dual 1.8G or 2G?

[digisam]

Hi, i am very close to getting a G5, a welcome upgrade from my trusty 800 G4 eMac.

after doing some research (perhaps too much) i have almost decided that the dual 2 wont give me that much performce over a dual 1.8 compared with the cost

various tests on reviews read on the web say that the dual 2 was only slightly faster than the 1.8

so the specs i am debating over are:

dual 1.8, with 512mb install by apple and another 2x256mb from another source (filling all four of the slots), also with the Radeon 9600 128 graphics card rather than the default geforce 64mb

if i went dual 2g, it would be with the same ram 1g (i would love more ram but its such a big cost to start i am specing my base system which i will then upgrade in stages) and the same graphics.

my main use for the mac is creative work, and i want a G5 mainly for video (i want to be able to use the real time effects instead of reading about them (after seeing the NAB demo of FCP on the apple website, any one know what sort of spec that machine used was?))

to be honest my G4 emac is fine with print and web work, but i want more power for video and the odd game (waiting patiently for sims2)

i know with the dual 2 you get faster bus type things etc but in the tests it didnt have that much power compared to a processor .2 slower (with added ram).

i am very interested to hear what peoples experiences are, going to the apple store and trying them out would help but i need to "work" on it to decide if there is much of a difference.

what were your first thoughts when you went from a G4 to G5? what can i expect? i am expecting a lot (fastest computer in the world and all that hype)

bearing in mind that i am upgrading from an emac i also need a monitor and pretty sold on getting a formac 19 inch platinum as it seems great value for money, there are cheaper lcd screens, but the formac seems to be the best and comes high in the macuser labs test. but any other monitor suggestons are welcome.

initialy my base system was a single 1.8 and in my head i keep specing my dream machine (best graphics, tons of ram, storage etc) and the price keep creeping up, so then i wanted a dual 1.8 then then a dual 2g and anything below a dual 2 was too slow, but thinking about it the 1.8 seems more than sufficiant and coming from a G4 i will see a more than significant difference in speed.

sorry if it all sounds a bit of a ramble, but there are so many specs, prices and options of where to buy (was thinking about ebay but thought twice as i get a discount from apple through work)

thanks

 

[inflexion]

tbh i know where you coming from and its worse coming from an x86 background like me

but the way i see it it this.
Fastest processor as you can afford and forget all the extras from apple as you can get the cheaper elsewhere and anyone can install a new GFX card, HDD or RAM so thats the way that id do it personally.

From your post it seams like you have decided on a dual2 but are tryinyg to justify it youself

 

[digisam]

well im more decided on the 1.8, the jump in price for a 2 is too great as i have to also get a screen

such a dilema

 

[ibmac'n]

Last May, I purchased a G5 1.8 dual with 1.5 GB.(older version) I too, tossed around the pros and cons that you mentioned. My disadvantage was that I was new to the mac and OS. I can tell you that the 1.8 does everything I hoped it would do. I shoot a lot of video, add tons of transitions and special effects, burn a lot of DVD's and the 1.8 handles it all well. I also use Garage Band quite a bit, stacking multiple tracks on top of each other with just a little "red glow" on the playhead. The little problems that I encounter are more likely to be user related and not the systems fault.
I'm not suggesting that bigger is not better (in this case that is) however, unless your a professional that makes his(her) living with your system, I'm confident that the 1.8 can handle all that you throw at it and then some.
Either way you choose though, you win Big Time!
Good luck.

 

[James]

I agree with the last fellow, unless this is your living your talking about go with the 1.8. A 1.8 dual with a gig of ram will give you great service, and if needed it can be upgraded some more. If it is your living, then go with a top of the line 2.5 system even though it is quite a bit more, it would be an investment in your future.