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Dual 2ghz with 2GB mem, RV350 OR Intel Mac Mini Core Duo

M

MikhailT

Junior Member
I got an issue here. I am not a huge video editing or photography fan but I do take photos and edit videos once in a while. I like MAC because of everything else about it. I want to upgrade from my 800mhz g4 quicksilver mac to something newer and faster for two years before i upgrade again. I know a buddy whos going to give me his G5 machine soon, he just told me the specs.

Dual G5 2GHz, 2GB of ddr memory, RV350 (ATi Radeon9600 Pro or XT not sure), 160gb 7200rpm hard drive for around 400 bucks. (he own me money so thats why its 400 bucks)

But I can also get the new Intel mac mini with core duo for 700 bucks but its integrated graphic cards, 512mb of memory and 80gb 5400rpm hard drive.

I know Intel would be much better but considering the price difference of prolly around 500-600 dollars (maxed out 2gb mac mini). I am concerned that there might be an Intel only apps and i might not take advantage of the new applications within the next two years but at the same time I am fraking broke. I do plan to get the new Intel(Conroe) Mac Pro machine but for Rev B only, i have no intention of getting the Rev Aof any MAC hardware.

What do you guys think I should do?
 
I would say for that mac for that much money, that is a sweet deal. Considering that level machine was around $5000 not more than a couple years ago.

I personally would go with that Mac machine. You will definately need to spend much more money on a pc to get comparable performance to that G5.
 
For what you are doing, the dual G5 bould be the better option. Not only is it faster (the Core Duo is roughly equivalent to a dual G5 system of the same clock speed from the reviews I'v seen), but you have a lot more expandability and the ability to put craploads of RAM into the system later on if you want to go crazy with Motion or FCP down the road. If you get into those programs, the RV350 is going to run Motion and anything else that benefits from Core Image a LOT better than the integrated graphics on the new Mini.
 
Definately get the G5. I recently switched over to Macs (not completely! still have my a64). Don't worry about apps being "Intel only"; apps are being released as universal ("Universal Binary"). Read the wiki def here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_binary

The G5 offers more room for expandability. There's no doubt that the Intel Mini is an awesome machine, but there's only so much you can do with it. For one, you're stuck with the video card since it's integrated (not even dedicated...integrated!). Also, upgrades are expensive since everything has to be external. There's a lot you can do with them; it just won't be cheap and they won't be in a nice, neat package like a G5 (more room for internal expansion).

btw are you interested in selling your quicksilver?
 
Hey guys, thanks for your posts. I have decided on the dual g5 machine. Should get it next month or so. (Kaido, I am giving it to my bro for his birthday.)
 
Originally posted by: MikhailT
Hey guys, thanks for your posts. I have decided on the dual g5 machine. Should get it next month or so. (Kaido, I am giving it to my bro for his birthday.)
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Lucky 😀 Congrats on the decision, I'm sure you'll love it! Apple makes some great machines (not to mention their operating system...).
 
Mac Mini's still have laptop hd's unfortunately... And laptop hd's are slow and small, generally not good for video editing.
 
Originally posted by: wetcat007
Mac Mini's still have laptop hd's unfortunately... And laptop hd's are slow and small, generally not good for video editing.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. You can invest $200 and get a 100gb 7200rpm 2.5" Hitachi drive, for example. In addition, Macs can boot off external Firewire drives (I've heard that the Intel Macs can boot from USB drives now, too). This will give you a good performance boost over the stock internal drive (up to 75% from benchmarks). You can even buy external drives that fit right under the Mini and match the look:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ministack/

Then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the internal drive to the external drive:

http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

It's probably a better idea to invest the $200 in an external hard drive. You can get a 250gb hard drive with USB/Firewire hub built-in for the same price as an internal 100gb 7200rpm hard drive. You can then use the internal drive as a backup boot drive or as a backup drive.
 
I think the G5s is a good choice. It will be a long time before most Apple software is more optomized for intel than for PowerPC.
 
G5, hands down. the new mac minis use 7200rpm laptop drives btw. but a desktop one is still going to be a bit faster. that and you can pile in more drives if you get into more video editing.
 
Originally posted by: randomlinh
G5, hands down. the new mac minis use 7200rpm laptop drives btw. but a desktop one is still going to be a bit faster. that and you can pile in more drives if you get into more video editing.
Click to expand...

Actually they use 5,400 rpm drives.
 
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