[ekman]

So my dilemma is similar to others', I guess. I'm looking to replace a 5+ year old 400 MHz Sawtooth G4 and am interested in what I should expect in terms of Rosetta apps' performance on an Intel iMac relative to my ancient machine.

I'm tempted to pick up a G5 iMac or PowerMac at a bargain price, and an Intel Mac of some sort in another couple of years. The CFO of my household probably won't approve another computer any sooner than that...

But of course I'm tempted just to bite the bullet and make the jump now. I run the usual stuff on my G4, Photoshop, Nikon Capture, Microsoft Office, and some games like MOH, SC4K, etc. Most of the games don't do well on the G4, so I'd be interested in hearing if anyone thinks they'd do better on an Intel Mac, even under Rosetta.

My suspicion is that my G4 is so old and slow that everything will be sufficiently speedier even under Rosetta that I shouldn't let that be the factor that keeps me from getting an Intel box. But I'd like to hear others' experiences.

Thanks in advance.

[mduell]

The Intel Mac will blow your 400Mhz G4 away in everything, even running Rosetta; and of course, it will get better with time. Poke around in the fourms and you'll find people saying their Intel iMac is faster than a year old PowerBook for emulated games.

The only thing to watch out for is the programs/functions that don't work under Rosetta: Virtual PC won't run, so you need a PPC Mac if you need to run VPC on a daily basis (I'd expect MS to update VPC with the next release of Office); Export to HTML doesn't work from Word.

[eddiecatflap]

this is precisely why i always buy imacs rather than towers ( since 98 anyways )

by the time it's time to upgrade , it's cheaper and easier to start all over again than try and add stuff to an old mac

plus the expansion buses seem to go out of date so quickly

[uicandrew]

Also, it has been discovered that the processor in the Intel iMac is upgradable! Even though it is not economical to do so right now, it is possible and it has been done. that might placate your CFO

you can't (as of right now) upgrade the G5 in the iMac. Right now, there's a lot of potential for the iMac that has yet to be tapped.

unless there are PRO apps that you use frequently, i would say go for the Intel iMac. i'm also typing on one right now

[ekman]

I do use Photoshop, but not to earn a living. I'm an obsessive-compulsive photo geek. Like I said in my first post, I suspect that Rosetta will run all my Photoshop actions better than my Sawtooth does.

Anyone tried running SC4K or The Sims on one of the Intel iMacs?

[mduell]

Originally Posted by ekman

Anyone tried running SC4K or The Sims on one of the Intel iMacs?

Yes.

[ekman]

Thanks, not sure how I missed that...

[macwayne]

I just purchased a G5 imac 20inch 2.0Ghz this week (non isight version) and it's just as fast as my PowerMac G5 1.8GHz Dual processor machine! I got it for a great price (1460.00) at the local Apple Store with an upgrade to 1gig of Ram and some extra goodies. This smokes anything I've had before. The G5 is still a very fast processor and the PPC architecture will still be supported by Apple for at least the next 3-6 years. And all the software that is out now has already been optimized for the G5 chip anyway. It'll be a year out for some of the software developers to offer their intel versions. The G5? Not bad at all!

[LeeG]

I replaced my 500mhz sawtooth G4 (albeit with a 1.4GHz upgrade) with a 2.0Ghz Core Duo. The Core duo SMOKES the 1.4G4 card. Even under rosetta.

I havent done much with games, or the apps that wont run (fcp etc). But this computer is a total pleasure. It flys. And it will get faster.

Lee

[eddiecatflap]

yup , that's the fantastic thing aboot the dc

it's fast now

in a years time it'll be even faster !!