Im trying to decide between a Powermac G4 w/ dual 1.25ghz processors and one of the new G5 systems with a 64bit 800mhz FSB 1.6GHZ processor. Any mac users know which will give me better overall performance will be doing video editing and processing. Thanks in advance
Dual G4 1.25GHZ or G5 1.6GHZ Powermac ?
- Thread starter DreamInBlue
- Start date
Funny you would ask this question as it's the very question I have been pondering since last week. I am being left some $$$ and want a nice Mac for Video Editing and other work but only have a certain amount to spend. I asked my local Mac dealer and did some reading on a few sites and overall from what I can find out the G5 even in Single 1.6Ghz configuration will beat the Dual 1.25Ghz G4. The G5 is a so much better CPU than the G4 and I think that is why. It's not like the early P4's that were sometimes beat by the high end PIII's. The G5 is way faster per clock. I think I am going with the 1.6Ghz G5 if all works out. The Dual 1.25Ghz G4 is around the same price new as the G5 and the G5 will accept 4GB DDR Vs I think 2GB DDR in the G4 and for video editing with Final Cut the more ram the better. If $$$ were not an object, I would get the Dual G5 2.0Ghz but no way can I come up with that much $$$. I have my PC's for doing other stuff if I need it but love OSX, using it right now on my 500Mhz G4 with 1GB Ram and it's an amazing OS even with the old G4, very stable, in fact never a crash in the 5 months I have had it.
I will do some more research and if I find anything different will get back to you but for now it looks like the G5 1.6Ghz would be the better machine. Let me know if you find different!!!
I will do some more research and if I find anything different will get back to you but for now it looks like the G5 1.6Ghz would be the better machine. Let me know if you find different!!!
the new g5 is basically an IBM FX570 or something like that i cant even remember the model numbers but the older apple powerpc processors like g3/g4 were motorolla chips and needles to say IBM is much better at everything then them so the new g5s are definately kick ass ALSO mac os 10.3 is sweet and the best enviroment you could work in
Proccessing power the G4 will have a edge, I expect. Even though they are thought of as being slow, they are actually fairly powerfull proccessors.
Their problem is that due to the design of the memory managmenet stuff in the CPU they couldn't benifit from the faster RAM speeds that the Intel and AMD stuff benifits from.
For instance you will see NO performance increase when switching from regular RAM to DDR ram. They simply can't use the extra bandwidth. That's why they never got any faster then 1.25, it was pointless because you could never get memory bandwidith to keep up. Otherwise they could of gotten a lot faster. It's a fundamental flaw in their design.
It depends mostly on what your using it for. Personally I would prefer a G5 for most stuff. But the dual G4 is neck in neck, if it's cheaper I'd get the older PowerG4.
The Power970 wasn't realy designed to be a solo proccessor. It's a design that is specificly optmized for SMP. That was the design stategy.
To compete clock for clock vs Intel was nuts, but the x86 design sucks monkey balls at SMP performance. It doesn't scale very well. But the G5 does.
You see you get 2 cool proccessors that can do more work then a single hot proccessor. Plus IBM wanted them to be in more then just Macs, they designed them for 4/8/16/+ way proccessing. Plus 2 G5's use less energy and produce less heat then 1 AMD-64 or 1 Pentium 4 cpu.
Personally I prefer SMP machines more and more.
They aren't much faster at doing anything vs single proccessor machines, but I always have 3-4 big programs banging away nowadays, very rarely I have just one program running. And in that the SMP machines beat single proccessor machines easily.
But I like the PowerG5 for more reasons then that. To me it's a toss up between dual 1.25 G4 and one 1.6 G5.
Also check out Apple's "Specials" section. Right now you can get a "Refurbished" dual 1.8ghz PowerG5 just for 200 dollars more then a new single 1.6ghz Single CPU PowerG5. That would be worth it to me.
Their problem is that due to the design of the memory managmenet stuff in the CPU they couldn't benifit from the faster RAM speeds that the Intel and AMD stuff benifits from.
For instance you will see NO performance increase when switching from regular RAM to DDR ram. They simply can't use the extra bandwidth. That's why they never got any faster then 1.25, it was pointless because you could never get memory bandwidith to keep up. Otherwise they could of gotten a lot faster. It's a fundamental flaw in their design.
It depends mostly on what your using it for. Personally I would prefer a G5 for most stuff. But the dual G4 is neck in neck, if it's cheaper I'd get the older PowerG4.
The Power970 wasn't realy designed to be a solo proccessor. It's a design that is specificly optmized for SMP. That was the design stategy.
To compete clock for clock vs Intel was nuts, but the x86 design sucks monkey balls at SMP performance. It doesn't scale very well. But the G5 does.
You see you get 2 cool proccessors that can do more work then a single hot proccessor. Plus IBM wanted them to be in more then just Macs, they designed them for 4/8/16/+ way proccessing. Plus 2 G5's use less energy and produce less heat then 1 AMD-64 or 1 Pentium 4 cpu.
Personally I prefer SMP machines more and more.
They aren't much faster at doing anything vs single proccessor machines, but I always have 3-4 big programs banging away nowadays, very rarely I have just one program running. And in that the SMP machines beat single proccessor machines easily.
