imac 2.4ghz, 2.8ghz and CS3

rahulkohli · Oct 24, 2007

Hi, i'm trying to source an imac for use with CS3 design studio. the most design hungry program i'm going to use is photoshop and illustrator.

now I know that the minimums for CS3 are....

"PowerPC G4 or G5 or multicore Intel processor
Mac OS X v.10.4.8, Java Runtime Environment 1.5 required for Adobe Version Cue CS3 Server
1GB of RAM
5.3GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation)
1,024x768 monitor resolution with 16-bit video card
DVD-ROM drive"

....which the imac is much better than, so need for a mac pro. But I want to future proof my mac's for at least a few years. Is it worth getting a better processor.

I will be getting 2gig of ram on whatever machine I get.

Peakoverload · Oct 24, 2007

I run CS3 on the 'old' iMac, the one before the new one just released, which I think (I'm not in front of it at the moment), has a 2.33ghz CPU and I have 2GB of RAM and CS3 fly's on that.

If you have the money then, sure, get the 2.8ghz as it certainly can't hurt but 2.4ghz with 2GB of RAM is absolutely fine IMHO.

rahulkohli · Oct 24, 2007

Peakoverload said:
I run CS3 on the 'old' iMac, the one before the new one just released, which I think (I'm not in front of it at the moment), has a 2.33ghz CPU and I have 2GB of RAM and CS3 fly's on that.

If you have the money then, sure, get the 2.8ghz as it certainly can't hurt but 2.4ghz with 2GB of RAM is absolutely fine IMHO.

thanks.

any other opinions guys. especially about future proofing, and the graphics cards on the imac.

mac57 · Oct 24, 2007

I think that "future proofing" is an overblown idea. Essentially, get a Mac that meets your needs today. None of us can predict the future and so we cannot predict what the needs of future software will be. I know that this is obvious but it bears saying.

Now, if you really need to be "future proof" the Mac lineup is such that the Mac Pro is the only Mac you should consider. It is the only one where you can upgrade significant parts of the machine - the graphics card, the memory (can do this part on other Macs of course), the CPU, the disks, etc.

If upgradability is key for you, go for the Mac Pro. Else, go for the best machine that meets your needs of the day. Perhaps overshoot a little and get the best iMac you can afford, so that you have a machine that runs faster than you need today. There is a modicum of future proofness there.

rahulkohli · Oct 24, 2007

mac57 said:
I think that "future proofing" is an overblown idea. Essentially, get a Mac that meets your needs today. None of us can predict the future and so we cannot predict what the needs of future software will be. I know that this is obvious but it bears saying.

Now, if you really need to be "future proof" the Mac lineup is such that the Mac Pro is the only Mac you should consider. It is the only one where you can upgrade significant parts of the machine - the graphics card, the memory (can do this part on other Macs of course), the CPU, the disks, etc.

If upgradability is key for you, go for the Mac Pro. Else, go for the best machine that meets your needs of the day. Perhaps overshoot a little and get the best iMac you can afford, so that you have a machine that runs faster than you need today. There is a modicum of future proofness there.

essentially that's what I have always done when buying a computer for myself but becuase i'm buying for a company I need to be tight on price, future proofing, etc.

I'll prob just get a 2.4ghz one becuase it will run CS3 and the price is right.

PS: Is a 2Ghz power pc G5 got 2x2ghz cores or 2 x 1ghz cores. We have some in our office and no one knows what they are. Just for comparison purposes. We currently run CS2 and want to compare.

Also will CS2 run natively on the 2.4ghz imac or through rosetta. If anyone has run it through rosetta, can they say how much slower it is?

mac57 · Oct 24, 2007

Certainly the later 2 GHz PowerMacs have 2 * 2 GHz cores. I am not sure if Apple might have once released a single core 2 GHz PowerMac - can anyone who is "longer in the tooth" with Apple than I am comment?

However, I can guarantee that it does NOT have 2 * 1 GHz cores.

BTW, a G5 GHz is pretty much 1:1 with a Core2Duo GHz, so your 2 GHz G5 should be roughly equivalent to a 2 GHz Core2Duo.

Peakoverload · Oct 24, 2007

rahulkohli said:
Also will CS2 run natively on the 2.4ghz imac or through rosetta. If anyone has run it through rosetta, can they say how much slower it is?

CS2 runs under rosetta on an Intel Mac. Now some people say that they found it to be pretty slow on their Macs, however when I had CS2 I found it fast enough for most things. CS3 is faster on an Intel Mac without any doubt but CS2 wasnt a slouch for me at least.

rahulkohli · Oct 25, 2007

ok thanks for all the help guys. essentially I can get away with buying a 2.4ghz or 2.8ghz, it doesnt matter really. the program will work fine.