advice? upgrade from imac g5
I have an iMac G5 20" 1.8 with 2GB of RAM, running 10.4.11
I am a photographer, so my main use of the machine is Photoshop.
What I am wondering is...
How much faster would a MacbookPro 17" be than my current machine (in basic setup)
It would be very handy to be able to work on the move, and if I could get comparable performance I could be very happy
Obviously the current desktops are faster, but hey they all be slow again in a couple of years!!
I am a photographer, so my main use of the machine is Photoshop.
What I am wondering is...
How much faster would a MacbookPro 17" be than my current machine (in basic setup)
It would be very handy to be able to work on the move, and if I could get comparable performance I could be very happy
Obviously the current desktops are faster, but hey they all be slow again in a couple of years!!
Comments
The current MBP 17 runs circles around your iMac.
I thought it might...
Is there a measure or is it just insider knowledge
ie opening and saving a 16-bit 150MB psd file (which can be slow on my machine)
Why don't you just update your machine to 10.5.8? It is quite stable and it is in a much better shape than SL right about now. It is not like SL brings too many new user features into the mix. Of course if you want new hardware, then it depends on your purse.
would a software update really improve performance that much??
I didn't notice any real improvements in speed with the last few updates I made....
Why don't you just update your machine to 10.5.8? It is quite stable and it is in a much better shape than SL right about now. It is not like SL brings too many new user features into the mix. Of course if you want new hardware, then it depends on your purse.
Apple doesn't sell OS X 10.5 anymore and Amazon lists it as "unavailable".
About the hardware, I think the OP would find a new MacBook Pro or iMac to run 2 or 3 times as fast as his G5 iMac. Not to be overlooked is that you can buy the better 15" MacBook Pro + a monitor for less than the cost of a new 17" MacBook Pro. Essentially all you give up is the ExpressCard 34 slot and it's doubtful an iMac owner has any ExpressCards anyway.
I thought it might...
Is there a measure or is it just insider knowledge
ie opening and saving a 16-bit 150MB psd file (which can be slow on my machine)
I used to have a PowerMac G5 1.8 DP and my 2.33 MBP 15" is considerably faster than the PowerMac.
A new machine will definitely make PS run faster. 2x what your G5 does... that sounds likely... 3x might be a stretch
In GeekBench (benchmark for processor and memory) the iMac G5 1.8 has a score of 996 and the current MBP 17" scores 3764.
http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/mac-benchmarks/
In GeekBench (benchmark for processor and memory) the iMac G5 1.8 has a score of 996 and the current MBP 17" scores 3764.
That doesn't mean that the end users PERCEIVED speed increase will be 3.7x what he's used to though. Sure, the actual encoding process will be close to that for tasks that use nearly all of ones CPU. But there's so much idle time during most peoples workflow (CPU idle)... that it'll SEEM perhaps 2x as fast...
I agree though, that the new machines smoke a G5... probably even with one CPU tied behind their circuit board
Apple doesn't sell OS X 10.5 anymore and Amazon lists it as "unavailable".
About the hardware, I think the OP would find a new MacBook Pro or iMac to run 2 or 3 times as fast as his G5 iMac. Not to be overlooked is that you can buy the better 15" MacBook Pro + a monitor for less than the cost of a new 17" MacBook Pro. Essentially all you give up is the ExpressCard 34 slot and it's doubtful an iMac owner has any ExpressCards anyway.
why is the 15" better...??
you're right about the expresscard (I don't even know what it is!!)
I used to have a PowerMac G5 1.8 DP and my 2.33 MBP 15" is considerably faster than the PowerMac.
In GeekBench (benchmark for processor and memory) the iMac G5 1.8 has a score of 996 and the current MBP 17" scores 3764.
http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/mac-benchmarks/
thanks for that!!
express card looks mighty useful, extra fw800 ports would be very useful as i use fw external HD's and fw flashcard readers
still let me know why you'd go for the 15" ahead of the 17" with only 150 in the difference I thought the extra screen size was well worth it
Jay
As for size, real estate is great, but a 17", in my opinion, is pretty large to lug around regularly and far. You can always get an external display:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB...mco=Nzk2MDk4NQ
Then you have a very portable machine while on the move and a large display when at home.
why is the 15" better...??
you're right about the expresscard (I don't even know what it is!!)
I meant the better of the three 15" MBP models. Actually, you could go with the middle model with an MSRP of $1999 or the "better" 15" model with an MSRP of $2299.
Certainly if you get the $1999 model you are way below the $2499 MSRP of the 17" MBP, leaving plenty of funds left over for that 24" monitor or whatever you wish to get. The $2299 model still gives you $200 to play with and all you've lost is the ExpressCard slot.
I am waiting for the next iMac revision, and then I will upgrade.