buying a G5 1.6
I am going to buy a G5 1.6 over a G4 2x1.25.
1.) It's the most I can afford to spend on a complete system and I can not wait any longer for bigger and better and cheaper.
2.) Price is roughly the same.
3.) The upgrade path of a G5 is better than that of a G4. Like newer 8xAGP Video Cards, speedier SATA hard drives, 4GB RAM.
4.) The psychological future resale value will be better. In the future when most people know that G5s are the "current" models, it will be overlooked / forgotten that all the way back in 2003 a G4 Dual 1.25 was in fact a little faster.
5.) Software will get optimised for the 64bit architecture, thus it is possible that future software will run faster on the G5 than it does on a G4.
6.) Audio features are better than that of a G4. 5.1 Digital sound anyone?
The G5 has negatives offcourse, like less hard drive bays, less optical drive space, at the moment no much software is optimised for it, it comes with only 256mb RAM, wont fit under my desk and wife does not like the look of them. But for me the positives outweigh them.
So if I had to give advice to anyone chewing on this question themselves?
If you want to buy a system with current software available and not update / add new hardware / software ever, then buy a G4 as at the moment the benchmarks suggest it's faster. But let's face it, most people update their hardware, update the software, install new software, install exciting new games...
At the end of the day though, I am still unsure with my choice
Thank you everybody for your comments and suggestions.
title changed by Brad
1.) It's the most I can afford to spend on a complete system and I can not wait any longer for bigger and better and cheaper.
2.) Price is roughly the same.
3.) The upgrade path of a G5 is better than that of a G4. Like newer 8xAGP Video Cards, speedier SATA hard drives, 4GB RAM.
4.) The psychological future resale value will be better. In the future when most people know that G5s are the "current" models, it will be overlooked / forgotten that all the way back in 2003 a G4 Dual 1.25 was in fact a little faster.
5.) Software will get optimised for the 64bit architecture, thus it is possible that future software will run faster on the G5 than it does on a G4.
6.) Audio features are better than that of a G4. 5.1 Digital sound anyone?
The G5 has negatives offcourse, like less hard drive bays, less optical drive space, at the moment no much software is optimised for it, it comes with only 256mb RAM, wont fit under my desk and wife does not like the look of them. But for me the positives outweigh them.
So if I had to give advice to anyone chewing on this question themselves?
If you want to buy a system with current software available and not update / add new hardware / software ever, then buy a G4 as at the moment the benchmarks suggest it's faster. But let's face it, most people update their hardware, update the software, install new software, install exciting new games...
At the end of the day though, I am still unsure with my choice
Thank you everybody for your comments and suggestions.
title changed by Brad
Comments
G5 = classic mode only. no boot into OS 9
some model dual G4s could still boot into OS 9 (sold as "OS 9 capable" on Apple's site)
if you don't care about OS 9 support, the G5 is 4x faster system/memory bus (no bottleneck)
personally, i'd try to hold out til MWSF... likely new models w/price shift
if you can't wait, enjoy
Originally posted by curiousuburb
personally, i'd try to hold out til MWSF... likely new models w/price shift
if you can't wait, enjoy
Unfortunately I dont have that luxury. Plus I figue 3 months till announcement and 2 months for delivery... thats 5 months without a Mac, time is money, just depends how you look at it
Thanks, I am looking forward to it
I say go for the 1.6 or more if you can afford it.
A $2000 B-DAY gift?
You'll get twice the hardrive space,
FASTER RAM,
twice the included RAM,
twice the RAM capacity,
PCI-X versus PCI,
and a faster bus/processor speed.
It's worth it. It really is. So spend that $400, and your comp will be far more upgradeable in the future.
As Macworld said, "You may not care about PCI-X now, but you will in a few years when you need to upgrade."
Originally posted by Ernest eMac
He said though "1.) It's the most I can afford to spend on a complete system".
Got to draw the line somewhere.
Yes, otherwise, we will buy nearly all the time, the most expansive product.
Originally posted by trick fall
Hey, sometimes your boss wants to show you a little appreciation......
I'd like your job
Originally posted by Placebo
Spend the extra $400 and get a 1.8. It's really a better deal.
Originaly I was looking at an eMac, then I thought I'll spend a few extra hundred i'll get this and then that... and like somebody else said, you gotta stop somwehere. My biggest debate was what to get G4 or G5. I come from the land of PCs and the price even of an eMac sounds absurd to me.
I am not debating that the G5 1.8 is not a better deal, personally I think the G5 Dual 2, is the best deal.
Just so you know, the price diff in Australia between G5 1.6 and G5 1.8 is about US$630. For this difference in price I could self-upgrade the RAM to 1.25GB, swap the internal hard disk and add a secod one and add a new video card on my G1.6 - ofcourse this will screw my warranty.
Originally posted by giant
I've seen benchmarks putting the dual 1.25 at equal or faster than the 1.6 G5.
Right but for someone willing to keep his Mac some years, the G5 is a much better choice. He will be able to run mac os X siberian tiger special edition, when the G5 will be stick to apple os X lion 8)
Originally posted by Powerdoc
Right but for someone willing to keep his Mac some years, the G5 is a much better choice. He will be able to run mac os X siberian tiger special edition, when the G5 will be stick to apple os X lion 8)
Originally posted by Powerdoc
Right but for someone willing to keep his Mac some years, the G5 is a much better choice. He will be able to run mac os X siberian tiger special edition, when the G5 will be stick to apple os X lion 8)
Oh god that's funny!
I'll hold out for Mac OS X, 10.6, Saber Tooth Tiger. The OS with teeth!
Originally posted by giant
I've seen benchmarks putting the dual 1.25 at equal or faster than the 1.6 G5.
And I've seen some benchmarks with a G5 1.8 kicking some serious G4 Dual 1.42 ass.
Originally posted by Placebo
And I've seen some benchmarks with a G5 1.8 kicking some serious G4 Dual 1.42 ass.
The speed diference between a G5 1.6 & G 1.8 is smaller than the difference between a Dual G4 1.25 & Dual G5 1.42.
Its really a mute point at the moment as in some cases the Dual G4s and in some cases the Single G5s perform better, running mostly on G4 optimised software.
Give it a year of G5 software optimisation, then we will see.