I should have been more clear on the first post. "Slower" was compared to the previous 1.25DP Macs which had more L3 cache per chip. For PTLE, however, I don't think it matters much.

I have to make a decision on this Mac very soon (like by Thursday afternoon). IS PTLE 6.x.x worth investing in at this point or should I try to find an OS9 box? I just don't want to dive into 6 only to find out it really won't work effectively for several more months. When I called Digi today they told me that 6.1 will be out "sometime in June". If I have to wait for that to get a stable system, that will be too risky, since June could easily become August. I desperately need some more advice!

I'm running the new dual 1.25 fw800 machine with PT 6.0.1 with no problems that I have encountered. Maybe I just haven't hit them yet. I was using a B&W G3/400 prior to the new unit. As far as noise goes I don't get it. They all make noise (unless your using a laptop or iMac) so they should be in a machine room or at least seperated by a wall to your control room. I'm also using Photoshop7, InDesign, GoLive without a hiccup. Bottom line... I highly recommend it. (R.I.P. OS 9)