Imac G4 Vs Imac G5

I would really like to purchase an iMac, but I really dislike the G5 design. If I were to buy a G4 iMac with a 1GHz processor, 256 MB memory and 80 GB hardrive, do you think that there would be much difference???

The G5 (1.6 GHz model) has the same amount of memory and hardrive, but the processor is a little faster. Is there really that much difference in speed?

I know everyone says that I should purchase the G5 because it will last longer, but I just can't stand the design. Sorry Apple :cry: Plus I find the G4 iMac to be a piece of art, being the most beautiful computer I have ever seen...not to mention that I would also be purchasing the iGo desk.

What do you guys think? I have a PC with Pentium 4 processor (which is I believe a 2.0 GHz processor) and I still think its kinda slow..not to mention it is a Compaq lol.

Any help would be appreciated.

#217348

Shark, if you can goto an apple store and see the iMac G5 in person, I hated the thing when I first saw it. iLeno anyone? Then I saw one in the Apple store and fell in love, it is not as bad as it seems in pictures. Its really nice and well work the money, Just being a G5 alone should make you get it over the old imac, plus tiger will be more optimized for them than the older imac. If you want some pics of the new imac just let me know.

#217357

supposedly, the g5 processor is 4x faster than g4 processors. that should give you some kind of idea.

#217371

Originally posted by Timan@Sep 28 2004, 05:30 PM

Shark, if you can goto an apple store and see the iMac G5 in person, I hated the thing when I first saw it. iLeno anyone? Then I saw one in the Apple store and fell in love, it is not as bad as it seems in pictures. Its really nice and well work the money, Just being a G5 alone should make you get it over the old imac, plus tiger will be more optimized for them than the older imac. If you want some pics of the new imac just let me know.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Timan, I will have to go look at one at my apple store. What is iLeno?

#217383

iLeno is Timmeh's pet name for the iMac G5 (HUGE chin -> Jay Leno). You should see them spooning at night. It's so cute.

#217384

ok now this is going to sound really far fetched and if you all laugh at me, I will know why. I am not familar with computer programming, but would it be possible to purchase a G4 iMac and replace the processor with a G5? :woot:

#217396

Originally posted by nomis_nehc@Sep 28 2004, 02:31 PM

supposedly, the g5 processor is 4x faster than g4 processors. that should give you some kind of idea.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is just Apple marketing nonsense.

#217400

Originally posted by Shark026@Sep 28 2004, 07:47 PM

ok now this is going to sound really far fetched and if you all laugh at me, I will know why. I am not familar with computer programming, but would it be possible to purchase a G4 iMac and replace the processor with a G5?   :woot:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ok since I have not heard anything back on this....I am to assume that I am an idiot and should have never asked that question lol. Please feel free to bash me, for I am a fool and deserve to die.

But seriously...I am not looking to buy a mac to play games (never was into the whole computer game thing...a PS2 player), I would mainly use it for internet use, itunes, burning, school work, maybe photoshop etc... Do you think I would be fine then?

#217407

Originally posted by Sid@Sep 28 2004, 03:58 PM

That is just Apple marketing nonsense.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well it feels like it lol, my iBook is dead slow compared to this thing.

#217408

Originally posted by Shark026@Sep 28 2004, 04:33 PM

Ok since I have not heard anything back on this....I am to assume that I am an idiot and should have never asked that question lol. Please feel free to bash me, for I am a fool and deserve to die. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why in the hell do you have such low self-esteem? If someone flames you on this board for not knowing something just tell him/her/it to f*ck off. You have a right to ask questions.

And I don't think you can replace the G4 with a G5 processor because the G5 needs a different mainboard.

#217413

Originally posted by Sid@Sep 28 2004, 08:59 PM

Why in the hell do you have such low self-esteem? If someone flames you on this board for not knowing something just tell him/her/it to f*ck off. You have a right to ask questions.

And I don't think you can replace the G4 with a G5 processor because the G5 needs a different mainboard.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sid, I was only being sarcastic....I guess I should have worded that different lol. Thank you for responding.

#217415

Originally posted by Sid@Sep 28 2004, 08:58 PM

That is just Apple marketing nonsense.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Find me an Apple page/publication that states the G5 is four times faster than the G4..

Before anyone goes on about performance;

DO NOT BELIEVE/TAKE INTEREST IN THE XBENCH RESULTS. Why? Because it's a hunk of junk, believe real-world numbers. I think somewhere had comparisons (ie; video editing, photoshop filters), but I can't remember.

#217467

Originally posted by esXXI@Sep 29 2004, 12:35 AM

Find me an Apple page/publication that states the G5 is four times faster than the G4.. 

I think somewhere had comparisons (ie; video editing, photoshop filters), but I can't remember.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

iMac G5 benchmarks show 35% speed boost over G4

the dual screams in comparison for some applications(of course, for others it makes little dif.).

#217488

I my self think most of those benchmarks are crap, the imac g5 is blazing fast, opens photoshop instantly same with any other app, photoshop is responsive and imovie and final cut are usable. You can even open 15 apps and it still be very usable.

#217533

Originally posted by Shark026@Sep 28 2004, 12:47 PM

ok now this is going to sound really far fetched and if you all laugh at me, I will know why. I am not familar with computer programming, but would it be possible to purchase a G4 iMac and replace the processor with a G5?  :woot:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Motherboards are different and the G4 is a 32bit CPU while the G5 is a 64bit CPU.

