Graduation Mac

groover

Hey everyone I wanted to lay this out for you and maybe get some info and feedback. I'm about to Graduate and I'm getting a new Power Mac G5 as a present. I majored in Sculpture with an emphasis in interactive media. I use Maya, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut, DVD Studio Pro, and Dreamweaver. So I need a powerful system. I'm looking at these.



PM G5 Dual 2.3Ghz or 2.7Ghz

Cusomize it with

400GB HDD

Airport Extreme

Bluetooth

56k modem just because I might want phone features later

Possibly the wireless keyboard

I want to get the ATi X800 XT 256MB card if not the other ATi Card with 256MB. It suck that the X800 is not a BTO option.

I will buy an extra 1GB memory elsewhere.

Looking at the 23" HD Cinema Display

iSight

Apple Care 3 year plan



I need a 3 button mouse for Maya

I found one I like the logictech MX 1000 laser wireless mouse

I have had a Powerbook for 5 years so I also need speakers.

I found Logitech X-230 2.1 Speakers. Save the 5.1 for later.



I will also need a desk. Any thoughts on this would be great. Also I don't like the idea of having to take out a brand new graphic card to put in another one but I need the newer card. Is there any news on a new card coming soon. I add the card now because I'm getting everything else now. There is so much I need I couldn't even try to swing for the 30 inch even though I nearly drooled when I first saw it. I can always add it a year later or more. I still have some software I need to buy but that is all me.

pyrix

Whats wrong with the geForce 9800 w /256mb of memory?



Also, any particurlar reason you want the Apple display. Seems to me you could grab a couple of Benq 17 inch LCd's and set them up in dual display. Just a thought.



Or if you go in for the whole single screen thing, get a dell or HP, which are perfectly good monitors and you might save some money.

sladuuch

I highly recommend a Kensington Expert Mouse (it's a trackball, despite the name) for Maya. I use both, and the 'ball is just perfect. I've got buttons set up for Maya-specific tasks, and the design drastically cuts down on wrist strain during those all-night modelling sessions.

reg

I agree on getting dual display. You cann't have enough when working some of your apps.



reg

cosmonut

My 2 cents are that the Mx1000 is an excellent product, but you may not like it the best for Maya.

groover

Thanks for the input. I really want a monitor that is capable of displaying HD resolution. I see that as important in the creating and editing video. I'm real pissed to learn about the flaws running ramped in the 23" HD Display. It has been good for years and now issues. I really want an Apple display so it can be covered in Apple Care and having the curtain match the drapes. I guess I may have to take my chances.



The video card seems like I might wait a month to see if Nvidea comes out with something or ATi.



Trackballs are nice I have had a trackball all in the past but I can get better movement using my wrist. Although if strain be comes an issue I may get one down the road. What would be a good mouse for Maya I found it hard to find one that excelled in having 3 buttons and precision.

stevegta

well depending on how long you can wait the next gen vid cards are coming out pretty soon i think.. google "r520" and "G70" and you'll probably find some info on the new cards from ATI and nVidia. if u have to buy now then get the 6800 ultra IMO.

splinemodel

I do what I would consider ( ) to be good 3d work on an old 1GHz G4. The artist is more important than the machine. Personally, I'd get a cheap PC ($500) and an OK mac. You can do the long-duration renders on the PC (and DVD records), while the mac is free to keep working on whatever you need to design next.

groover

Well I have looked around and I can't find the info about what makes the 6800 Ultra stand out. I can wait for the next one for months if it is around $500. Interesting advice and I agree the artist is more important than the machine that is why I got a degree in art. If I where to have two machines once a PC and a Mac that would be a big problem. First I would have to buy twice the software and really what kind of performance could I expect from a $500 PC and a Ok mac. I believe that a computer is a tool and productivity is valuable time. I have an old Powerbook so I can always do something done if my Power MAC G5 is busy and if the Power Mac G5 is too busy then I might need a break myself. Also I need a Mac I can upgrade the video card and change or add monitors as well as true expansion. Also I plan on keeping this machine for a while. The two machine is a good idea but it will be less cost effective and be a pain to deal within a year. If anything I'll pick up a mini next time around.

stevegta

well everything that i am about to say is related to PC's in a way but it could relate to macs as well i am just not sure.



ATI GPU's dont have pixel shader 3.0

i cannot see paying all of that money for a graphics card when it does not have pixel shader 3.0 i dont know if this would matter in your case but for gaming (which is what i like doing) it sucks pretty bad if you pay 500 dollars for a graphics card that cannot play a game at its full potential. there are also a lot of other things that ATI doesnt have on their video cards that nVidia does have. such as support for openGL 2.0



today for example i just saw a 700 dollar ATI X850XT PE that didnt have pixel shader 3.0 and only had support for Open GL 1.5





its just a bunch of little things that make nVidia better IMO



ATI might beat nVidia in a few areas hardware wise, but when it comes to software support and drivers i think that is where nVidia beats ATI. idk how much of this carries over to macs but it could and a 6800 ultra will be more than enough. also whatever you do make sure you get a card with GDDR3 instead of DDR. a common mistake people make is they just look at how many mb a video card has and they buy that. 128mb is more than enough for regular use, but for you you would probably want 256 because i think you said you were getting a big display right?



