Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Musings

The June 2004 Power Mac G5 Value Equation

Dan Knight - 2004.06.09 - Tip Jar

Apple introduced the Power Mac G5 almost a year ago, on June 23, 2003. It was a breakthrough in many ways - from its aluminum exterior to its whisper quiet cooling system to its faster-than-any-G4 CPU.

Today Apple upped the ante by releasing a second generation of Power Mac G5 models. On the outside, they look like last year's models, but Apple has made some improvements inside the box.

The first improvement is in speed. The fastest G5 now runs at 2.5 GHz, 25% faster than last year's top-end model, and the slowest G5 now sports a pair of 1.8 GHz CPUs, a big step up from a single 1.6 GHz G5.

Video is slightly improved, with the nVidia GeForce FX5200 Ultra replacing the plain old 5200 on the low end and the ATI Radeon 9600 XT replacing the 9600 Pro on the top end.

The SuperDrive, standard on all models, is now an 8x device, twice as fast as the 4x drive on last year's models.

The New Entry Level

Last June Apple announced the 1.6 GHz single CPU G5 at US$1,999; today they unveiled a dual 1.8 GHz model at the same price. Considering that a pair of CPUs can provide up to twice the power of a single CPU, depending on the task, gaining 12% more clock speed and a second CPU makes the new entry level Power Mac G5 a real value.

As with the 2003 models, the entry-level 2004 model is less feature laden than its faster siblings. Like the 1.6 GHz G5, the new dual 1.8 GHz model has old fashioned 64-bit PCI slots (vs. PCI-X in the faster G5s) and a 4 GB RAM ceiling (vs. 8 GB in the faster models).

Considering how much is built into the G5, it's hard to imagine too many things you'd want to put in a PCI or PCI-X slot, so practically speaking it won't matter much (if at all) to people buying the low-end G5.

Power Macintosh G5

The same goes for RAM. Anyone who needs more than 4 GB of RAM (which is the most a single OS X program can access, although the OS itself can work with more) are unlikely to purchase the entry-level model.

Last week the G5/1.6 GHz was selling for US$1,799. With between 12% and 125% more horsepower (depending on how well the second CPU is supported in a specific application), the new dual 1.8 GHz G5 is easily worth the 10% difference in price. I suspect Apple will have to reduce old inventory to the point where the G5/1.6 sells for $1,599 to clear out inventory.

Last week the G5/1.8 GHz dual was selling for US$2,499. Because of the PCI-X slots and higher RAM ceiling, it should still be worth a small premium over the new entry-level model. I'd guess Apple could continue to sell the 2003 model for around US$2,099 until inventory is depleted.

The Midrange G5

What had been the top Mac speed is now the speed of the midrange model. The only significant difference between the 2003 and 2004 models is a slightly improved video card and use of 8x SuperDrives.

You can now get the performance that would have cost you US$2,999 last week for just US$2,499, a 17% price drop. With essentially the same performance and a twice-as-fast SuperDrive, it's a great value, and I suspect Apple will have to clear out dual 2.0 GHz 2003 models at no more than US$2,399 due to their 4x SuperDrive.

In comparison to last week's midrange G5, which sold for the same US$2,499, you now get slightly better video, double the DVD burning speed, and about 11% more horsepower. This again points to a value of about US$2,099 for the old dual 1.8 GHz G5.

The Top End: 2.5 GHz

Twenty-five percent faster. The same price.

That's really all Apple needs to say. One processor-bound and memory-bound tasks, the dual 2.5 GHz G5 should finish in about 80% as much time as the 2.0 GHz models take. That easily makes the top-end G5 worth the 20% price premium compared with the new 2.0 GHz model - and makes it the best G5 value ever in terms of GHz per dollar spent.

By comparison, the 2003 top-end G5 should sell for no more than US$2,399 - and maybe even $100 less due to the slower SuperDrive.

Overall G5 Value

The entry-level model offers 1.8 GHz for US$1,999, or $1,110/GHz. The midrange model runs at 2.0 GHz and retails for US$2,499, or $1,2549/GHz. And the top-end 2.5 GHz model sells for US$2,999, which comes to $1,199/GHz.

Where the top-end model definitely offered the best value in terms of horsepower per dollar spent last year, this year it's the entry-level G5 that holds the value crown. If you don't need PCI-X or more than 4 GB of RAM and don't need ultimate speed, the dual 1.8 GHz model is the G5 value champion.

The top-end 2.5 GHz model comes in second, and the dual 2.0 GHz model trails by about $50/GHz in comparison. To give it equal value to, the midrange model should retail for US$2,399, which would give all three models comparable value.

The 2003 Models

Last week Apple had refurbished 1.6 GHz G5s for US$1,399, dual 1.8 GHz machines at US$1,999, and 2.0 GHz models available at US$2,399. Today Apple offers new 2.0 GHz 2003 models for US$2,499, the same price as the new 2.0 GHz model - huh?

From a value standpoint, the old G5/2.0 should sell for at least $100 less than the new model simply because of the slower SuperDrive. Put those machines at $2,399, Apple, if you want to clear them out instead of selling new models.

Although Apple doesn't list any refurbished G5s on their site today, I can't see a refurb G5/2.0 selling for more than US$2,099. Refurbished dual 1.8 GHz models need to sell for US$1,799 or less to be a real alternative to the new entry-level model. And the old single CPU 1.6 GHz G5? I think Apple can continue to sell them at US$1,399, only $150 more than the remaining inventory of 1.25 GHz single CPU G4 systems still on the market.

We'll take a closer look at pricing on the 2003 models when we update Best Power Mac G5 Deals, New and Refurb on Friday. LEM /p>

Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Mac Musings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.