Power Mac G5 Question

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Hey ok well guys I am thinking of joining the Mac Family with a Power Mac G5 The Dual 2GHz G5. That can be found at this link..
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...v092pMhxrxo/0.SLID?nclm=PowerMac&mco=A48F23B6

OK well I have a couple questions about the specs before I buy it,

What are the adavantages of this 1GHz frontside bus per processor, what does it help with.

1MB L2 cache per core, What does this mean and how does it help in performance?

512MB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-4200) Why is this RAM written differently than the RAM of most other PC's. Why do they include the Speed (533 MHz)? and what does the DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-4200) mean?

160GB Serial ATA hard drive, what is the difference between ATA hard drive than a normal one?

16x SuperDrive (double-layer) - ok i know that this is a dvd drive does this only have one cd/dvd slot or two of them?

NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE with 128MB GDDR SDRAM - is this a good video card how does it compare to the video card in the G5 the ATI Radeon X600 XT with 128MB DDR video memory

Ok as you can see i have alot of question and want to know more about computer and their parts does anyone have any good sites that can help me to learn more.
 
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tk26 said:
Hey ok well guys I am thinking of joining the Mac Family with a Power Mac G5 The Dual 2GHz G5. That can be found at this link..
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...v092pMhxrxo/0.SLID?nclm=PowerMac&mco=A48F23B6

OK well I have a couple questions about the specs before I buy it,

What are the adavantages of this 1GHz frontside bus per processor, what does it help with.
This is the "freeway" between the processor and all the other logic on the motherboard. The faster a Frontside Buss, the less time the processor has to sit around waiting for the rest of the machine. A fast FSB means it can take advantage of fast memory.
1MB L2 cache per core, What does this mean and how does it help in performance?

The cache holds data and instructions to allow the processors to keep working while waiting for the rest of the machine torespond. The more L2 cache the better. These things you can't change, they are built into the design.
512MB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-4200) Why is this RAM written differently than the RAM of most other PC's. Why do they include the Speed (533 MHz)? and what does the DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-4200) mean?
You're gonna want more RAM than that in order to perform adequately. Buy the machine from Apple with the minimum RAM and order more third party, from a reputable dealer who guarantees compatibility with your model Mac. The speed (533 MHz) is the operating speed of the RAM, which is a multiple of the memory buss speed (which in turn is a division of the FSB speed) DDR-2 RAM describes the type of memoryh chips and their electonic organization; it is specific, you cannot subsitute DDR or any other type. (PC2-) 4200 is a number that approximates the memory bandwidth: 533 MHz x 8 = 4200 MB per second (and because the G5 uses a Dual Channel architecture, the theoretical memory bandwidth is 8.5 Gb/sec)

160GB Serial ATA hard drive, what is the difference between ATA hard drive than a normal one?
All modern hard drives are ATA -- there are two different interface standards, Parallel ATA (also called PATA, Ultra ATA, EIDE) is the older type in G4's and earlier. Serial ATA (SATA) is the type in G5 machines, and the new intel Macs. Once again, one cannot substitute for the other.

16x SuperDrive (double-layer) - ok i know that this is a dvd drive does this only have one cd/dvd slot or two of them?
This is a single drive with one tray. It can read and write to CDs and DVDs.

Ok as you can see i have alot of question and want to know more about computer and their parts does anyone have any good sites that can help me to learn more.

Searching in the forums is good, also there is a bunch of stuff at Apple, and reviews in computer magazines on the newstand and online.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com
 
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Im confused over Intel and G5 processors

Hello
just wondering if anyone can shed some light on the advantages of both the processors. i just have a few questions

* First of all with the G5, they are now fitted with 2.5GHz dual core processors, that if doubled up would become a 2.5GHz quad core. does this mean that the processor speeds would be 5GHz and 10GHz respectively?

*What is the go with the 2.7GHz chip? i dont understand why on the apple site they talk about 2.5, then jump to 2.7 without an explanation.Im stumped about this one.
(see power mac G5 on the apple web site)

* It is my understanding that 64 bit processing is again another way to increase the speed of processing. if this is correct, why isnt all new technology (including the new intel chips) incorperating 64 bit processing. it seems like the users of 64 bit (Powermac G5) are going to be isolated with incompatiable software, where the intel chips are not using 64 bit technology.

* It seems to me like the powermac G5 would have much more possibilities than the new intels, but why are they recieving all the hype? is it just because it is a more affordably pc? it is a dual core with 1.83 or 2.0GHz processors (3.66 and 4.0) and only the option to upgrade to 2GB of ram. the G5 features 64 bit processing, up to 8GB of Ram and 10GHz of processing power. if it is a price driven argument i can understand, but so far the penny has not dropped. sorry if i am way off, but it has not been very clear about the differences.

thankyou
funklewis
 
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Hey funkylewis im also wondering the same thing because when you look at the specs of the imac G5 with intel processor (20") and the PowerMac G5 (Dual 2GHz) they are quite similar. They only difference is that the iMac comes with the screen and is cheaper when compared to PowerMac. The only difference that I can see is that the PowerMac is more upradable and expandable. For the price the imac seems like a better deal but I dont know if im sold on the screen and the computer components being in the same package VS the tower which im used to.

I have wondered about problems with the imac because if something happens to the screen it affects your computer also where as the PowerMac is a Tower, so the screen and computer are seperate. I dont know if this is a factor but I have always wondered about fixing problems that might arise since i am used the a tower like the PowerMac and have no experiance with computer like the iMac.
 
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funkylewis said:
Hello * First of all with the G5, they are now fitted with 2.5GHz dual core processors, that if doubled up would become a 2.5GHz quad core. does this mean that the processor speeds would be 5GHz and 10GHz respectively?

No. Each core runs at 2.5Ghz independently, you don't add the numbers together. The machine has 4 2.5Ghz processors running.

funkylewis said:
* It seems to me like the powermac G5 would have much more possibilities than the new intels, but why are they recieving all the hype? is it just because it is a more affordably pc? it is a dual core with 1.83 or 2.0GHz processors (3.66 and 4.0) and only the option to upgrade to 2GB of ram. the G5 features 64 bit processing, up to 8GB of Ram and 10GHz of processing power. if it is a price driven argument i can understand, but so far the penny has not dropped. sorry if i am way off, but it has not been very clear about the differences.

As explained above, you don't add the numbers together, the processors work independently.

The G5 is a fine chip. Unfortunately due to the chip manufacturing process, they run hot. Hot enough that Apple can not put them in a laptop (or so they claim) The fact that the G5 is a 64 bit chip is a huge bonus for it, Intel has 64 bit chips out and more on the way, I would expect a 64 bit Intel chip in future Intel Macs. Apple moved to Intel because IBM (the G5 chip maker that Apple was using) was not dedicated to the desktop market and their roadmap for the G5 did not meet what Steve wanted. Intel IS dedicated to the desktop market and has a very aggressive roadmap, or so Apple tells us.
 

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