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jcadam · Nov 2, 2004, 02:09 PM

Well, it's for sale:
http://www.gigadesigns.com/productsM5d1214m.html

I'm seeking some advice here, my system is the following

Dual 867 MDD
1.75 GB RAM
Radeon 9800 Pro (retail)

Seems to me that in most games, the CPU is the weak link. The Radeon 9800, I am sure, spends a lot of time waiting on the CPU(s)

The question is, at $699, would a move to 1.4 GHz provide a very big boost (obviously, spending that kind of money if you are a Dual 1.25Ghz owner would be moronic) I almost think it's a good deal only for those who own a Dual 867 or a single processor MDD.

TimmyDee51 · Nov 2, 2004, 04:48 PM

I suppose that's all up to you. (Bad answer, I know.) In all honesty, a 1.42 upgrade will be huge, but so would saving that $700 towards a new G5, which eliminates many more bottlenecks than just the CPU.

On a sarcastic side-note, I wonder who Giga stole this design from.

The Placid Casual · Nov 2, 2004, 05:13 PM

I agree...

Sell the Dual 867.

Save the $700.

Buy a G5.

You will see a much better boost in performance, and great stability.

bighead · Nov 2, 2004, 05:49 PM

I bought my Dual 1.25 GHz in June and would love to see something above 1.6 GHz sometime. I use it as a file server, but also as a video encoder and dnetc cruncher in its spare time. I can't fit a G5 where it lives (which is why I got it to replace my Dual 500) and want to keep it running as long as possible and as fast as possible. I also can't keep 2 optical drives and 4 hard drives in a G5 like I do with my G4.

While it may not be as good a deal to get the upgrade, there are other circumstances that need to be considered before outright saying "buy a G5." I could have purchased a G5 for about the same price as my G4 tower, but chose not to due to other things that were more important.

1800-whatever · Nov 4, 2004, 01:28 PM

I think i'm getting one for my 1 GHZ single MDD, I'm simply not upgrading to a G5 untill they are more expandable.

candykane · Nov 8, 2004, 07:09 PM

if you upgrade than upgrade your bus to 166 mhz! that you will notice it cost not a thing you only just have to solder 2 resistors on the mainboard ! and with a good heatsink you can get 1 ghz out of those 867MHz .
if you are going for the gigadesines dual 1,25 also upgrade your bus to 166
those second hand 1,25 ghz @ 1,46 on ebay work very well and cost 200 bucks less

alternate_bit · Nov 8, 2004, 07:13 PM

i sold my MDD 867 w/ radeon 9000 for $1350 on ebay.
that + the 700 you'd spend on an upgrade = dual 1.8Ghz G5 for $1999. even less if you're a student.

TimmyDee51 · Nov 8, 2004, 07:21 PM

Wow! That's really good to know that you can still get that price for a two year old machine. Did you sell it with a display? How much RAM?

UnixMac · Nov 8, 2004, 10:30 PM

Yeah, I just sold my Dual 500 G4 with Radeon Mac edition 32MB, and 1GB RAM with 17" Apple CRT (newer one) for $750.

Sell the MDD and get a new G5... you'll only need to cough up a couple of hundred more.

jcadam · Nov 13, 2004, 05:04 AM

After much thought, I've decided to get a new G5 and KEEP the MDD.
I'll get my G5 with the Radeon 9600, tape it, and slap it in the MDD.
Then I'll take the 9800 Pro out of the MDD and stick it in the G5

Or, I could get the 6800GT.... nah

You know I've never sold any of my macs (I did GIVE away my beige G3 to family). I still have a B&W G3 in the closet........