To buy or not to buy a G4?

[the_defiant]

I've played for quite some time with osx86 and I decided that I should get myself a real mac.

I can buy a dual G4 MAC (2x450 G4 CPUs / 256MB RAM / 20GB hdd / DVD-rom unit / original kb + mouse) for

155 euros (app. 200 USD).

 

So, I can either go and buy this G4 Mac or start building a more powerful hackintosh. I can buy a Pentium D 805 and a decent mainboard for that same amount of money. The rest of the components, the display adapter and the RAM memory, aren't included, but I won't need a new harddrive, as I have three harddrives.

 

The mac has the advantage of being 100% compatible with Mac OS X, while the hackintosh packs more power.

I could, probably, add a GF 7300 into the hackintosh and use Titan/Natit to enable OGL/QE/CI. I think the same thing could be done for the G4 Mac.

 

What do you people think I should choose?

[U.C.]

Hackintosh

 

G4 - No windows, No Cool games. You will be forced to stick with Mac OSX. Suppose you wanna run a game, you will have to run a gun, which is 3 Yrs old. AOE III is supposed to come out now for the Mac.

 

I would definately go for Hackintosh

[A Nonny Moose]

A G4 tower will give you a lot of good times, but you always have to remember that a new shiny Mac mini is $599. And a shiny PPC Mac mini is cheaper than the new shiny ones.

 

Now with the big disclaimer being said, what are you planning to do with this G4 tower?

[McSkywalker]

Now with the big disclaimer being said, what are you planning to do with this G4 tower?

Yes, that's the main point.

[the_defiant]

I do have a main computer which I use for games and stuff like that.I'll get another PC (which will also be a hackintosh), but, I still have lots of audio applications that will not become UBs and will stay PPC only.

AFAIK, running those audio apps under Rosetta will be an overkill and I could always just use the Windows versions of these apps.

The main point was that the apps perform better on MAC OS X then they do on Windows. I did have a midi keyboard and a friend brought his mac over, it was 10 times better than it was on Windows.

 

Running some older games on the Powermac is not excluded, but I could get a display adapter, an AGP one, for example a GF 6600 and use Natit to make it work.

 

I do know how much a PPC mac mini costs, even if I could find a place where to buy one from, it can't be upgraded like I could upgrade that Powermac. A Mac mini (intel version) is 600 USD in the US, but not for me, I can buy one for exactly 889 USD from the shop.

To those 889$ I can add the rest of the required money and get the cheapest macbook at 1099, but, following the same *high price + VAT* rule, the cheapeast Macbook isn't cheap anymore, it's like 1500 USD.

There is a laptop that has 1GB DDR2 RAM / 80-or-100GB SATA 5400 RPM hdd / GeForce 7600 / Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, for the same 1500$.

 

You probably understand why it's kind of hard for me to choose one or the other.

 

In other words, would I have to pay any additional taxes, if I could manage to find an online shop and have a mac mini PPC/INTEL shipped to me via FEDEX?

[sandmanfvrga]

Well the BIGGER question is, what apps do you need to run on PPC and that will never go UB? Might be UB versions you can use.....

[A Nonny Moose]

For the upgrading issue, how many times have you really added a PCI card? Or changed the graphics card? Or done anything other than add more RAM? Plus in working with audio, you don't need a fantasmic graphics card, let's be brutally honest here.

 

You said you would run some older games on the Mac and the G4 mini would have a better graphics card than a stock card on the G4 tower in question. Plus, it's a nice shiny Radeon 9200 or something like that (trust me, you won't miss CoreImage).

 

Now for finding one, that's a little bit tougher. Have a good time searching if you go the route of the PPC Mac mini (which btw, also makes a faboo small scale web server)

[Suxx0r]

I had the same problem about 1.5 years ago...what to buy? MacMini, used G4, wait for PearPC to improve on my PC?? I ended up buying a used G4/733 at Ebay which I still use as my main-system for surfing and some other stuff.

 

For the audio-apps I built a Hackintosh just to see that my Logic Pro 7.x does not work as well as supposed. Call me stupid but I now bought a G5 PPC (Dual 2GHz, 3GB Ram, 2 x 500 MB S-ATA HDDs, Radeon 9650/256MB) and I am happy with it. Many people told me not to spend my money on a PPC Mac but I didn't feel like continuing to save money and buy an Intel-equipped Mac which can be (almost) perfectly built with spare parts at lower prices.

