Computer purchase dilemma

majormattmajormatt
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Right now I have a G4/400 with a 64 Meg radeon 8500, 704 MB RAM and a 20 gig hard drive. It is an admirable machine. However, it is getting long in the tooth and a new machine would be welcomed.



I recently got a nice LCD screen so my eyes dont rot out, so an iMac is not really an option.



So what do I do?



? Email/web

? Some light design work

? Some programming

? Some light gaming (Wolf ET + Warcraft mostly)



I can either get a $599 mac mini or a $1999 entry level G5. I know not what to do. It just feels wrong going from 64 MB vram to 32 and dropping down on ram, but the G5 feels much like an overkill.



What to get? What to get?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    ineedag5pbnowineedag5pbnow Posts: 145member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MajorMatt

    Right now I have a G4/400 with a 64 Meg radeon 8500, 704 MB RAM and a 20 gig hard drive. It is an admirable machine. However, it is getting long in the tooth and a new machine would be welcomed.



    I recently got a nice LCD screen so my eyes dont rot out, so an iMac is not really an option.



    So what do I do?



    ? Email/web

    ? Some light design work

    ? Some programming

    ? Some light gaming (Wolf ET + Warcraft mostly)



    I can either get a $599 mac mini or a $1999 entry level G5. I know not what to do. It just feels wrong going from 64 MB vram to 32 and dropping down on ram, but the G5 feels much like an overkill.



    What to get? What to get?



    wait a lil longer for the mac mini rev B...im sure it will suit ur needs better than the current mac mini or powermac...perhaps a 12" inch powerbook???
  • Reply 2 of 13
    republicrepublic Posts: 168member
    Actually, store.apple.com still lists a $1499 Power Mac, with a 1.8 ghz processor. Unfortunately, MajorMatt, the new LCD has limited options, or an iMac G5 would seem up your alley. If you can swing the cost, it would still be appropriate to buy the entry-level Power Mac while it's still on sale; it would last longer and do more for you over its lifespan than a Mac mini (since you do play video games on your Mac) if you feel guilty about its weaknesses.
  • Reply 3 of 13
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    The $1500 seems rather lacking
  • Reply 4 of 13
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    What's wrong with going with a processor upgrade?



    Nick
  • Reply 5 of 13
    majormattmajormatt Posts: 1,077member
    There is nothing wrong with a 1.8GHz G5, I'm just thinking of value.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    mikefmikef Posts: 698member
    I think trumptman was more referring to a drop-in CPU upgrade for your current machine...
  • Reply 7 of 13
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    Right, you mentioned the desire not to reduce your VRAM but that you don't do hardcore enough stuff to really justify the G5.



    If you go to Otherworld Computing you will see various processor upgrades for your machine. I would personally do the OWC Mercury Supreme 1.4 which is a 1.3 processor just slighly overclocked to 1.4 mhz. It features 2 megs of level 3 cache and costs $340. You would be faster than the Mac Mini, still keep your VRAM and spend less as well.



    That's called a triple win.



    Nick
  • Reply 8 of 13
    mikefmikef Posts: 698member
    Go for a dual upgrade, if not for any reason other than bragging rights to your friends
  • Reply 9 of 13
    midwintermidwinter Posts: 10,060member
    I just upgraded my G4/533 with a 1.0 with more L2 cache. It's like a whole new machine.



    I'm with Nick. Spend $200 on an upgrade and get 4 more years out of it.
  • Reply 10 of 13
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    yup go for a dual-g4-processor upgrade



    plus yours is a cool powermac G4, they don't make them like the used too, well, aesthetically anyway



    definitely a dual-g4-processor upgrade is more worthwhile than a Mac mini for ya...



    maybe new 5400 or 7200 rpm hard disk too?



    ....

    otherwise, if you want to 'start over fresh' ebay your powermac g4 and lcd screen and get iMac g5

    ....



    i think upgrading your powermac G4 within the $600-$800 range will make it killer
  • Reply 11 of 13
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    I always thought updating a Macs processor was like trying to keep a Yugo running. Sure a spring from a Bick pen could be used as an accelerator cable but I wouldn?t want to use it on the freeway. Shoot old-Yeller in the head and move on, the 1.8 PowerMac is a good machine, the dual is going for 1800 in the refurb shop. Stay away from the Mini unless you already have Tourettes.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Relic

    I always thought updating a Macs processor was like trying to keep a Yugo running. Sure a spring from a Bick pen could be used as an accelerator cable but I wouldn?t want to use it on the freeway. Shoot old-Yeller in the head and move on, the 1.8 PowerMac is a good machine, the dual is going for 1800 in the refurb shop. Stay away from the Mini unless you already have Tourettes.



    dude what drugs are you on today? can i have some?



    oh that reminds me time for my evening Xanax... mmmm...
  • Reply 13 of 13
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    dude what drugs are you on today? can i have some?



    oh that reminds me time for my evening Xanax... mmmm...



    Just a little skiing.
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