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Ok, so seriously (Dual Core worth the extra $250?)

D

dwd3885

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 10, 2004
2,133
158
This is my last wanting buying advice post because I want to STICK with the decision this time. I'm buying a PowerMac. I'm buying a 2ghz Dual CPU or 2ghz Dual Core Powermac. Both will be refurbed. At either $1449 or $1699.

Is the Dual Core worth the extra $250? I want to keep this machine for around 3 years or more. Both being G5s, then I will buy an intel powermac when everything is officially 100% universal/intel.

These two computers are basically identical no? Except for the ddr2, pci-express, dual core instead of dual cpu, better graphics on the pci-express. But the guts are really close. So if my budget is at $1500, should I stretch it a bit more to the Dual Core?
 
Which video card do you intend getting with these machines? One reason to go for the AGP Power Mac over the PCIe is the availability of after market video cards, you can always get the AGP model and get an ATI X800 XT later if your budget doesn't allow for it now. The entry level video card on both is pretty bad. IMHO that is all it really comes down to, if fast video doesn't really matter to you you might as well get the dual core.
 
Like risc said, the major difference is the graphics bus....There are a decent number of good AGP cards available retail or from resellers (Radeon 9800XT, Radeon X800XT, X850XT, GeForce 6800GT, GeForce6800 Ultra) , even more if you are willing to flash a PC card.

The PCIe Macs, on the other hand, are stuck with the 6600GT as the best (and currently only) retail card available from Apple. Those lucky few who ordered a machine BTO can have a 7800GT or the ridiculously expensive Quadro, but those two cards are not available a la carte anywhere for a sane price (Small Dog electronics was hawking a few 7800GTs for the sickening price of $725).

So unless you have the 6600LE there is no video upgrade [path for the dual-core G5 towers yet. On the other hand, at some point ATI will release the outstanding X1800XT/X1900XT for the Mac, and it will likely be PCIe only. But right now there is no timetable for that release.

So it depends what you want - a high-performance card/bus combo for a decent price that will become obsolete a little quicker, or a newer bus with middle-of-the-road cards, no current upgrade path and a patient wait for new hardware...
 
I would say go for the intel on the fact that the Graphic card is better and the fact that apple has a habit of making stuff go obsolite pretty quickly after they make a huge change.
Dont know about the intel one but with there OS they have a strong history of dropping major support for it as soon as the next one is release. There new major software only works with there newest OS. I would not be surpised to see apple to the same thing to intel dropping support for them a lot quicker than computer should be declared worthless.

Just for that piece of mind I would go with the intel chip over the PPC chip. I dont trust apple not to make PPC go obsolited very quickly and not support it much at all.
 
It's good that you are finally going to stick with this final decision. I think you are the one that sold like 3 computers after two weeks of owning. Anyway, this comes down to your budget and AGP or PCI-E graphic card. Keep in mind that upgrading the graphic cards on both models would be a good idea. Actually, the 6600 LE on the DC model is really bad and I consider a must to upgrade that. So that means your expense will be bigger. I don't know if you game, but the best low cost machine according to barefeats is a Dual Proc 2.0 G5 with the latest ATI card. It really out performed a lot of systems. Plus you also have more choices at the moment on the AGP side. However, you must decide if you can wait for ATI to release the X1800XT PCI-E cards for mac or whether you want to get the scarce 7800GT or Quadro which are expensive. There are some on strangedogs.com that will flash a PC 7800GT and sell it to you.

Anyway, if money is an issue and you want to buy now then the Dual Proc 2.0 is the better value.
 
some much better

that dual core G5 is the best G5 by far since the inception and dont forget double the cache of the DP which makes a big difference.

DCore all the way.....much better technology period!
 
w8ing4intelmacs said:
This is why I wouldn't rest my decision on the opinions of people on public forums.
Click to expand...


you take it completely out of contect 2. The reason I say go with the intel chip over the G5 is I dont trust apple not to make the G5 computers useless faster than the should be. I am basing this on the how they do there OSes and how tend to drop a lot of support for the last OS as soon as a new one is finished.
On that reasoning alone I would go with intel mac over the g5.

Now as for CPU maker I rather use AMD over intel. But since apple doesnt using AMD and I dont trust them to support the g5 for a normal lifespan of a computer I vote go for intel.
 
Timepass said:
you take it completely out of contect 2. The reason I say go with the intel chip over the G5 is I dont trust apple not to make the G5 computers useless faster than the should be. I am basing this on the how they do there OSes and how tend to drop a lot of support for the last OS as soon as a new one is finished.
On that reasoning alone I would go with intel mac over the g5.

Now as for CPU maker I rather use AMD over intel. But since apple doesnt using AMD and I dont trust them to support the g5 for a normal lifespan of a computer I vote go for intel.
Click to expand...
Just stop posting, please. You didn't understand the original post and you obviously didn't understand w8ing4intelmacs's response. For one thing, ask youself: Is there an Intel-based PowerMac out yet? Your advice makes no sense. The topic creator wants to know whether he should spend extra money on a dual-core PowerMac or stick with the dual-processor single core model.

My advice would be just to get the cheaper of the two, which is dual-proc model. Unless you plan on buying the latest and greatest graphics card for your Mac, you won't miss the newer model.
 
Ok. I got the $1449 Dual G5 this morning. I did that because I probably won't miss anything that is in the dual core model.

I mean, it was my birthday yesterday (21!) so I figured I'd treat myself to the only computer I'll buy in 3 years :) No buyer's remorse or selling the system this time. I am here to stay!

I think I'll get some RAM for it though, depending on how much it comes with, since somtimes the refurbs come with a bit more than advertised!

thanks for all your advice
 
I'm sure you're going to be ecstatic, when that system arrives. Congratulations on such a great purchase.
 
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