[geeks] Mac graphics opinions wanted

[Mark]

On 30 Sep 2007, at 06:51, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:

> I think Apple needs both a better Mini

No, the Mini is just fine for the market it's aimed at. It's got the  
CPU horsepower to impress owners of old Dell and HP machines, and  
it's got adequate graphics, especially as the OS X drivers for the  
GMA950 are streets ahead of the Windows versions. The only thing the  
GMA950 is actually really bad at is true 3D work. It is actually not  
a bad chip for video and pixel pushing. Not sure how hot it is for  
Pixel shaders though, i know it does them sufficiently to run  
Leopard, and the Mini is all about being 'good enough'.

> and a nice mid-range computer.
> The lack of a decent mid-range system is one of the worst problems  
> with their
> lineup.

They are trying to resist selling anonymous black boxes like Dell,  
Gateway and HP. They could easily pull off a really nice midrange  
system with decent PCI-e x16 graphics and 2 SATA bays, and a 4GB RAM  
limit. They don't *want* to though because there would be very little  
to define that from a similar Winblows box. That's my theory at least.

> One part of my day job will soon involve system emulation with  
> things like
> VMWare so I'll probably make good use of 4 cores.

I just put another 1GB of RAM in my Mac Pro and WOWZERS, 2GB of RAM  
makes Parallels REALLY useful. I can leave it running with XP booted  
most of the time if I am needing XP apps on and off, it's really made  
me even more happy with the machine as a whole.

> However, like you, I rather have a Core 2 Pro-ish option.

I wanted the same when I was after a new Mac. Thy didn't do it and I  
wanted OS X on Intel so it had to be the Mac Pro.

> Actually, what I *really* want is to be able to run MacOS on  
> hardware of my own creation.
> I can pick out nicer parts than Apple does, and it is a real shame  
> that I can use them to run MacOS.

Ooops hit a raw nerve maybe here ;)

With the exception of the sound chipset (which is a Realtek), what  
exactly is wrong with the components in the Mac Pro? There's no real  
option these days as to what chipset you use if you want to get the  
best out of Intel's chips, it's pretty-much gotta be an Intel chipset.

The graphics cards on offer for the Mac Pro are a little dated, so  
that's the only other area I can see fault, but are you a hardcore  
gamer or a 3D artist? If not what's the need for a huge graphics  
card? Especially as most PC graphics card manufacturers have jack  
s*** idea of how to make cards that last more than 12-24 months. I've  
had 4 cards from 4 manufacturers, all of which are well known 'not  
cheap and nasty' brands in my P4 PC and non have lasted longer than 2  
years so far.

Also you can put all the shiny parts you like into a really nice x86  
box but you will never find a case as nice as the Mac Pro. Some PC  
cases come close, but when you look at the neatness, elegance and  
quality of the Mac Pro's case compared to anything on the market for  
PC builders... well there's not competition. How many 28kg solid  
aluminium PC cases have you ever found? Have they looked even  
remotely that good?

-- 
Mark Benson

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