well, actually, we don't. But, if we did need one, this is how I'd setup the iMac:
1167MHz G4
With an increased bus speed and a clock speed 32% higher than the previous 800MHz iMac, this sucker would take the old iMac to town.
Radeon 9500
This would finally give the iMac something to talk about when comparing game performance. Plus, this would make the iMac a viable prosumer computer for 3D editing.
Monitor Spanning Option
Paired with a matching 17" widescreen display (which sadly, does not exist), the iMac could become a video editing suite. Final Cut Pro would become more manageable, and any creative user could make use of the extra screen real estate.
And This Wouldn't Kill The PowerMac
If the low-end PowerMac were bumped to dual-1GHz or even dual-933MHz, competition for speed would be minimal. All power users would still go for the PowerMac, especially with the options for expansion that the PowerMacs offer.
The Radeon 9500 would not deter buyers from the PowerMac; the GeForce4 Ti 4600 (which the PowerMacs offer), is still a more powerful display. Plus, a Radeon 9700 and the NV30 will likely ship for the Mac before entirely too long.
Oh, and about monitor spanning: I can only see this benefitting Apple. So what if a user now spends less on the purchase of a PowerMac? He'll still be buying an extra display for the ability to span across two monitors, and he's still likely to spend the money for Final Cut Pro.
1167MHz G4
With an increased bus speed and a clock speed 32% higher than the previous 800MHz iMac, this sucker would take the old iMac to town.
Radeon 9500
This would finally give the iMac something to talk about when comparing game performance. Plus, this would make the iMac a viable prosumer computer for 3D editing.
Monitor Spanning Option
Paired with a matching 17" widescreen display (which sadly, does not exist), the iMac could become a video editing suite. Final Cut Pro would become more manageable, and any creative user could make use of the extra screen real estate.
And This Wouldn't Kill The PowerMac
If the low-end PowerMac were bumped to dual-1GHz or even dual-933MHz, competition for speed would be minimal. All power users would still go for the PowerMac, especially with the options for expansion that the PowerMacs offer.
The Radeon 9500 would not deter buyers from the PowerMac; the GeForce4 Ti 4600 (which the PowerMacs offer), is still a more powerful display. Plus, a Radeon 9700 and the NV30 will likely ship for the Mac before entirely too long.
Oh, and about monitor spanning: I can only see this benefitting Apple. So what if a user now spends less on the purchase of a PowerMac? He'll still be buying an extra display for the ability to span across two monitors, and he's still likely to spend the money for Final Cut Pro.