!Restored: Time for a new Mac?

[Rick Thompson]

I have been reading the new speed results in Macworld regarding the newest Mac Pro desktops, and I am wondering if it is that time again. I am still on a G5 (2Ghz). It seems the new ones overall score are from 294 (basic) to 327 (all the way). My G5 is rated overall at 166, so that says it is time. However, with AC, I just don't know if the "overall" has much meaning or not. My guess is running AC would not see that percent increase.

My main areas I could benefit would be opening files, updating externally linked drawings, publishing etc. Renderings are not as important, but of course, they count too. I might open and close quite a few files each day, so updating is where I tend to get impatient.

And, then there is the G5 and the intel factor. I think there is not that much difference there, if anyone knows, i would appreciate hearing your experience. I think processor speed is the biggest factor (?).

Assuming (haha) GS is busy making AC multi-processor enabled, then the 8 core would be worth the extra few hundred.

Oh well, any feedback would be appreciated.


thanks

[Dwight]

And let me tell you it is fast with the Artlantis Studio 2.0

[aahatimo]

now we are talking, the mbp! no changes on the exterior, but much more powerful inside.
they have a speed comparison chart w/ current mbp and also the older ppc 1.67 g4. wonder what this one would do w/ archicad. also available w/ nvidia geforce 8600m 512mb graphics card and 15 or 17" led screen!
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/performance.html

[Anonymous]

Still shopping around you can configure a machine at Apple web site with the following:

• Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
• 8GB (4 x 2GB) (800MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
• 320GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
• NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Two dual-link DVI)
• One 16x SuperDrive
• Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
• Mac OS X - U.S. English
• Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (includes Time Machine, Quick Look, Spaces, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat
• iLife 08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand)



At the Apple web site it looks like this:
Mac Pro
Quantity: 1
Item Price: $4,499.00


or find this at Intraserve:
http://www.intraservesystems.com/intraserve/cat_detail_show.asp?pid=21&catid=22


Special Price - USD$ 3299


Yes, Mac ram is expensive, well worth shopping around.

[Anonymous]

Yeah Dwight, you always gots to one up me hunh?

Here I am all dumb and happy with my brandy new Mac Pro and 10 gigabulous RAM doohickeys, only to find to find that you are all sleek and smooth with your four matching pairs. Doesn't that make four of a kind and a full house?

As soon as I can come up with the scratch I guess I'll have to play keep up with the Atkinsons. Especially in light of Karl's insights. In the mean time I am going broke buying new copies of operating systems.

I too went with the OWC. My old fave Crucial was lots more cash and I wasn't clear if they were even as good.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Burginger wrote:
or find this at Intraserve:

I believe that with OWC RAM, the intraserve price won't match Apple store with the 5% small business / creative professional discount...including the ability to return to Apple if there are problems in the first 14 days...?

Karl

[Dwight]

Matthew wrote:

Here I am all dumb and happy with my brandy new Mac Pro and 10 gigabulous RAM

haha - new word "gigabulous" - another way to say a woman has great, but big hair.

I"m having a near flawless experience so far, especially with the new Artlantis that seems to be able to spelunk the depths of this 16Gb RAM.

This machine is really for the new Photoshop that can address lots of ram...

[Dwight]

Karl wrote:

Burginger wrote:
or find this at Intraserve:

I believe that with OWC RAM, the intraserve price won't match Apple store with the 5% small business / creative professional discount...including the ability to return to Apple if there are problems in the first 14 days...?

Karl

I'm with you on that - and forget "Configure To Order" with the Intraservice guys.

[Anonymous]

Karl, looking at it your way = $3,278 with discount and OWC ram, yes beats intraserve by $20 - of course you have to install the ram yourself or call Dwight's Granny who would show up with a phillips screwdriver and spoon.

Where is the 5% discount on the Apple site?

Edit: Let's not forget the OWC ram has a $2.95 shipping charge, and the huge carbon footprint caused by a second UPS delivery.

[Dwight]

And the reason she has the spoon is so she can continue to shovel her granny gruel with one hand while she puts the ram in with the other, before falling asleep face down in the bowl.

The screwdriver is for installing extra hard drives whose brackets have the coolest wide head tiny phillips screws. This takes both hands.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Burginger wrote:
Karl, looking at it your way = $3,278 with discount and OWC ram, yes beats intraserve by $20 - of course you have to install the ram yourself or call Dwight's Granny who would show up with a phillips screwdriver and spoon.

The Mac Pro is a thing of beauty, as seen in the photos on the Apple web site. No tools are needed for memory. A convenient latch in the back releases the side panel. Memory cards slip out, memory pops in, cards slip back in. Even the fumbling idiot in the video instructions at the OWC site could do it. (I say fumbling idiot because he did nearly everything against standard procedure for such things - touching the bottom of the circuit boards, pushing the memory in in mid-air, instead of on a clean surface, etc.)

Adding additional disk drives is also an easy, beautiful thing. When the latch is up, the four drive bays are unlocked. Any one slides out, and the screws with rubber vibration insulators are in the carrier. No wires or cables at all. Just screw the carrier onto your new SATA drive, and push it in.

Machine is quiet running due to numerous fans channeling air intelligently throughout the case.

Where is the 5% discount on the Apple site?

For some reason, not on the site. Order via the 800 number and ask for it. 😉

Karl