composer Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 As seen in this thread: http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?showtopic=16740 You can tell, a mini would be great if it had good graphics, on the other hand, some argue get a iMAC, for what, the GPU? That hardly seems worth the price, I have several LCD's so why bother. So the question is, does one wait in hopes that good driver support comes out and one can build a system that trumphs or equals the G4/G5, or at least the dual core? Or does one give in and pay $800 for a LCD and ATI GPU? Will iBOOK solve this? Or will it go the way of the GMA! LOL! Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shimms Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 As seen in this thread:http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?showtopic=16740 You can tell, a mini would be great if it had good graphics, on the other hand, some argue get a iMAC, for what, the GPU? That hardly seems worth the price, I have several LCD's so why bother. So the question is, does one wait in hopes that good driver support comes out and one can build a system that trumphs or equals the G4/G5, or at least the dual core? Or does one give in and pay $800 for a LCD and ATI GPU? Will iBOOK solve this? Or will it go the way of the GMA! LOL! Thoughts? Whats wrong with the GMA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baltazar Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 I like to see a Mac with the spec of an iMac but without the LCD as well. And the most reasonable way that this is gonna happen, as I see it, is if Apple decides to release a mediacenter. Then we probably will get better grapichs and greater storage than Mac mini. And I think that the new iBook will have about the same spec as the intel Mac mini. Probobly two versions there as well. Two 13", one Core Duo and one Core Solo. I don't see any reason why the new iBooks would outperform the intel minis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Historically, the mini was at the low end, the ibook and imac were mid-range and the powerbook and powermac were the high-end machines. following that through logically, you might think the ibook replacement will NOT have such low-end graphics as the mini, but should represent a mobile version of the iMac's capabilities. then again, who really knows? i wouldnt be surprised either way - GMA950 or ATI on the macbook/ibook. i'm hoping ATI, but in all honesty, i'd probably still like one even if it had the GMA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
composer Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 Whats wrong with the GMA? Well for one thing gaming is out with GMA, so I think that Apple loses a lot of sales for those looking at the mini to get their feet wet. 2nd, and I could be wrong, if you're using final cut of motion it needs strong GPU as such as the case with the G4 powerbook and iMAC. If the ibook, or even the mini would be usable for both gaming and iDVD or final cut express, logic express, etc, then all the better. Another thing is HD speed (on the mini and new forethcoming ibook) will it be upgradable to 7200RPM? Unlike the PC laptops, I wonder how hard it is to swap out the HD. Can the mini's be used for final cut? Perhaps, but not for gaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogabean Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 what's wrong with the GMA for gaming? It may not be the greatest but it get's the job done. My new machine I just built running XP64 and OSX has the GMA950 and I was happily playing WoW yesterday on it at full settings without so much as a hiccup (in both OS'es). It may not be the greatest thing, but it certainly gets the job done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
composer Posted May 10, 2006 Author Share Posted May 10, 2006 what's wrong with the GMA for gaming? It may not be the greatest but it get's the job done. My new machine I just built running XP64 and OSX has the GMA950 and I was happily playing WoW yesterday on it at full settings without so much as a hiccup (in both OS'es). It may not be the greatest thing, but it certainly gets the job done. Perhaps I am mistaken? If you build a PC with INTEL chipset and GMA, will it be QE/OpenGL with 10.4.5 that;s floating around? In smaller terms, will final cut (which needs what's that thing called? QE enabled) run on a machine built from scratch? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroz Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 what's wrong with the GMA for gaming? It may not be the greatest but it get's the job done. My new machine I just built running XP64 and OSX has the GMA950 and I was happily playing WoW yesterday on it at full settings without so much as a hiccup (in both OS'es). It may not be the greatest thing, but it certainly gets the job done. If you read further down, his thread talks about Final Cut. Here are the specs needed....for Final Cut and Motion! # AGP Quartz Extreme or PCI Express graphics card # Motion requires the standard graphics card found in any MacBook Pro, iMac Intel Core Duo, Power Mac G5, iMac G5, a 1.25 GHz or faster PowerBook G4, or a 1.25 GHz or faster flat-panel iMac. So the question becomes can a system be built that does this or will the new bookmac have these specs? In theory, the macbook should be a iMAC on the go - but Apples business model never goes that way, to add fuel to the fire, if the macbook has GMA, it's also bad for gaming. Rumors have it though it might have dedicated GPU. But doubtful. Just rumors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogabean Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 Perhaps I am mistaken? If you build a PC with INTEL chipset and GMA, will it be QE/OpenGL with 10.4.5 that;s floating around? In smaller terms, will final cut (which needs what's that thing called? QE enabled) run on a machine built from scratch? ? Yes it will have QE/CI/OpenGL enabled. Mine does. Final Cut Pro also loads on my D945GCZ just fine. I haven't really used it, but did verify it would run. Sure you are not going to get the gaming performance of a high end NVidia or ATI card, but people sell the GMA950 short. It is a decent video GPU in it's own right and does a pretty damned good job on it's own. Plus you have the option once the drivers mature to upgrade to an ATI or NVidia card at a later date. Honestly to me a motherboard with the GMA950 and a PCIe slot is win/win. You get QE/CI/OpenGL/Resolution and good performance now and later when the drivers mature you can change out to something else. This is of course only speaking of hackintels only. I would sorely disappointed to see another non upgradeable Mac put out with the GMA950. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroz Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 Yes it will have QE/CI/OpenGL enabled. Mine does. Final Cut Pro also loads on my D945GCZ just fine. I haven't really used it, but did verify it would run. Sure you are not going to get the gaming performance of a high end NVidia or ATI card, but people sell the GMA950 short. It is a decent video GPU in it's own right and does a pretty damned good job on it's own. Plus you have the option once the drivers mature to upgrade to an ATI or NVidia card at a later date. Honestly to me a motherboard with the GMA950 and a PCIe slot is win/win. You get QE/CI/OpenGL/Resolution and good performance now and later when the drivers mature you can change out to something else. This is of course only speaking of hackintels only. I would sorely disappointed to see another non upgradeable Mac put out with the GMA950. So that's good, wondering about one of those mini boxes with on-board GMA, as most would work out of the box as you say......does this also include (self built) good resolution 1200x1024 the mini box with a PCIexpress slot would run around $200.00 plus CPU and 2GB RAM and I say it's better than a iMAC running the 10.4.5 for about what $400~500 US dollars!? I think the friction is what the new macbooks (due out soon) is what sort of graphics it will offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro17 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Honestly to me a motherboard with the GMA950 and a PCIe slot is win/win. You get QE/CI/OpenGL/Resolution and good performance now and later when the drivers mature you can change out to something else. Well said. That is exactly my feeling and that is why I bought an Intel D945GNTLKR motherboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
composer Posted May 15, 2006 Author Share Posted May 15, 2006 Well said. That is exactly my feeling and that is why I bought an Intel D945GNTLKR motherboard. Thank you! I have been waiting for more days for more reponses! Can this board be a mini form factor??? If not, besides looking for PCIexpress gpu slot (mini) what specs do I need to look at if building a small form factor? When you say resolution, will I get 1200x1024? Will I get dual display? Will final cut run on it? Motion? It looks like (including new RAM) the price would come out to be about the same as a mini but more powerful - - Thoughts and ideas? Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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