G4 DP 1.25Ghz or G5 SP 1.6Ghz?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
If I were to buy one of those tomorrow (and I am), for doing graphic design work (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Flash...) which one should I get?



Also, I think I should mention that this is my first Mac and I am hoping to keep it for a good few years...



Thanx all

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    smirclesmircle Posts: 1,035member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Lain

    If I were to buy one of those tomorrow (and I am), for doing graphic design work (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Flash...) which one should I get?





    Depends on your priorities. The G5 is quite likely the machine which will be supported longer by Apple. So, if you usually keep your macs for >5 years, it might be the better choice.

    OTOH, if you need to run classic apps, 9.2 will be included with the G4, and the G4 only.



    The G4 might be a bit faster in Photoshop, but also a bit louder. It comes with 512MB RAM vs. the 256 of the G5, which makes a big difference running MacOS X.



    Performance of the G5 will be much better in single-processor tasks, whereas the G4 will be a bit faster in dual-proc tasks (some photoshop filters).
  • Reply 2 of 12
    lainlain Posts: 140member
    Future RAM upgrades are not a prob (small expense), as long as the system is a good starting point as I will not be able to afford system changes.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    Go for the G5. Not because of the speed. But because of everything else...
  • Reply 4 of 12
    smirclesmircle Posts: 1,035member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Lain

    Future RAM upgrades are not a prob (small expense), as long as the system is a good starting point as I will not be able to afford system changes.



    Both systems are, but you better buy additional RAM to get either to 768MB or 1GB. 512MB is OK, but 256 is far too little.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    trick falltrick fall Posts: 1,271member
    I have the 1.6 G5 and really dig it. Load it up with ram though.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    If you want to keep it for years take the G5.



    The reasons are :



    - almost the same performance in photoshop

    - USB 2, firewire 800, digital audio, AGP 8X pro, SATA,

    - more silence

    - a better video card (i will suggest to BTO a 9600 ATI pro for 50 more bucks)

    - access to the next developpement of OS X : when the OS will turn to 64 bits, the G4 will become obsolete

    - the possibility to update your computer in the future. #



    # : the G5 tower will be able to reach speed of 3 Ghz (unfortunately you will have to stay single). The dual G4 at the contrary will never excess 1,5-1,6 and even if Mot is able to make faster G4, the slow bus and the slow Ram will be serious bottlenecks.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    take it from someone who just went through the exact same question as you, for the exact same reasons and the exact same apps.



    take the dual G4. period.



    firewire 800, usb 2, etc., can all be added to the G4 via PCI if you really feel you need them later. in fact, vendors like sonnet et al. tend to release cards that have several of these on the same card.



    the single 1.6 G5 doesn't have pci-x, so that isn't even an issue.



    there is no noise level problem with the dual g4's, UNLESS you are booted into os 9. you then get an occassional big whirring, but it will die down when necessary. unless you have a big desk, you will likely have either one of these on the floor next to your desk anyway (the g5 case is BIG... it feels like there's a wall ont he desk next to you. might be handy, but it's worth pointing out) if they're both going to be on the floor anyway, they'll both sound exactly the same. hell, my laserwriter's constant whirring is the loudest thing in my home studio.



    re: video card, the dual g4 still has 4x agp, and you can even get the retail radeon 9800 4x agp later if you feel you need it. i have the nvidia geforce 4 ti in mine, and i have to say it is as good or better than the stock geforce in the g5's (have not compared it to the radeon 9600 yet).



    the 1.6 g5 also can't take as much ram as the other g5's, so why not save a bunch of money and get the g4, which can still take up to 2 gb (which, from the sound of it, is all you will need for now).



    and, i hate to tell you this, but... ANY computer you buy today will feel slow in 3 years without hardware upgrades. and by that time, there will be enough new hardware advances that you will want to swap out the entire machine. the g4's will be supported for the next two years. of that, i am positive, since the g5 is not going into the powerbook anytime soon, and just made its appearance in the ibook. i expect this machine to be a useful production machine for at least two years. it may be able to handle specialized tasks for an extra year or two after that. in two years time, i guarantee that both the single 1.6 g5 and the dual 1.25 g4 will "feel" equally slow, due to regular software updates from every vendor, including apple.



    plus, the low-end of any new apple hardware has ALWAYS been the first to be axed or have the most weirdo problems when it comes to support down the road (the "yikes!" models were the most famous example, but there are others). the dual g4 has had plenty of time for the kinks to be worked out, and is a solid machine.



    so there you go. hope that helps.