But I like the PowerG5 for more reasons then that. To me it's a toss up between dual 1.25 G4 and one 1.6 G5.
Also check out Apple's "Specials" section. Right now you can get a "Refurbished" dual 1.8ghz PowerG5 just for 200 dollars more then a new single 1.6ghz Single CPU PowerG5. That would be worth it to me.
Eug
Lifer
- Mar 11, 2000
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G5 > G4.
However, for general usage, a G4 dual 1.25 will be noticeably snappier than a single G5 1.6, because Apple has optimized its OS for dual pretty well. Also, compensating to the G4's bad bus speed is the fact that it has 2 MB L2 cache. For certain programs a G5 1.6 would be faster for sure, but I think I'd prefer the G4 1.25 for general OS speed. However, neither are particularly fast...
Personally, in your shoes I'd just wait. Apple will be announcing new machines in 4 weeks at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC, June 28). It's widely expected that the new low end G5 will be in the range of a single or dual G5 2.0.
Also, unlike on the PC side, GPU speed is becoming very important on Macs for video editing believe or not. Apple recently introduced the program Motion, which eats 3D graphics power for breakfast. See video here. It's also widely expected that Apple will release machines with the X800 Pro or XT at WWDC.
And even if you don't get an updated G5 970FX machine with X800, once the WWDC announcements come, the overstock old models will drop in price.
Oh, and BTW, it's likely that the new iMac G5 will appear at WWDC too, probably at around 1.8 GHz.
However, for general usage, a G4 dual 1.25 will be noticeably snappier than a single G5 1.6, because Apple has optimized its OS for dual pretty well. Also, compensating to the G4's bad bus speed is the fact that it has 2 MB L2 cache. For certain programs a G5 1.6 would be faster for sure, but I think I'd prefer the G4 1.25 for general OS speed. However, neither are particularly fast...
Personally, in your shoes I'd just wait. Apple will be announcing new machines in 4 weeks at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC, June 28). It's widely expected that the new low end G5 will be in the range of a single or dual G5 2.0.
Also, unlike on the PC side, GPU speed is becoming very important on Macs for video editing believe or not. Apple recently introduced the program Motion, which eats 3D graphics power for breakfast. See video here. It's also widely expected that Apple will release machines with the X800 Pro or XT at WWDC.
And even if you don't get an updated G5 970FX machine with X800, once the WWDC announcements come, the overstock old models will drop in price.
Oh, and BTW, it's likely that the new iMac G5 will appear at WWDC too, probably at around 1.8 GHz.
EUG, Thanks so much for all the info. As usuall you are up on your Mac Info. I myself probably won't be getting the $$$ for a month or so anyway. Will wait and see what happens. I want the best overall maching for my $$$ as it maybe be my only chance to get a nice Mac. I prefer OSX over Windows and want the best Mac I can afford.
Thanks again!! It would be easier for me if I was not also into Video Editing. Games are no problem as I have a pretty fast AMD system for that purpose.
Thanks again!! It would be easier for me if I was not also into Video Editing. Games are no problem as I have a pretty fast AMD system for that purpose.
Eug
Lifer
- Mar 11, 2000
- 24,055
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Yeah, normally I just say buy a computer when you need it, but considering how close WWDC is, if one can wait (and it seems you have to wait anyways) then it'd be foolish not to wait just one more month.
The one caveat is how long it will take after the announcements before the new updated G5 Power Macs actually ship. However, I think this would be a bigger worry with the top end model (dual 2.5-2.6 GHz?) than the low end model. I'm thinking the new low end G5 Power Mac ships the first week after the announcement.
Also, I do agree with n0cmonkey. Even if means waiting an extra month and doing the Kraft Dinner thing for a while
try to scrimp and save for a dual. Hopefully the new low end G5 Power Mac will be a dual, but I doubt it.
The one caveat is how long it will take after the announcements before the new updated G5 Power Macs actually ship. However, I think this would be a bigger worry with the top end model (dual 2.5-2.6 GHz?) than the low end model. I'm thinking the new low end G5 Power Mac ships the first week after the announcement.
Also, I do agree with n0cmonkey. Even if means waiting an extra month and doing the Kraft Dinner thing for a while
try to scrimp and save for a dual. Hopefully the new low end G5 Power Mac will be a dual, but I doubt it.After an update to the model lines I think they usually ship along these lines:
low end: immediately-1 week
midrange: 2-4 weeks
high end: 4-6 weeks
Not 100% though. I just want a 15" titanium powerbook.
low end: immediately-1 week
midrange: 2-4 weeks
high end: 4-6 weeks
Not 100% though. I just want a 15" titanium powerbook.
Originally posted by: Eug
Well, considering Titanium PowerBooks are now discontinued (last released in 2002), you can always buy mine when I get myself my G5 PowerBook Xmas present.
I know it's discontinued. A co-worker back in the day had one and I thought it was the most beautiful computer I had ever seen. The aluminum ones are nice, but...
Let me know. If I have the cash, I might.
Actually Eug, if I remember correctly, the TiBook wasn't discontinued until around Q4 2003. I know this because I purchased the last TiBook model (15.1/1GHz/512MB/60GB/SuperDrive) at the end of June that year; just 2 months or so before Apple released the 15" AlBook.
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