#217603

if i were you, i would go for the imac g4. if the performance is reasonable. the design of both versions are very suitable for me, but i would like to use the cheapest possible computer that can still make me satisfied. 1 khz computer anyone for 10 bucks? anyone? i you got the money, get g5. don't , then g4.

i went online and they said that comparing from power mac g5 2.5 ghz to a emac 1.25 ghz they actually found out that there isn't much diffrence. only 0.02 second diffrence in loading safari for example, but if you see the benchmarks on video encoding for example, g5's whooping 3x faster compared to the benchmarks. imac g4 should satisfy you. i was compleatly satisfied on my borrowed imac g4 700 mhz on surfing and making microsoft office stuff. but man it's really irritating waiting for hours encoding videos and music.

#217778

Ok guys I went to my Apple store and played around with the G5. I will say that it looks much better in person then it does in the pictures on the apple website; however, I am still infatuated with the G4 design. I talked with a representative at the store and told him that I would not be using the mac for video editing, creating music or playing games. He told me that there would not be that much difference then between the two, but that the G5 would last longer than the G4.

I just don't know what to do. He said that either one is a great compuer, its just I would be taking a step back. I also have the dilema that I would have to purchase a G4 asap before they are discontinued. I was able to locate a few new ones that had a 1 GHz processor and 80GB hard drive. I guess I could always try to find one on ebay....but I find that it would be a risk buying a used computer.

Everyone says to purchase a G5 because it will last longer and then I have other people telling me that it would not really make a difference considering that I am using the computer for the basic use. Which ever one I do decide to purchase, I will be using it for the next 3 years. I will also be using my PC that I have had for about 2 years....which I plan on using for another 3 (I really don't plan on replacing my PC...I could give 2 ****s about it!!)

What would you guys do?

#217867

Get the G5.

I have a G4 1.25 Powerbook and the difference is very noticeable.

#217910

g4. man i can use a 700 mhz imac g4 perfectly fine on osx 10.3.

but, on the other hand i wanted just a bit better computer smoother etc. so imac g4 1.25 should be good enough. nearly twice of the computer i use.

1.6 is over twice the speed of that computer i use so i'ts very tempting. i use garageband and some video editing so i would go for the g5.

bottom line g4 for you

g5 for me to do some video editing, photoshop. muahahahaha

g4 for me on buisness uses like microsoft word, surfing internet etc.

but, if you have the money, better to go for the imac g5 just to be future safe like some really intensive new program that's really crucial. then uh oh, computer's to slow issue is going to make you regret.

i'm not sure if you give a damn about future-proff stuff like waiting for pci-express to settle down, or to wait for the whole BTX, ddr2 ram and 64 bit processing crap to settle. same situation as the imacs.

#218771

Alright all, I have made the decision to purchase a G4!!!! I know most of you will just think of me as being an idiot and taking a step back, but I can't help it...the G4 design just fasinates me! Plus, I figure it will last me about 2-3 years and then I am predicting that apple will come out with another model. And, I can always sell the G4 on ebay if worse comes to worse. Like I said earlier, I am not going to use garage band or use the iMac for video editing, I will just be surfing the web, using office and maybe a little photoshop.

#218850

Just to comment - I've tried out a G5 briefly, and would have to disagree with Timmie on the 'opens any application instantly' thing. Out of curiosity, I opened GarageBand, and though I didn't time it, it sure seemed to be taking well over twenty seconds to load.

#219089

Just to comment - I've tried out a G5 briefly, and would have to disagree with Timmie on the 'opens any application instantly' thing. Out of curiosity, I opened GarageBand, and though I didn't time it, it sure seemed to be taking well over twenty seconds to load.

Perhaps because GB is a very CPU and RAM intensive app, did you check what RAM the model had? If it had the default 256MB then I'm not surprised it took that long. But shoving in 512MB+ would quarter (or more) the load-time.

(And that's speaking from experience with my Mac)

#219423

Apple stores never have models with less than 512 RAM. They usually bundle them with even more, and I've seen an iMac G5 just last week with 784 RAM.

But, I too have decided to buy a new iMac G5. I'm waiting for January though, as to a) get the student discount as I already bought a computer for a friend (yeah, silly me) and, to see if there's any revision or enhancement in the iMac 'til then.

I tried them several times, played with them for hours at my local Apple store, and I gotta say - they're some real nice toys.

#219432

Apple stores never have models with less than 512 RAM. They usually bundle them with even more, and I've seen an iMac G5 just last week with 784 RAM.

But, I too have decided to buy a new iMac G5. I'm waiting for January though, as to a) get the student discount as I already bought a computer for a friend (yeah, silly me) and, to see if there's any revision or enhancement in the iMac 'til then.

I tried them several times, played with them for hours at my local Apple store, and I gotta say - they're some real nice toys.

I would have to disagree. I can open GarageBand in about 6-10 seconds, unless I'm opening a large project, and I've only got a 1GHz G4 and 640MB of RAM.

Oh well.. Regardless, the new iMacs are delicious. Can't wait to order mine..

#219444

Well, I don't think I'll ever open GarageBand other than out of curiosity, so I think that'll be fine with me. I will, however, work a lot with Photoshop, Office (not M$ - OpenOffice) and iTunes + Web Surfing. I do believe that 1.6 Ghz with at least 512 MB of RAM will be more than enough for me. If anyone thinks that it won't, let him or her come forth before I buy it.. lol

#219450