[OmniX]

as we all know, when Tiger came out the old PPC mini's rather underpowered graphics card (Radeon 9200, 32MB dedicated VRAM) couldn't handle Core Image, and thus that mini couldn't take advantage of some of 10.4's graphics capabilities.

obviously it is impossible to say with any certainty, but i'm wondering if folks have any opinion on the liklihood that the current intel mini's GMA950 graphics processor will be able to handle whatever graphics improvements are on their way in 10.5/Leopard?

I think the 128MB/X1600 Radeon in the iMac would definitely be up to that task, but I'm hesitant about the mini (I'm considering a new purchase and the choice is between the two).

thanks for any thoughts --
ox

[iREZ]

i, for one, feel that the mac mini will run leopard but i doubt it'll support all the bells and whistles.

[iREZ]

double post

[Eriamjh]

I feel with 100% uncertainty that there isn't an unpossibility that the mini will not be fully unsupported for the next version of Leopard.


Or not.

[MacOS-Fan]

I bet that the Intel Mini will run the FULL new system without any issues.

[Gordio]

the mini learned a lot of mistakes from its precedetors. I just hope it will run fine.

[tycheung]

it uses system memory for vram; not sure if it can scale up the amt it uses, maybe with a firmware patch?

[eddiecatflap]

a max of 200 mb vram is nothing to be sneezed at

imo the mac mini , especially in duo config , is pretty darn amazing

[OmniX]

Originally Posted by eddiecatflap

a max of 200 mb vram is nothing to be sneezed at

imo the mac mini , especially in duo config , is pretty darn amazing

Eddie, where do get this information, the 200MB max? Apple's literature is ambiguous on this point, but would seem to imply a 64 (or perhaps 80MB) ceiling of shared memory use by the GMA950 processor...

[doucy2]

Originally Posted by eddiecatflap

a max of 200 mb vram is nothing to be sneezed at

imo the mac mini , especially in duo config , is pretty darn amazing

yes, but it still has some quarks
tiger was more stable on my cube then it is on my duo mini, but it should get better as long as they keep releasing patches

[MacOS-Fan]

What kind of stability issues are you having with Tiger on your Mini? I am having none.

[Tuishimi]

Originally Posted by OmniX

Eddie, where do get this information, the 200MB max? Apple's literature is ambiguous on this point, but would seem to imply a 64 (or perhaps 80MB) ceiling of shared memory use by the GMA950 processor...

I thought I had seen that somewhere as well... (the 200MB thing) but cannot find it anymore.

I did see this on one of the pages...

"# Memory available to Mac OS X may vary depending on graphics needs. Minimum graphics memory usage is 80MB, resulting in 432MB of system memory available."

I wonder if it IS programmable?

[DoctorGonzo]

The Intel mini's graphics capabilities should handle Leopard without a problem. 2D is not a huge issue for it, 3D is where it crashes and burns.

[Tuoder]

This is coming from a long time PeeCee tweaker, virtually all integratd graphics chips have variable amounts of shared memory. It seems that Apple has decided that the Mac Mini shall have 80 (or 64, depending one how you look at it) megabytes of VRAM. They have the capability to push it further, the question is will they? I have a tendency to think that Apple will make it work.

[eddiecatflap]

http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma950/

make that 224 megs !

[MacOS-Fan]

Nice find

[eddiecatflap]

"256-bit graphics core running at 400MHz

Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory

1.6 GPixels/sec and 1.6 GTexels/sec fill rate

Up to 224 MB maximum video memory

2048x1536 at 75 Hz maximum resolution

Dynamic Display Modes for flat-panel, wide-screen and Digital TV support

that doesn't sound too bad , does it ?

[jamil5454]

Originally Posted by eddiecatflap

"256-bit graphics core running at 400MHz

Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory

1.6 GPixels/sec and 1.6 GTexels/sec fill rate

Up to 224 MB maximum video memory

2048x1536 at 75 Hz maximum resolution

Dynamic Display Modes for flat-panel, wide-screen and Digital TV support

that doesn't sound too bad , does it ?

But you left out this crucial part from Intel's website:

Microsoft* DirectX* 9 Vertex Shader 3.0 and Transform and Lighting supported in software through highly optimized Processor Specific Geometry Pipeline (PSGP)

The GMA950 can do everything the X1600 can, except much slower. And when you're running in 2D, this is really all that matters (apart from VRAM). The GMA950 is a feature-packed chip. Apart from SM 3.0, I don't see any new GPU technology coming up soon that Apple might decide to take advantage of in Leopard.

Well, this would be cool to have in a Mac!

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by eddiecatflap

http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma950/

make that 224 megs !

But Apple appears to have it set to a fixed amount.

[far200]

If you go here and read the tech specs section ( in grey on the second page ) it states that the is a max of 192 MB max video memory... http://www.intel.com/products/chipse...950/gma950.pdf ... but if you go to the main page it states up to 224 MB max video.... so which is right Intel????????????? main page........ http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma950/

[eddiecatflap]

i'm sure the dual core power and upgraded ram speed more than makes up for any grafx card problems

[CheesePuff]

Originally Posted by eddiecatflap

http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma950/

make that 224 megs !

That's the Intel version... after Apple modified the one in the Mac mini it will only use 64 MB for VRAM and an additional 16 MB for system resources, making it a total of only 80 MB.