 

So, if you need a well upgradable Mac for use with audio-apps and don't like to spend big bucks, go and get that G4, if you want something for games build a Hackintosh or use a generic PC and if you can afford to spend a little bit more, get a G5...

 

Just my 2 cents...

[the_defiant]

I decided to wait until Apple launches the new Merom Mac Minis.

I'll probably get a mini or a Macbook.

[Dc3p0]

Hackintosh

 

I built a pc-box for 170 pounds with sempron 64 dddr2512 80 gig but the m/board you would need is a nforce3/4 for compatibility. We have a powerbook 1.5 ghz (slow) and the new 24 inch mac and this thing f***in shifts. Example of this i place 4 dvd films to convert to h264, plus ripping seperate programs in handbrake from GITs with azaureus runnin in the background then as a special treat I start watching an episode of battle star in divx. Minimal slowdown and the investment is worth it.

[MacMoof]

You can bag a 'Sawtooth' G4 on eBay pretty regularly for around $100, then drop in one of those 1.6GHz Dual PPC chips in there and max out the ram (PC100 168pin) and have a very smooth running box at just under $500.. and unlike the Mini, it's easy to add additional drives, burners, and PCI cards as well as one AGP slot that many current PC cards can be flashed to work in.

 

Speed, tho is limitied to the 100MHz system bus speed.. but they make great audio workstations, and with a beefy video card, don't do to bad for light video workstations, either.

 

But on the same token, if you're ready to drop $500 into the project, you could build a pretty respectable 'Hackintosh'.. the down sides with that are no updates for the OS, compatibility issues/hacks to deal with, and you'd be running all your PPC apps under Rosetta, which seems to eat up a lot of RAM.

 

I'd probably go the G4 tower route if most of the apps I wanted to use were still PPC.. especially considering the upgrade ability of those machines, low price, and not having to fool with 'experimental' hacks/cracks/etc to massage the OS to run on WinTel hardware.

[Johnny Cactus]

I would not buy the G4. Its on the verge of loosing support. You would spend the same money to build an Intel Mac and have a 1066+ mhz FSB versus 100. If you buy the right equipment you can build a very fast, stable system for $500 or so. Not a Mac Mini either. The core 2 duo processors are sick. E6300's are $160-$180 and can be OCed to 2.45 Ghz or more.

I really depends on your intelligence and troubleshooting ability.

 

I have the asus P5LD2VM board.

E6300 core 2 duo

800 mhz ram

Sony DRU-530A DVD burner

Sata drive

 

I used the 10.4.6 install and the Paulicat method to update to 10.4.8 using the Apple update. Then used the Natit clone to get audio. Used Patchburn for sony drive. Also used Invisibles instead of Onyx to move invisible files. Then Repair disk permission after moving anything. I also recommend making two HD with System install so you can boot into an extra finder if you crash or something happens with the main drive. Also read the b0 error sticky and print it before installing anything. This will save you from wondering why a disk will not boot.

 

Everything works just like my G4 with 10.4.8 except much faster. XBench 152. Sys Info reads correct for everything, even OC. Sound works great.

 

Overclocked the E6300 to 2.45 gig. It seems that some have had trouble overclocking with this board. The PCIx number needs to be 118

Fixed PCI speed 33.3 mhz

cpu external freq 266-350 (soon after 350 FSB speed exceeds 1500 which seems to automatically reduce multiplier to 6)

set memory at or below rated speed

[asap18]

I agree, if you build a osx86 box with compatible parts from the HCL, you could easily make a machine that will blow the g4 away and sustain you until the new mac minis.

 

Or you could buy a cheap core solo mac mini and pop a core 2 duo into it if you are very eager/anxious.

[A Nonny Moose]

I would not buy the G4. Its on the verge of loosing support. You would spend the same money to build an Intel Mac and have a 1066+ mhz FSB versus 100. If you buy the right equipment you can build a very fast, stable system for $500 or so. Not a Mac Mini either. The core 2 duo processors are sick. E6300's are $160-$180 and can be OCed to 2.45 Ghz or more.

I really depends on your intelligence and troubleshooting ability.

 

PPC chips will have support for at least five more years. We Mac people are slow to change when it comes to new systems (as written on a G3 iBook) Plus, any hack you build will have zero support aside from someone here. None. Zip. Nada.

 

 

Everything works just like my G4 with 10.4.8 except much faster. XBench 152. Sys Info reads correct for everything, even OC. Sound works great.

 

He isn't looking "for a good XBench score." He wants an audio workstation, which a G4 will do and have the support he will need.

