Power Mac on a budget

Commonman · Jan 16, 2008

I have noticed that pro-photgraphers tend to use Power Macs (with the tower) as oppossed to i-Macs. Is this just because they need the fastest processor, maximum RAM and hard drive space?

I want a pro set-up but don't want to blow the budget so I'm thinking about finding a used Power Mac and loading it with a used older version of Adobe Phtosope (like CS2).

I figure I would want to go with at least a G5 processor, OSX 10.4, 540 mb or RAM and a 200 gigabyte hardrive.

Is this crazy?

ScottS · Jan 16, 2008

You really want to get at LEAST 1GB of memory for running photoshop.

chente922 · Jan 16, 2008

I wouldn't bother that much on hard disk space but on memory, at least 1GB, it's better if you back-up your un work on dvds since hard disk (internal or external) tend to **** up the day u least expect it.. and guess what? all your work was there without backup.. at least this is what i think

chente922 · Jan 16, 2008

also, you say about running a late PS like CS2 but it's not actually that old... but with time you'll want to run a newer versions maybe because of work speed or any amazing new app that attracts you, so I would look for a lot of memory, 1GB the least

ScottS · Jan 16, 2008

chente922 said:
I wouldn't bother that much on hard disk space but on memory, at least 1GB, it's better if you back-up your un work on dvds since hard disk (internal or external) tend to **** up the day u least expect it.. and guess what? all your work was there without backup.. at least this is what i think

I have to say that using Cd's or Dvds is probably too much of a pain in the butt. I would say that if you are more worried about backing up your photos, you should get an external HD... You and get a good 250 GB for about 65 bucks... Its a lot easier to backup on that than on Cd's or DVDs.

chente922 · Jan 16, 2008

I have to say that using Cd's or Dvds is probably too much of a pain in the butt. I would say that if you are more worried about backing up your photos, you should get an external HD... You and get a good 250 GB for about 65 bucks... Its a lot easier to backup on that than on Cd's or DVDs.

well, I used to have one and a very good one... one day it stopped working with two years of architectural work on it and 5 years of my family and friends pictures... thank God I also backed it up on dvd's... it's worth the pain in the BUTT

bhop · Jan 16, 2008

I have an old dual processor G4 I use at home (still works great) and CS3 is faster on it than CS2 was...

At work I use a quad G5, new 2 months ago. Before that I used a G5 iMac. (white flat one). Honestly, from my experiences, one of the new iMacs will be fine for a home setup and way cheaper. Towers are more for heavy video users.

FYI, i'm a Graphic Designer and have used macs since around '92.

Trenton Romulox · Jan 16, 2008

Personally, I'd lean towards an iMac, one of the newest ones, because Apple is going down the road where they might not support their older non-Intel computers as well. I mean, I don't know what your budget is, but an iMac will run PhotoShop just fine, but yeah, get AT LEAST 1gb, 2gb is the sweet spot I think. And RAM when purchased from someone other than Apple is really quite affordable these days.

domromer · Jan 16, 2008

What about getting a mac mini? It's got more power than what your talking about and would cost less I think.

Trenton Romulox · Jan 16, 2008

domromer said:
What about getting a mac mini? It's got more power than what your talking about and would cost less I think.

I have a Mac Mini, or rather, my mom does, and it's not powerful enough for CS2. It's got similar specs as the MacBook Air, which I talked to someone at Apple about today, and they said CS2 or CS3 is not recommended at all, as it'll run rather poorly. I've never ran CS2 or CS3 for a long period of time on a Mac Mini, but I know Aperture was a bad fit. I'd be careful with Mac Minis and photography, unless you're using iPhoto.

domromer · Jan 16, 2008

Tha'ts cause aperture is a dog.

I've run cs3 on a dell with way lower specs than the mac mini and it worked fine.

I do agree the I wouldn't bother building up a mac tower. Last years 20" Imacs can be had for a decent price now.

Hertz van Rental · Jan 16, 2008

I have a 2.4 GHz core 2 duo iMac with 2 Gig ram and 500 Gig external HD running PS and Aperture. Works fine.
Pros use tower Macs for 2 main reasons - it's upgradeable and it's tax deductible.
You can run everything on a G4 or even a G3 if you max out on ram - everything just happens slower.
But if money is tight then get a Dell - the difference between Mac and PC these days is largely just personal preference.

shorty6049 · Jan 17, 2008

well... powermacs have an 8 core processor now i guess, so you wouldnt have to worry about processing power, and you can add lots of ram. i think thats why people use them. At my school, i work for the yearbook and we use imacs in our office and the newspaper uses mac minis for thier photographer's computers. I've seen someone use cs2 on one before and he's never complained, but i do all my editing on my pc and then upload so i cant say how fast they all are. But i know all our art people use indesign (one or two words?) for all their design work on the book.

ScottS · Jan 17, 2008

shorty6049 said:
well... powermacs have an 8 core processor now i guess, so you wouldnt have to worry about processing power, and you can add lots of ram. i think thats why people use them. At my school, i work for the yearbook and we use imacs in our office and the newspaper uses mac minis for thier photographer's computers. I've seen someone use cs2 on one before and he's never complained, but i do all my editing on my pc and then upload so i cant say how fast they all are. But i know all our art people use indesign (one or two words?) for all their design work on the book.

Our school uses a bunch of G4's.... I think....

They are sooooooooooooooooo slow and we never get much done... it sucks

Trenton Romulox · Jan 17, 2008

shorty6049 said:
well... powermacs have an 8 core processor now i guess, so you wouldnt have to worry about processing power, and you can add lots of ram. i think thats why people use them. At my school, i work for the yearbook and we use imacs in our office and the newspaper uses mac minis for thier photographer's computers. I've seen someone use cs2 on one before and he's never complained, but i do all my editing on my pc and then upload so i cant say how fast they all are. But i know all our art people use indesign (one or two words?) for all their design work on the book.

Just so you guys know, you're not gonna find PowerMac on Apple's website much these days, they've been called Mac Pros for a while now. Wow, someone used CS2 on a Mac Mini? HAHA.