should i upgrade my dual 533 or wait?

patrick lavinpatrick lavin
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
i need some sound advice and this seems like the place to get it...



i do lots of 2d animation on after effects and combustion, and a little 3d as well... i work full time PLUS some moonlighting freelance stuff at home. i've had a dual 533 for the past year and a half and it's always treated me right... but this year i've had a fairly substantial amount of freelance work, which i'm going to get taxed like crazy on...



so basically i could use a faster machine... so i can get more sleep... but i'm not exactly sure what the difference in speed will be between my current box and a dual 1.25... i would really like to write off the machine this year, but i held off on the dual gig because i knew faster things were coming...



and now they are here...



should i stick it out another 6 months and hope for the best? or is now the time to upgrade?



i greatly appreciate any insight on this, i'm not the most technical person and would hate to make a hasty decision on this...



cheers,

patrick

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    the newest powermac has some dramatic changes, so i would say go for it. waiting to upgrade can be an endless cycle.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    cakecake Posts: 1,010member
    Well, everyone's expecting newer, better machines at MacWorld in January. The problem with that is that nothing is assured and if you can afford a new machine now, why not go for it.



    I'm probably going to sell my dual 533 and get at least the dual 867. For $1700 and with the addition of the L3 cache, that seems like a great deal.



    I'm waiting to see the benchmarks of the new machines though. With the new memory architecture we should see some good numbers.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    gfeiergfeier Posts: 127member
    Patrick - You probably should upgrade. You don't need to be technical. The dual 1.25 should do your graphics tasks in just about half the time. Just figure out if that's worth it to you.



    Cake - You probably shouldn't upgrade. You won't see much of an improvement going to a dual 867 since the 533s were a bit faster MHz for MHz than the later chips. Wait 'til next year.



    Just my two cents.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    macsrgood4umacsrgood4u Posts: 3,007member
    Since upgrades come every 6 months or so, you can wait.... and wait.... and wait. In other words, buy if you need and when you need. If you're worried that you won't have the latest and greatest, well, that's the way it is. (And for most users, dispite the constant whining, what's available at the moment is OK.) If you buy the MHZ stuff, switch to PC's.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    patrick lavinpatrick lavin Posts: 3member
    having the latest and greatest has nothing to do with it... but if all the new architecture adds up to twice the performance of what i bought almost a year and a half ago i think the purchase is justified... can't say the same about that gf titanium card though ouch!



    thanks for the opinions...
  • Reply 6 of 8
    twocatstwocats Posts: 2member
    I am in the same boat. got a dual 500, thinking of selling for a dual 867. Don't want to spend too much just incase the power 4 appears next jan. I get edu discount, so dp 867 with superdrive - $1750
  • Reply 7 of 8
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    If I had a Dual 500 I will not hesitate upgrading to dual 867.



    But since I already am using a Dual GHz SlowSilver(tm) I really don't see any need to go for these 'new' macs, even the top end model
  • Reply 8 of 8
    patrick lavinpatrick lavin Posts: 3member
    i ended up ordering the 1.25, the first time i've ever purchased anything top of the line computer-wise... hopefully it won't be replaced by something better by the time i get it... cuz women REALLY dig fast computers.



    i'm going to miss my internal zip drive though...
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