iMac G5 Processor Speeds

[walangij]

I am interested in purchasing an iMac G5 for use in some prosumer video editing.
I find that the iMac is the desktop of choice because I would not need to buy another monitor unlike for the PowerMac G5, and for my means, I believe the iMac would be sufficient. I have time to wait for any upgrades too. I will not need the iMac until July-August.

One thing I am concerned about is the different Ghz speeds in the 17" model. Does the .2 Ghz difference really make a huge difference? I don't think that it does, but I am unsure. The $200 difference is money that could be used elsewheres, but the superdrive is tempting as well. With the iMac I would purchase only 256mb RAM from Apple, then purchase and install 2GB RAM from a 3rd party source. I think that this would be sufficient for the level of video-editing I will do with Final Cut Pro and Motion. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[The Return of the 'nut]

the way i usually look at things like this is get the most of what cant be upgraded with what money you have. so, if you can afford the faster model now and sacrifice a few things for now that can be upgraded later go for the faster one.

however, apple makes its money and margins from the higher end models on each product line. there's a reason for that, they arent as good buys. the difference in speed wont be too great, whether its worth the extra money is your decision, it might eek a few more months of realistic life out of the machine.

[BlueRabbit]

For me, iMovie runs fine on a 1 GHz PB, 256 megs of RAM. Of course, Final Cut Pro and Motion will want more power, but 1.6 GHz should be plenty (for the time being, of course). However, I think you'll eventually find the Superdrive to be useful if you want to burn a DVD, so that might make the higher end model more worth it for you. :\

[Powerdoc]

the . 2 ghz difference with all the others specs identical (same bus, same memory, same HD, same video card) will give you a typical 10 % performance increase.

Personally, I don't see any experience user difference under 30 % of performance. You have to benchmark both computer the 1,6 and 1,8 to notice any differences.

My only suggestion is to buy more RAM

[IslandHopper]

You'd also get a (slightly) faster FSB...
For a short movie, you'd never notice it ... but if you are often rendering a one-hour DVD, then you might save yourself several minutes each time with the faster CPU.

[bastard]

yea, dont waste your $200, even the 1.6ghz imac will be more than sufficient for what you want to do if you plan on the 2g ram upgrade... at school we used REALLY crappy macs for video and it was fine...