Mac Mini: intel or powerPC

[Macmadant]

hey,
our family were going to purchase a C2D 20" for my brother however on recent observation i decided this would be to much for what he wants so were going for a mac mini however I'm torn between an intel or a G4 one the specs for both is:

1.66GHz Intel Core Duo
1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x512MB
60GB Serial ATA drive

or
1.42GHz G4
1Gb RAM
80Gb
Radeon 9200

now i'd rather go for the intel, but the integrated graphics is what is holding me back, he'd be playing stuff like the Sims 2, Rise of nations, Halo, Sim City 4 ect. is this Intel card Good enough for this and when i say good enough i mean no glitches or anything in other words will they run perfect (apart from some not being a UB) and how likely are we to see apple start using the GMA X3000, as this has hardware T & L rather than relying on software

 

[Saturnine]

Forget the graphics card.

I'll tell you from experience that The Sims 2 and Sim City 4 don't run well under Rosetta at all, so that rules out the Intel.

 

[Eidorian]

Forget the graphics card.

I'll tell you from experience that The Sims 2 and Sim City 4 don't run well under Rosetta at all, so that rules out the Intel.

Sims 2 is a Universal Binary and Sim City 4 UB has been announced by Aspyr.

Secondly, if you're going to game get something with a dedicated video solution. The iMac isn't going to break the bank and is a much better value.

 

[Macmadant]

Forget the graphics card.

I'll tell you from experience that The Sims 2 and Sim City 4 don't run well under Rosetta at all, so that rules out the Intel.

the Sims 2 is now a UB and runs great on intel and Simcity 4 performs better than my 1.25GHz powermac on our C2D imac in rosseta with the 10.4.8 update

 

[Eidorian]

the Sims 2 is now a UB and runs great on intel and Simcity 4 performs better than my 1.25GHz powermac on our C2D imac in rosseta with the 10.4.8 update

Sims 2 and Halo really demand something more then the GMA 950. No word on the GMA X3000's performance unless you're willing to wait until Q1/2 2007.

 

[clevin]

go for intel
reason
1. G4 Mini doesn't have wireless card built-in
2. G$'s graphic card is 32Mb, altho GMA950 isn't good, but its 64MB, they are not that different from each other.

 

[Macmadant]

does anyone have any experience on running such games with a GMA 950, a user on here with a macbook says he plays doom 3 on a high setting with this card, but i find that hard to believe

 

[Eidorian]

does anyone have any experience on running such games with a GMA 950, a user on here with a macbook says he plays doom 3 on a high setting with this card, but i find that hard to believe

Maybe at 640 x 480. A lot of the higher end settings are unavailable due to the software rendering of them.

 

[California]

go for intel
reason
1. G4 Mini doesn't have wireless card built-in
2. G$'s graphic card is 32Mb, altho GMA950 isn't good, but its 64MB, they are not that different from each other.

I bought my new G4 1.5ghz PPC Mac Mini with built in wireless, bluetooth and 64mb vram in September. I dropped a 100gig 7200 hd and full gig of ram in it, too.

The final PPC Mini has 64mb graphics card.

To me the only limitation is that the PPC mini has only 1 ram slot, limiting ram max to a gig.

But until all the Intel apps are worked out in the next year or so, the PPC mini is a great deal for me. It was also 200 dollars less than the Intel mini -- or more than that. (I got a great deal.)

 

[Eidorian]

I bought my new G4 1.5ghz PPC Mac Mini with built in wireless, bluetooth and 64mb vram in September. I dropped a 100gig 7200 hd and full gig of ram in it, too.

The final PPC Mini has 64mb graphics card.

To me the only limitation is that the PPC mini has only 1 ram slot, limiting ram max to a gig.

But until all the Intel apps are worked out in the next year or so, the PPC mini is a great deal for me. It was also 200 dollars less than the Intel mini -- or more than that. (I got a great deal.)

I almost forgot the secret PowerPC mini. Any benchmarks for games?

 

[Chundles]

Wait, he plays games and stuff right? That means the iMac is most certainly very good for his needs - I'd go with one of them rather than a mini. The minis are really very poor value right now.

Even the 17" 2GHz model would work fine - with the Sims 2 being Universal it's going to run brilliantly on the iMac.

 

[mkrishnan]

Wait, he plays games and stuff right? That means the iMac is most certainly very good for his needs - I'd go with one of them rather than a mini. The minis are really very poor value right now.

In particular, look for refurb or used deals on the 17" iMacs... it really is not a big price jump up. And because of the way Apple used / resale tends to work, you're not going to get a good deal on the PPC mini anyway (there tends to be a floor effect... Macs are very rarely available used at low, low prices; since the PPC Mini started out life at a low price, its resale value will probably be a good fraction of that price).

But if you get an iMac, either CD or C2D, you get ... a real video card, a nice built-in screen, and the ability to run Windows and Mac games. So it seems like a win all around.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

A graphics card is part of the modern computer, Integrated is kind of a deal killer for modern gamers. Like its been said by the time the 3000 shows it may be Ok but a gma950 is what it is. Also the low end iMacs are integrated.. Graphics have made another leap with the DX10 class showing so Integrated is really holding that machine down now that apple has those fast cpu's. Just look at gaming benches on Macbook vs Macbook pro. one has integrated the other a older but real gpu. Big difference in Fps.

 

[mkrishnan]

Also the low end iMacs are integrated.

Just to be clear, the only iMac in the current form factor that has ever been integrated graphics is the $999 model that was sort of an eMac replacement...

Right now, the Apple Store UK have a £659 17" / 1.83 CD / ATI X1600 and a £699 17" / 2GHZ C2D / ATI X1600 that both seem like they would be very nice...

 

[Macmadant]

Just to be clear, the only iMac in the current form factor that has ever been integrated graphics is the $999 model that was sort of an eMac replacement...

Right now, the Apple Store UK have a £659 17" / 1.83 CD / ATI X1600 and a £699 17" / 2GHZ C2D / ATI X1600 that both seem like they would be very nice...

that one you mention for £659 is that a refurb or new, the 17" with a dedicated GPU is £799, if your converting the price from dollars to pounds you need to add 17.5%, i wish we had the same prices as you did in the US

 

[mkrishnan]

that one you mention for £659 is that a refurb or new, the 17" with a dedicated GPU is £799, if your converting the price from dollars to pounds you need to add 17.5%, i wish we had the same prices as you did in the US

You're in the United Kingdom, correct? I'm referring to the Refurb section of the UK Apple store, in GBP, as marked....

This one has the Core Duo at £659, and this one has the C2D at £699.

 

[jonutarr]

ye, you need an imac

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Also do you know anyone that is a Uni student? HE students are eligible to about a 15% discount on the Apple store (not refurb though). Brings the 17" C2D with X1600 down to about £680. C2D 2.0Ghz iMac 17" with 1GB of RAM, 8x DL Superdrive and dedicated X1600 graphics for £680 sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[bousozoku]

Everything I've read is that the Intel mini is better overall, including graphics performance since the G4 mini was using what is essentially 5 year old (graphics) hardware.

However, if anyone is serious about playing games, an iMac is a much better deal even though you can't switch monitors.

 

[countach]

Reconsider one of the imac models, partly because they're not really more expensive than the mini once you add a few options, and partly because they have a better graphics card.