Is 2.3 worth the money over 2.0?

[RobHague]

I was buying a Dual-Core 2.0 from an Apple Reseller but they can't add the 6600 (none LE) and bigger Hard Drive without sending it to Apple first (14 days or so).

I *could* take that option, get a 2.0 Dual-Core with a 250Gb HDD, 6600 and 2Gig of DDR2 and wait it out for two weeks. But there is another option, the budget breeching option - the 2.3. The 2.3 has the 250gb HDD and 6600 already so thats handy - I can get it next day more or less and could add 1Gb of DDR2 (not sure if the store was quoting me 1.5gb or 1.0gb but nevermind).

But im still thinking if its worth the premium for the 0.3Ghz? There isnt anything else is there thats different now between the 2.0 and 2.3 besides the clocks.... so i dont see the 0.3Ghz making much difference (definatley not enough to mean the difference between a program running fast and a program running 'slow'?). My plan is to wait till the 7800 GT's arrive then hopefully purchase one and have a neat gaming machine - thats a Mac. I use my system for loads of things, and gaming is one - and ive been down the 'top spec PC' instead road and i just cant face Windows and i don't have the space for more than one computer! I can just about manage the G5. Also i wouldnt really want to split my resources that way - it would be like having to upgrade two systems intstead of one - twice the cost - besides all that im just looking for a more 'all in one' solution.

Right well, benchmarks show that the 2.3 is as fast as the 2.5 DP yeah? So does that mean the 2.0 is near the speed of the original DP 2.3? I did see the benchmarks showing the 2.7Ghz ran UT2004 slower than the new 2.3 which was impressive (not much, few FPS or so). Im just thinking how much that extra MHz will mean (and the 0.15ghz FSB) for some possible upcoming titles on the Mac like 'Quake 4' or Black & White 2.

Maybe it would have been better for Apple to make a Single Dual-Core 2.5ghz XD

 

[risc]

http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/10/25/dualcorebenchmarks/index.php has benchmarks of the dual core 2.0 and 2.3, the 2.3 does look quite a bit faster imo, but it is a lot more money I'd probably prefer to have more RAM and a better video card in the 2.0. Those benchmarks actually compare the dual cores with the dual processor 2.3 and no the 2.0 isn't as fast, the dual core and dual processor 2.3 are rougly the same speed, except for mpeg2 encoding it seems.

Having said that though the dual 2.7 AGP version flogs both of them.

 

[JasonGough]

I had this decision to make aswell, and i decided that at the end of the day, you r going to get about 10-15% more performance out of the 2.3, since you get an extra 600mhz of power, also the FSB is abit faster.

After you upgrade the video and the HDD to the same as the 2.3, the price isn't that much different. I decided the extra 10-15% will be the difference between getting those extra few plugins into my ProTools mix or not, so i went for it.

Its up to you tho

 

[carpe diem]

Just go 2.3 it will be worth it

 

[andiwm2003]

the 2.3 costs probably only $200 more than the 2.0 after upgrading the HD and GPU.

i would wait for the 7800 gt to be available and check the benchmarks. then i would decide to get the 2.3 with or without the 7800gt.

there is no point in buying the 2.3 now when you upgrade to the 7800 gt in 6 weeks anyway. you will lose $50 minimum buy upgrading compared to waiting.

at least thats my strategy for the 2.3 now. i will however wait for barefeats.com results on the 7800 gt performance before buying it.

 

[RobHague]

The 7800GT just appeared on the UK APPLE site but its an 8 week 'wait'.

You have a point about getting the 2.3 with a 7800 but 8 weeks is along time. Thats pretty much after christmas

 

[joecool85]

I'd say go with the 2.3 if you can afford it. But in all reality, even the 2 is a great machine. I myself have a dual 2ghz PM and love it, and this dualcore 2ghz is supposedly faster.

 

[RobHague]

More than likley will. I will have to sort the 7800GT out at christmas? Or whenever it arrives - im just worried it might be a 'BTO'. That would suck ><

The 6800 GT is still on the Apple Store site, i think they should remove it or at the very least put a large note on it saying that it wont work with the current PowerMacs on the site. People might grab their new powermac with the 6600 and see the 6800 gt on the site too and grab that, only to find out its AGP... shame no one ever designed (its its possible) a PCIe > AGP converter XD im sure there was something (or at least talk of) an AGP > PCI converter..... hmm ill ave to search google cos im interested now lol.