Forums | MacLife

skamen · 2003-01-23 7:21 pm

I'm working on convincing my parents to buy me a new PowerMac for school (educational purposes only , I swear!) . I'm not sure how much I will be able to get out of them but I should be able to get a lowish end PowerMac. I'm just wondering if there is going to be an update anytime soon? Even if they don't do a big update won't they at least add FireWire 800 and Airport Extreme to them somewhat soon? I'm also looking at the Dual 867 w/ free RAM and Cannon Printer from Outpost.com because they offer free shipping. Does anybody know of any better deals than this? I'm upgrading from a 300mhz iBook so this should be a nice jump in performance for me.

-Scott

Nefarious · 2003-01-23 8:54 pm

Unless you're a video fanatic, I have read, the Firewire 800 will be a benefit but should not be the primary factor in choosing a certain Mac model.

I have been looking at the low-end education model and it sure looks like that is the best value. Although a new Tower update is coming soon... bah -- I am getting tired of waiting. You can get a new Tower now. For a 17 inch iMac on the other hand, I'd wait for the price to drop.

DBvader · 2003-01-24 1:30 am

i have a dual 867, and without rebates, i got it for 1350 after ADC

skamen · 2003-01-24 6:13 am

My parents are College Professors so I do get an education discount. The deal for the dual 867 isn't nearly as good on education as it is on ADC. I can get the single 867 for 12 something though. Should I go for the dual processor or the single processor? From what I've used the dual processor is quite a bit faster with the new archtiecture and obviously two processors. I wouldn't buy the dual from Apple because even with the education discount by the time I add in tax it's about the same or more as what I would spend at Outpost with out the freebies.

-Scott

Tetrachloride · 2003-01-24 5:20 pm

It must be asked (repeatedly sometimes) what use are you buying the Mac for ? Number-crunching / video / photoshop ? Then get the dual. If not, get the single CPU and save some bucks.

christophillis · 2003-01-25 7:20 pm

You know, if you are going to play games the duel will help. A friend got a duel over a single and in today's games (some of which are multithreded) It will really help. Even if they are not, OS X will assign background taskes to one and the game to another so again the preformance will be better overall get the duel, if you dont you will wish you did. It is worth the extra $$$.

BuD-TheDude · 2003-01-25 11:20 pm

I would say go with the Dual. Though lots of apps don't use both, the second one won't be sitting there idle, it will be doing other tasks, freeing up the other one. I think its a huge benifit, especially with those apps that are multithreaded. I am reasonably sure Doom III will be smile You will need all the speed you have for that, if you are going to give it a shot at all.

oolatec · 2003-01-29 4:01 am

Well I am sure you and your parents will be pleased with the new PowerMacs that were just announced... Price drops across the board and feature updates as well... the entry level PowerMac is only a single 1Ghz chip though. I would go for the dual 1.25Ghz PowerMac if I were you... that's the sweet spot right there... with a Radeon 9700 Pro as a build-to-order option (when it becomes available). smile

Rook · 2003-01-29 11:04 am

For games you will not benefit much from multiprocessors at this time and probably not in the future since very few games are multi-threaded, and most that are, are just for multiplayer. The problem is, that except for high-end work stations, PC's don't have a need for multiple processors since their clock speeds are so high to begin with, so when the games are originally written they generally don't include any multi-threading. According to the good folks at Westlake, adding multi-threading to a game that was not originally written that way is not a viable option since it would require, pretty much, a full re-write from scratch.

Having said that, you would still probably be better off with a dual processor since OSX does support it and much of the productivity software does support it. Also if video editing is in your future you will benefit. However, with the exception of Q3 and a couple of other games, don't expect to see too much of a difference with a second processor.

Forums | MacLife

#1 2003-01-23 7:21 pm

PowerMac Purchase?

#2 2003-01-23 8:54 pm

Re: PowerMac Purchase?

#3 2003-01-24 1:30 am

Re: PowerMac Purchase?

#4 2003-01-24 6:13 am

Re: PowerMac Purchase?

#5 2003-01-24 5:20 pm

Re: PowerMac Purchase?

#6 2003-01-25 7:20 pm

Re: PowerMac Purchase?

#7 2003-01-25 11:20 pm

Re: PowerMac Purchase?

#8 2003-01-29 4:01 am

Re: PowerMac Purchase?

#9 2003-01-29 11:04 am

Re: PowerMac Purchase?

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