[aquanutz]

I am going to have to with most people on here. If you look at my sig, you can get that system for about $300 or less now and it is FULLY supported and will demolish the dual 450 G4. Don't get me wrong, I still think the G4 is a nice processor, I am typing this on one now, but they are just too old to keep up.

 

I have to say that there is nothing quite like a genuine mac sitting next to you though. Knowing you don't have a hacked OS running and knowing you can install every update without a hitch and not having to wait for JaS to patch it.

 

That being said, I still lean towards the hackintosh.

 

my two cents.

[Paranoid Marvin]

There isn't really much of a computer you can buy for €155 (wow, it took me a while to find that key!)

I could save up for a Mac mini and chuck in a C2D.

Being a PowerPC fan, I would look at Powermac G5 refurbs - Apple has one on thier UK site (dual 2.0ghz) for £979

 

As for G4 - best processor *ever*

Edited January 3, 2007 by Paranoid Marvin

[sandmanfvrga]

For me, I just found a NEW iBook G4 1.33 ghz with 1.5 gigs ram on ebay, and I bought it. Yes, not a new Mac, but I am not playing $1200 for a base laptop when I don't need all that power and really it doesn't make super alot of difference (read benchmarks to, seconds here and there isn't a big factor cause I am not into hard video editing or HUGE processing, I got a powerful desktop for some video stuff).

 

PPC going away NOW? No. I have said on this forum, that going with a PowerMac G5 is bad cause the price of a Quad Core Intel isn't really any difference in price, but when talk about Laptops, the core duo and core 2 duo are great, yes, but alot of power that most will never need and it shows in the price tag.. I can't wait for my new laptop and PPC is just fine. In time I will go Intel, but for now I just want a great mac laptop and the hoop la of Intel is great, but alot of us are going to be just fine for a while. I wait for an Intel Mac Laptop that is under $1000 to come and I hope it does, but if it doesn't oh well by that time I will save for my iBook replacement. Many above me agree on the PPC and how much it still rocks.

Edited January 4, 2007 by sandmanfvrga

[A Nonny Moose]

Sandy, we've been through this before. A refurb G5 tower (and a good one too) will cost about the same as those shiny new Mac Pros and will give comparable performance. Now on the iMac side of things, those core Duos are faster than a single G5 processor (two is usually better than one in OS X land).

[sandmanfvrga]

Yes we been through this before, but as you just stated (and never seemingly understand it, no offense), but WHY buy the old G5 when you can get the Intel and run Windows. I mean YES, you can get either, but if you get the PPC you giving up abilities and why do that?

[asap18]

ahh congrats sandmanfvrga on finally getting your mac

[sandmanfvrga]

Thank you. I sit at work and it should be in any time now.

[Synaesthesia]

My ---> Get the Hackintosh.

 

There are only two reasons why you wouldn't.

 

1. You don't want to use illegal software, because it's a work situation or something like that. Or you need to run logic pro (cpu hog anyway) easily and simply. (I think it's quite a hack to get it onto a OSX86 box)

 

2. You really really wanna get leopard when it comes out. It's guaranteed to work on the real mac. Might possibly work on the hackintosh.

 

I think, Tiger on a hackintosh is fantastic. I've got all the advantages of a real mac, for much, much cheaper. And the performance is great. My system runs very well indeed. Faster than quite a few G5's, and look at what they cost.

 

My entire computer came to only R3000, including speakers, monitor, the works (ok I was lucky, but still)

 

Just to compare, here in South Africa, the Mac Mini's cost R5500 - R7100 on base configuration. The iMacs are R10000 for the cheapest one.

 

The Pentium D 805 sounds perfect, just get a 945g motherboard, and you're set. You can run windows, native or parallels. It's the coolest.

 

Anyway, best of luck ;-)

[sandmanfvrga]

Well typing this from G4 iBook and hackintosh isn't the same. A G4, the right one, is just fine. Really. I don't feel like I "settled" for this, and I love my mac. Just my two cents.

[Synaesthesia]

There's a big difference between laptop and desktop though. If he had found a Powerbook or iBook G4 for cheap, I would say go for it. I would get one myself too. Don't worry, I'm not dissing your laptop, in fact I'm quite jealous!!

 

The G4 is a fine processor, it uses very little power too, so it's great in a laptop.

 

But IMO, for a desktop solution, Hackintosh > G4, that's all.

 

Also remember, yours is a 1.33GHZ, he's going for dual 450, which I think will be a little slower.