Single or Dual Proccessor

[fullgator]

I'm switching from PC to Mac and would like to know if I should go with a single or dual proccessor. I've heard that DP Macs are optimized for just a few programs, such as, graphics.
Thanks guys,
Clay

[trevorM]

If you are buying very soon with the current G4 models that are available if you want faster than 400Mhz you can only get dual processor. So say you by the 450Mhz model that is going to be dual even if you never use the second processor who cares its there if you ever need it.

But why not hold on till the new stuff is released in the next few days, mind you the current stuff is real damm cheap I beleve!

[thehitch]

Has anyone else heard that Apple is droping Dual Processors in the new systems? If so - it can't be a good thing future DP support by applications other than adobe. Can anyone confirm this?

[This message has been edited by thehitch (edited January 09, 2001).]

[minuaño]

I may be wrong, but I think Mac OS X will use DP featuresŠ

[search-one]

ive heard the same thing.that dp will not be around much longer....i heard they are coming out with 700+ mhz g4 with 200m cache.

[minuaño]

Well, we should know in afew hours: Steve Jobs will be speaking at Apple Expo at 9 (pacific time): you can listen to his speech on apple's web siteŠ

I read that they'd keep dp stuff, increase their clock, and maybe change the motherboards (that wouldn't be too muchŠ).

[ThomCat]

Clay...

I think that stating that DP G4's are optimized for just a few programs might be a little misleading. A more accurate appraisal might be that only a few programs currently are optimized for the DP G4's. The DP G4 itself behaves almost exactly like a single proc G4 unless either the operating system, the software app, or both are optimized to take advantage of the second processor, so there is no real disadvantage to having a DP box even if the second proc sits idle (except the cost).

This is the very situation most of us are in right now, as only a couple of audio programs use the second proc and the current flavor of operating system (OS 9) doesn't support DP without a lot of extra coding from the software app.

OS X, due first half of '01 (don't hold your breath) is inherently coded to use DP, but of course other software will have to be rewritten for the apps to really take full advantage of this, which will be much easier under OS X. I've read that OS X will have about a 30% speed increase even for single proc G4's/G3's on programs written directly for it.

Two procs won't ever quite double an equivalent single proc G4's CPU throughput as there is some overhead in managing multiple procs, but since a 400 Mhz single proc G4 is more or less about the same speed as a 1GHz Athlon (if the software app is coded to take advantage of the velocity engine, or altivec), imagine what a DP 500 or 700 running OS X might be capable of.

I know there's a lot of "ifs" in all this, but the likely outcome is that most software will be recoded rather quickly and that DP G4's are likely a sound investment.

[fullgator]

Thanks Thomcat and all you guys for your input. I really would like to make a purchase asap, any ideas on how long I should wait before I take the plunge?

[mustafatron]

steve jobs anounced they dropped the dp g4's for now because they won't have enough inventory of g4's to make that many duals as of yet. i would doubt they'd drop dp espicially when that os x does take advantage of both processors.