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Point of Sale (POS) for Mac OS X

G5 1.8GHz DP (Dual) Review

Dec 19, 2003 by Matt Simerson

Now that I've been using my new G5 dual for a short while, I must rave about it, just a little bit. I've already read volumes about the advantages of dual versus single proc G5 and G4 systems. I know all about those advantages on the server side as well. My primary web server is a dual CPU system and I've worked on countless uni, dual, and quad proc systems running Unix. I know what to expect from them but those systems are all servers. It's different on the desktop. I also run Win2k on a dual proc system in my home. Once again, the results are very different.

Let me just say this once and for all. Those who aren't extolling, or flat out raving about the beauty of running Mac OS X on a dual proc G5 have never done it. It's a thing of marvelous beauty. If you are the least bit interested in benchmarks (which I am) you will note the absolute speed differences between, say a G4 1.25 and a G5 1.6, 1.8, or dual 2.0. Let's just imagine that the G5 dual is only 2 (or 3, or 4, or 5) times as fast as the single. What those numbers don't reflect though is the usability of the system during that period.

As a real world example, if I happen to be transcoding a DVD on my 15" Powerbook (Aluminum), it's usability is pretty poor during the process. The CPU stays pegged, the mouse is laggard (similarly to "normal" on Windows), and of course, anything that requires a disk operation takes a several times as long as normal to react. It's still usable, but it's no longer fun. Keep in mind, this is on a system that is otherwise, very peppy and responsive.

On my G5, I can be transcoding a video in the background (at incredible speeds), converting my purchased iTunes tracks to mp3, and watching a DVD. All this going on doesn't perceptibly slow down the use of other programs, like Safari, Mail, or Finder. This is incredible. The advantage to this is that my desktop never becomes "unusable", even while crunching away on those big projects. Simply amazing.

I've read from pundits who claim silly things like "only the Finder is threaded" so just a few apps like Photoshop really take advantage of multiple CPUs. In certain well defined parameters, they are correct, but they highly underrate the overall effect of a dual proc system with a well written SMP implementation. I run Activity Monitor as a login item on every Mac I work on. I always have it running. If I peg the CPU, I know it. If I fail to peg the CPU because I've ventured into swap land, I know it. If I'm waiting for disk I/O to complete, I know it. I do performance tuning on Unix system as part of my "day job". This is stuff I'm very familiar with. I've noticed that both CPU's on my system stay fairly evenly loaded, no matter what app I'm running. Having run true SMP OSes on dual proc systems for years, this doesn't surprise me in the least. Apple's implementation is top notch.

I'm very, very happy with my dual G5 and the accompanying 23" and 20" Cinema displays.

Last modified on 4/25/05.