ignorance when it comes to all things mac. I avoided the company like a virus. Gaming was always more important to me, but I grew up and also have a PC to play games.

Mac is getting much better with gaming, and the next gen vid cards for the Mac pros should be pretty decent.

If that still doesn't give you the mojo for games, you can run Windows on your Mac (on a partioned HD). I have even heard that a dedicated PC video card can be connected to a dedicated Windows hard drive within your Mac, which would mean you could use a Seagate Cheetah 15k rpm HD mounted in your 2nd optical drive bay. Another member should confirm and guide you on this though... I am not a gamer, and just heard it through he grapevine.

Originally Posted by worldwidewille

I don't think I will do any or much video editing.

That will save you a ton of money, since you will need lots less muscle (RAM & GPU).

Originally Posted by worldwidewille

I am not assuming a PC GPU will work for a mac at all. I can get any card Nvidia makes so it's not a problem.

It the next gen you want... everybody expects Apple to drop the new rev of the Mac Pro in days— with a range of new GPU options, one of which is sure to be nVidia.

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep

Apple displays are the best around. Thats why the cost the most.

Amen. We are graphics professionals, and we would not use anything else.

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep

If colour quality is what you want, you could look at high end CRTs, I gather that technically they are still better than LCD.

Some bulbus CRT will really ruin your day. Also, only the super high end ones are even arguably competitive.

Make sure you spend some money on a good color calibration device/software for your screen. Does anybody else know the best currently available one?

Now, the major question. What is the absolute max you can spend, and what would you ideally like to spend?

We can give you the best CS3 ready system at both levels, and suggest a sweet spot between...

nina

SierraDragon · Nov 8, 2007, 10:15 PM

Well said, Nina.

reader50 · Nov 9, 2007, 02:05 AM

I agree. Very nice post.

ninahagen · Nov 9, 2007, 02:10 AM

Gosh thanks, Sierradragon and Reader 50... I have often felt the same about your thoughtful posts... just passing on the good vibes... its people like you that make this such a nice community.

Simon · Nov 9, 2007, 04:11 AM

Originally Posted by ninahagen

I have even heard that a dedicated PC video card can be connected to a dedicated Windows hard drive within your Mac, which would mean you could use a Seagate Cheetah 15k rpm HD mounted in your 2nd optical drive bay. Another member should confirm and guide you on this though... I am not a gamer, and just heard it through he grapevine.

This is absolutely correct.

You can install a PC graphics card in your MP and use it under Windows. Even if the card won't work while using OS X you can restart, boot from Windows and it should then work just like in any PC. There are a couple of reports on the web from people who have done this to use their MPs as a PC gaming rig replacement. A colleague of mine here at work did it and was very pleased to see it work right away.

ninahagen · Nov 9, 2007, 06:17 AM

Originally Posted by Simon

This is absolutely correct.

You can install a PC graphics card in your MP and use it under Windows. Even if the card won't work while using OS X you can restart, boot from Windows and it should then work just like in any PC. There are a couple of reports on the web from people who have done this to use their MPs as a PC gaming rig replacement. A colleague of mine here at work did it and was very pleased to see it work right away.

Good Lord, is that sexy.

Do you know where those reports can be found?

Would the vid card be connected by PCIe card?

mduell gave me a great link last week to an ATTO cable for connecting SAS drives like the Cheetah to the Mac Pro:

Serial Attached SCSI Adapter - ExpressSAS H308 | ATTO Technology

Can you actually fit 2 HDs in the drive bay... I mean just imagine 2 Cheetahs in RAID 0 under windows driving the best video card on the planet. Just how fast do you think that would get? State of the art, right?

rhogue islander · Nov 14, 2007, 09:08 PM

Now if they would only add an overclocking friendly bios, their voyage to the darkside would be complete

btw nina, ever check out that apocalyptica video?

ninahagen · Nov 15, 2007, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by rhogue islander

Now if they would only add an overclocking friendly bios, their voyage to the darkside would be complete

btw nina, ever check out that apocalyptica video?

Sounds cool, do you have a link?

rhogue islander · Nov 15, 2007, 06:36 AM

you may need the divx codec for mac, but one nice thing about stage6.divx.com is that you can right click and save once the video is fully buffered.

Stage6 � Mixed Box � Apocalyptica feat Nina Hagen - Seemann - Video and Download