Questions Before Buying A New G5 Dual 2.7 Options

[bluetone78]

Hello all,
My G4 iMac just isn't cutting it anymore, so I need an upgrade. I was think about getting the G5 dual 2.7, but I had a bunch of questions first:

1. What's this I hear about an Intel Mac? When are they coming out? Are they going to be better than the dual G5's that are available now? Should I wait to buy untilt hey come out?

2. Obviously I'm gong to need more RAM - I've read good things about Corsair (in this forum, elsewhere). I also read talk of buying in "bundles"? what does that mean? How do I buy ram in bundles?

3. I'd like to have a seperate interal drive to put my samples, audio files, etc. Is there a good reason (performance wise) to get the dual 400GB drives factory installed from apple? If not, can anyone recommend a decent brand for this application?

4. Apple LCD displays vs other Brands?


Thanks so much,
Charles

[bluetone78]

Wow guys, thanks for all the info!

I've been hearing good things about the Dell screens too. And it seems to me that if I can get a Dell 30" for roughly the same price as an Apple 23", then it makes pretty good sense. I'm assuming that the DVI-D connection on the Dell screen is the same (or at least compatible with) the DVI out on the G5.

Regarding the new intel Macs, I was a bit leery of such a big change, so it's good to know that the existing G5's are going to be able to carry me through the next couple of years.

I wanted the extra HD so that I could keep all my audio files, samples, etc. seperate from program files. This RAID 0 thing is new to me, as of this posting. I did some web-searching on it, and I'd say my understanding of RAID 0 is murky at best. It uses two drives in conjunction, using double the HD space to speed up HD access? Sounds like a bit of a balancing act to me...