Which Mac to choose?

dante

I am an X86 user looking to switch to a Mac. If I was buying a new PC I would be getting an A64 3200+ or better with an nVidia 6800, lots of RAM, HD etc and it would probably cast around $CDN 1,200 - 1,500. But then I would have to use an MS OS and I can't give any more money to Satan. I waited for the new iMac announcement but am a little disappointed with the specs; much similar discussion on this board. A G5 tower done out like the X86 specs above would cost over $CDN 3,500. Any suggestions as to alternatives?



Thank you,

Scott.

dante

Bump.

splinemodel

Somehow I doubt that you could pull that off for 1500 CDN, unless AMD is really desperate right now. The cost of the RAM alone will set you back a fair bit, unless you want to buy the stuff with insanely bad quality control.



In the end, a Dual G5 will have a considerable speed advantage over the Althon, if that makes the purchase feel any better. It's hard to compete with home-built machines for cost, but there's not much you can do about that. When comparing with consumer machines, the G5 isn't really priced that much higher than anything out there in the PC world, and it offers some serious performance advantages. This matters, because anyone in the market for a Dual G5 should ultimately not buy the iMac due to a performance requirement. If you're just going to play video games, save the money and get the PC. If you want to do photo or video editing, there's a lot of reason to get the G5. After FCP, you end up fiscally ahead anyway.



I do a lot of CAD and 3D modeling. In truth they aren't as demanding on the CPU as you might think, but there are certain times in the process where I wish I had a G5. Video and large photo manipulation (when files start getting big and filters start getting SIMD) are where you see the G5 kick serious butt.