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1.5 ghz core solo mini is the "base" mac, starting at 100
G5s suffer at the hands of intel, a dual 2.7 has the same "overall" score as a MBP 2.4
http://www.macworld.com/2007/11/firstloo.../index.php
kinda confirms my decision to get iMacs to replace my G5 dual 2.0 towers - although i dont really need to see this test, sitting in front of my iMacs you can see and feel the difference immediately
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This really reveals the premium price put on the Mac Pros in my opinion.
What is it that we are paying for in a Mac pro ? Expandability?
3P
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I'm going to check that out.
I'd no more buy a mini with 1.5 Core Solo than I'd buy a G5 1.6 GHz single processor.
In fact, I'm glad I skipped the G5 and am holding out for Intel.
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Too few of the Speedmark tests take advantage of more than two processing cores. Cinema4D might, Compressor probably does, but I doubt any of the other tests do.
So yeah: you're paying for the privilege of chowing through big After Effects renders, four cores blazing.
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yeah, you can see how after effects benefits from the multi cores
http://www.barefeats.com/imacal4.html
but for 99% of users, its not needed
i run my imacs pretty hard, quark, ID, PS, Ai, Acrobat, word, excel, entourage, safari (nultiple windows, multiple tabs) and ichat are always open and running -- iphoto, itunes, aol radio, fetch, MS remote desktop, etc are also usually running
imac takes it in stride -- AL 2.4 w/4 gigs ram (both 20 and 24)
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Handbrake also takes advantage of multiple cores.
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I finally recognized that I had more computing power than I needed with I suped up a quad G5. I just sold it and am using a 24" imac (c2d 2.16ghz) instead. I miss the effortless speed of the G5, but this imac does everything I need and I saved over $1500.
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Seems pretty much in line with what I have found. The 24" 2.33 C2D can outrun my dual 2.5 G5 tower when crunching Photoshop tasks. The iMacs still fall behind on network performance and expandability.
The iMacs are a killer value, performance per dollar.