    (p.s. one caveat -- if you do decide to get the dual g4, or even the g5, do NOT buy build-to-order. apple is moving at a sloth's pace for damn near anything out of the ordinary for hardware. i may have saved money by getting the dual g4, but i ended up waiting over a MONTH because i added 256 mb of ram, the geforce4 ti video card, and a scsi card). i would have paid extra just to have it in my hands four weeks earlier, and then just buy those parts off the retail shelf.)



    (p.p.s. also, see if you can find the dual refurbished from apple. you can still buy the applecare warranty, which i advise, following the stellar repair of my three-year old powerbook just the other day), and save even more money. just look at the bottom of the apple store main page for "special deals." in fact, apple DOES have the dual 1.42 g4 in the refurb area. note: it will not boot into os 9, but i have only needed to boot into os 9 once to fix some issues with quark 4 and printing. booting into os 9 should probably not figure heavily into your purchasing decision. classic support will only get better with each os x update, until they decide to phase it out altogether)



    p.p.p.s. aplogies for all the edits and addenda -- i just feel, with all the laboring and fretting and research i did over this issue, i needed a useful place to vent it, if nothing else, so you don't have to.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    lainlain Posts: 140member
    Xbench RAW data taken from

    http://xbench.com/ as at 5th November 2003

    and below results calculated in Microsoft XL by me.



    G5 1.6 Ghz ? Original model



    Based on 72 available scores



    7%\tof systems scored betweent150-152.42

    22%\tof systems scored betweent140-149.xx

    32%\tof systems scored betweent130-139.xx

    39%\tof systems scored betweent120-129.xx



    Average G5 system score - 135.2



    G4 MDD DP 1.25Ghz ? I presume that?s the current model :|



    Based on 223 available scores:



    2%\tof systems scored betweent170-178

    16%\tof systems scored betweent160-169.xx

    18%\tof systems scored betweent150-159.xx

    25%\tof systems scored betweent140-149.xx

    35%\tof systems scored betweent130-139.xx

    4%\tof systems scored betweent120-129.xx



    Average G4 system score - 146.1



    Keep in mind:

    That probably Xbench is not tuned to use all the bells and whistles in the G5.



    Perhaps if there were more scores available for the G5 the totals might be different.



    I removed the freaky scores like anything lower than 120 as clearly something is wrong with those systems ? but there weren?t many.



    Personal conclusion:

    If I were to buy a G4 system it is most likely to score between 130-139.xx. If I were to buy a G5 system it is most likely to score between 120-129.xx



    It seems that a MAXED out G4 system can achieve a score in the high 170s. While a MAXED out G5 can achieve a score in the low 150s. BUT it is unlikely that I will find a MAXED out G5 as this point in time, as such the upgredability path of a G5 system could better.



    I wonder how much higher would the G4 scores be if the systems had standard video cards similar to the ones found in G5 systems? I suggest that a G4 with a similar video card as the G5 would score even better. However the upgrade path of the G4's 4X AGP slot's video card will probably not be long. I still need to keep in mind that Xbench is probably not fully utilising all the capabilities of the G5.



    ... benchmarks are not everything...



    I am interested in hearing your conclusions?
  • Reply 9 of 12
    If you want it to last longer, go for the 1.8, not the .6. It will run you a few more $, but be well worth it in the end. Ability to hold more ram, PCI-X support. It's a better computer. Go for the 1.8, the G4s are outdated or soon will be. Apple, as well as others, will develop for the G5 now, not the G4. The better purchase for your money is the 1.8 G5.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    lainlain Posts: 140member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DMBand0026

    If you want it to last longer, go for the 1.8, not the .6. It will run you a few more $, but be well worth it in the end. Ability to hold more ram, PCI-X support. It's a better computer. Go for the 1.8, the G4s are outdated or soon will be. Apple, as well as others, will develop for the G5 now, not the G4. The better purchase for your money is the 1.8 G5.



    U know I originaly started looking at a 1Ghz G4 eMac with ComboDrive (now SuperDrive), then I said if I just spend a little more... I could get a SP G4 1.25, then just for a few more hunderd and I can get a DP G4 1.25 and now this is the final just a few more dollars that I can afford to spend and it could be on a G5 1.6, the price diff in Australia between 1.6 and 1.8 is $1000. Thats at todays exhange rates about $700US. So sure I could save up just a little longer and wait just a little more but there will allways be something just a bit more expensive just around the corner... but the truth is I can barely afford a G5 1.6.



    That said I want to thank you and everyone else here for their time in replying to my question.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    do you need VirtualPC in additional to your Photoshop [just curious?]
  • Reply 12 of 12
    lainlain Posts: 140member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kenneth

    do you need VirtualPC in additional to your Photoshop [just curious?]



    No I will use remote desktop to control my P3 1Ghz WinXP system. I presume a G5 will be able to do that?
Sign In or Register to comment.