[Burke]

I maxed out my Mac mini, but I need more performance. My level of usage is not linked to how much I am willing to spend, so...

Couple of questions. Those of you who've used both the dual 2.0 and dual 2.5, was there an appreciable "zippiness" to OS X and your apps with the dual 2.5's, or was it pretty much the same in terms of "feel"?

Second, anyone who has the 6800 Ultra DDL...does it sound like a jet turbine when you're doing something intensive (like playing World of Warcraft at highest settings, or any other game with high settings)? Or should I just get a Mac edition X800 series card and call it good?

[Burke]

Okay, I pulled the trigger on the dual 2.5 with 2 GB of RAM with the Bluetooth/keyboard/mouse upgrade package. I just wish I could find an X800XT Mac edition in stock somewhere...

[Leonard]

Originally posted by Burke:
Okay, I pulled the trigger on the dual 2.5 with 2 GB of RAM with the Bluetooth/keyboard/mouse upgrade package. I just wish I could find an X800XT Mac edition in stock somewhere...

Nice rig... sounds just like mine.

That X800XT would be sweet!

[Burke]

Originally posted by Leonard:
Nice rig... sounds just like mine.

That X800XT would be sweet!

I wanted that future upgradability for the 30" ACD, plus the only game I play is WoW, and I like to run it at 4x AA, so...

[italiano]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5168426964 - awesome seller - a mod in our flashing forums too

[power142]

Wow! That's quite a jump, from a Mac mini to a G5 2.5DP

The 2.5 is a nice machine. I don't think it gets any "zippier", at least, not yet....

[Burke]

Originally posted by italiano:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5168426964 - awesome seller - a mod in our flashing forums too

Man, if he had a Buy it Now option, I'd jump on it for retail.

[ajprice]

Looks like the Mac mini is doing it's job: Like a Mac, get a Mac mini, want a faster Mac, get a G5 duallie. But I don't think even the mighty Stevie expected people to go through the process this quickly!

[Big Mac]

LOL. Is the Mac mini the Mac gateway drug? Start out with the cheap, low-powered mini and quickly enough you'll bankrupt yourself on the hard stuff.

[Burke]

Originally posted by Big Mac:
LOL. Is the Mac mini the Mac gateway drug? Start out with the cheap, low-powered mini and quickly enough you'll bankrupt yourself on the hard stuff.

Heh.

Seeing as how I've gone way out there to build PCs, the price hit of a Mac really isn't that killer.

I mean, here's what the last PC I built cost me (prices rounded):

$1000 AMD Athlon64 FX-55 retail
$200 High-end motherboard
$350 1 GB of High-end DDR400 with ultra-low latencies
$175 74 GB 10,000 RPM hard drive
$250 300 GB storage drive
$500 ATI's top video card
$100 24-bit audio card
$200 Good aluminum case
$250 High-end power supply
$60 DVD-burner
$120 Peripherals

$3205

So, the price isn't that bad at all.

[Big Mac]

Are PC components really that expensive? In any event, I like your line of thinking. Welcome to Macintosh, Burke. You sound like the ideal Mac user.

[Burke]

Originally posted by Big Mac:
Are PC components really that expensive? In any event, I like your line of thinking. Welcome to Macintosh, Burke. You sound like the ideal Mac user.

When you build yourself, they certainly can be. I'm not a overclocker, so when I purchased, I always got the best stuff available at the time.

Funny thing is, a major point for my switch was the first time I played a DVD on the mini. A few seconds after I put it in, DVD Player opened and the movie started. In Windows, it was Insert DVD > Drive spins up > Spins up some more > Open PowerDVD (since XP doesn't have a dedicated player, and Windows Media Player requires an MPEG add-on [read: $$$] to decode DVDs) > Hit play > Drive spins up again > Pause > Movie starts, but picture quality is decent at best.