single vs dual G5

csonni · Jan 20th, 2005, 01:00 PM

I've noticed that there are very few who mention the G5 single processor tower. What can the dual processor do that the single can't do in everyday tasks that don't require huge amounts of processor power? I assume that there will someday be a 3rd party dual processor upgrade card available for the G5 single. Should a larger frontside bus a big deciding facotr as well in everyday tasks?

MacDoc · Jan 20th, 2005, 01:27 PM

Very unlikelly to see G5 upgrades.
Singles are good buys for those not wanting the heavy lifting ability of the dula but want bandwidthand quiet and video card upgrade capacity.
Email me your use I'll guide you.

speckledmind · Jan 20th, 2005, 01:33 PM

I will speak for my self on this issue, and say the following.
My friend and I, took a drive to a local Mac Store, and the friend being a nut for speed, tried it out first, it was a G5 1.25 Ghz Single processor, and here is what he comented to me, " this is not fast at all, your machine is much faster than this one ", then I had a go with it, and I came to the same conclusion as he did.
I work with Quark, Illustrator, Photoshop, DreamWeaver and so on, and i will tell you up front, that you can not beat the speed of a Dual processor.

Regards,

Denis

PS : As soon as they come out with a G5 Dual 3 Ghz, liquid cooled in some way, possibly with antifreeze and a 8 inch fan, that runs at 400 miles/hour, and tested it on the market for about 6 months, I am buying one.

Kosh · Jan 20th, 2005, 03:49 PM

csonni, I'd have to agree that it's very unlikely you'll see dual G5 upgrades for the single G5's. I believe the motherboards for the single were different from the dual in that they are missing the connector for the second CPU and probably the front-side bus. As for G5 upgrades (duals for duals and single for singles), it's hard to say at this point. Apple usually doesn't make it easy to upgrade.

UCGrafix, there is no G5 1.25Ghz Single processor. You must be talking about the G4.

speckledmind · Jan 20th, 2005, 06:04 PM

Hi Kosh,

It was a G5, not mistaken about that, as for the speed, whell it was last September, and it had something lower than 2 Ghz.

Regards,

Denis

used to be jwoodget · Jan 20th, 2005, 06:33 PM

The upgrade companies have been fairly innovative in finding solutions for machines that when they were first released where considered upgradable. However, the G5 class of machines really does look as if its dead-end in terms of cpu upgrading.

Back to the original question, the 1.8 GHz single should be faster than your dual G4 for most operations. However, if you want to run multiple apps with background processes, the dual will make a significant difference. The OS seems to make good use of the second processor when needed. The price differential does sting, but given that the ovrall G5 architecture is better tuned for high performance (SATA, busses, etc.), it seems to me that a dual G5 is a better investment for the future. That's the conclusion I came to in any case.... It's cheaper to upgrade the video card than have to buy a new Mac in two years.

csonni · Jan 27th, 2005, 05:36 PM

Any other thoughts on single vs dual? Photoshop is probably the most muscle I use on my machine. But with Tiger coming out, if the duals benefit the OS, then I would want to consider the dual to get the most bang for the buck. Also, do the earlier versions of the G5 single have unsoldered cpus compared to the new (soldered)?

applebook · Jan 27th, 2005, 06:00 PM

I disagree with the the idea that there won't be any G5 upgrades from Powerlogix, Sonnet, and Gigadesigns. If history is any indication, there will definitely be upgrades in a few yearrs. The market is definitely there. No one would have envisioned that a company would offer a dual 1.7GHz upgrade for the G4 Cube, but it's now been done.

Whether or not the old 1.8 G5 will be upgradeable to a dual G5 remains to be seen. I believe that it will. All G4 Towers with single buses and single slots have dual-core upgrades right now, and the G5 is moving more towards the dual-core area than ever before.