tell me what you decide on getting once you decide.



good luck

stevegta

well i just checked out the powermacs at the apple store and the only card that has GDDR3 is the 6800 Ultra. i would reccomend going with that because the other cards suck. although you could save $450 by getting the cheapo 256mb ati video card, the 6800 ultra is the way to go, because the memory will probably cycle twice as fast and it is much nicer quality overall. if you are doing graphic work i wouldnt cheap out on the video card, ESPECIALLY if you are paying that much money for a computer. if i were you and had a choice between the dual 2.3 with the 6800 ultra, and the dual 2.7 with the radeon 9650 i would go with the dual 2.3 and ultra. although they may seem similiar at first look, there is a huge difference between the two. i would go to an online computer parts store though and look at reviews and specs such as the core clock and memory clock. the dedicated memory is often a gimmick because a huge part of their market (im guessing) is people who look at a bigger number and say "oo oo this one has the most mb u can get and its a good deal". do whatever you want to but IMO it would be a big mistake to go with anything but the Ultra...

dvd_junkie

Groover,



Re: video cards

Take what comes with the computer today. In the next few months there'll be choices you wouldn't have expected. Sure the ATI R520 will be out and take care of those PS 3.0 and other issues but ATI's multi-GPU ie MVPU, by the nature of its approach, will more than likely make an appearance on Mac's as opposed to nvidia's SLI. For apps like Maya, you can never have enough graphics power.



Enjoy your new tool!

stevegta

soon they will also have video cards with Dual GPUs but i would say just get the best now if it is a gift. also dont macs use a little bit different video cards? idk about how easy it will be to find a mac r520 or a mac G70 but if you are buying now and plan on upgrading i would get one of the lower end ATI's if you plan on upgrading to an r520 or a G70, or get the 6800 ultra if you plan on waiting for dual GPU video cards.

matsu

If you're really hung up on graphics cards, you might want to wait for the PCIe powermacs to appear. In two or three years, PCIe will be much better supported than AGP, and really you shouldn't be looking to update your graphics at all before that. Aside from the belly-aching on these boards, there's nothing wrong the PM video-cards.



Spec the 9650 for a little extra VRAM at a negligible cost. How much heavy lifting do mac cards really do?



The ONLY thing you need to think about is whether you'll be installing a lot of RAM or not, and that means you should be thinking about the dual 2Ghz or the dual 2.3, forget the 2.7. You can spend your extra money on lots of third party RAM, HDD, and displays.



Will you install more than 4GB? How much more? You can populate the 4GB limit of the 2Ghz model with about $600. You could install 2GB of 3rd party RAM now (for 2.5GB total) and wait for cheaper 2GB DIMMS later on, then replace the 256 DIMMS for a total of 6GB in a year or two.



Look at HP or Dell for 23" displays. Find two nice big fast SATA HDDs with 8-16MB caches, and good seek, read-write times. All of this is worth more than a few Mhz worth of CPU/bus and/or a faster vid card...



Get the 2Ghz and trick it out, that is if you really want to spend the money. Otherwise, just get the 2Ghz, and give it a moderate third party RAM/HDD boost.

groover

Hey great advise continues. I think getting the graphics card at the same time is a good idea. I do think tricking the Mac out with ram is good although 2.5 GB of RAM is all I can do at first. I'm really interested the 6800 Ultra card now. I will likely order it within a week.

dvd_junkie

Quote:

Originally posted by Groover

Hey great advise continues. I think getting the graphics card at the same time is a good idea. I do think tricking the Mac out with ram is good although 2.5 GB of RAM is all I can do at first. I'm really interested the 6800 Ultra card now. I will likely order it within a week.

Don't know if it has been mentioned already, but unless you need to get your Mac ASAP, wait at least till the WWDC is in full swing. Apple may just surprise us all. I wouldn't bet against Jobs wanting to say they've finally got that 3GHz.

groover

That is a good point about WWDC but I think there are plenty other areas that could be discussed besides a 3Ghz G5. Besides I couldn't get it if it did. I read a lot and I'm in real need of an New Mac and the time is right. They just updated their line. I have to strike while the iron is hot.

stevegta

sounds like a good idea to me. also when buying RAM dont upgrade to unbelievable amounts of RAM enless u need it. excessive amounts of ram will just cost more money and could slow down your computer. the ultra would also be what i would reccomend u get, since u are getting it now because u will be set for a while.



have fun

groover

Well perhaps I can wait till next week I just need to lock down some of the third party software and be ready to order as soon as the Keynote is over.

whiterabbit

The MX900 would take advantage of that Bluetooth, and you wouldn't have to use the charger thing (personally I think it looks quite ugly, too "PC" to be on an Apple desk.)



I have always wondered how the MX1000 laser is better than the regular LED mice. I don't really see how having a higher resolution mouse can make it any more precise; I mean pixels on the screen are a certian size, and it not like the computer's going to keep track of half or quarter pixels.