What's the best G5 for the $

[yofo]

I have a G4 867mhz running DP 4.52 with atmosphere and reason 2.5 and I want to upgrade to a G5 dual. I've seen 2 ghz G5's on ebay for 2 grand. I see 2.7 ghz going for 6 grand .I don't have that kind of money.What's the best bang for the buck .What are the important features to consider. I need to stay under three grand.

[David Jones]

Best G5 for the money?
That would be the fastest one you could afford,
with all the accessories you would need included,
such a RAM & hard drives.
Your budget is $3k, then pick the fastest G5 you can with the amount of RAM and hard drive space needed that will fit your budget.

[inukshuk]

I'd say get the Dual 2.3 because it has the PCI-X Slots and is cheaper than the 2.7. You can always add extra ram later with hard drives when you get more $$
If I had the cash that's what I would do now.

[kptkarl]

Currently you can still get the previous dual 2.0 (pci-x) #M9455LL/A for $1899 or less new. The 2.3 wouldn't be noticibly different excpet in graphic performance (64mb in the 2.0 vs. 128mb in the 2.3). Not really worth the extra $600.

[donato]

The best bang for the buck right now is the low model iMac loaded up with at least 1 gig of ram. That should be fine in holding you over for a couple of years when it will be time to move over to the 5 GHZ Intel Macs. Assuming you don't run a whole lot of plugins.

[bgier]

Keep an eye on Apple's "refurb" page at the Apple store. I got last summer's (2004) DP G5/2.0 PCI-X for $1650. I was wary about buying a refurb but my concerns evaporated when I unpacked a flawless machine. After careful inspection, I found no physical flaws...not even a speck of dust on the inside. I consider this machine brand new. It's replacing an 8 year old Power Computing PowerCenter Pro 210 (upgraded with a G3/500 card). That old Mac clone served me well....

-B