[ronss]

OreoCookie

i quess i have to agree with the g5 duo,s as being the better machines..from a review i read, the g4 quicksilvers with duo 1..25 or 1.45 were actually faster than the g5 single cpu rigs... i get a $1000 vocation pay on nov 5,,, i quess i might be able to pick up a dual 1.8 for that. i want to use it for #1-dvd watching , i watch a lot of movies on my computers,, got a 22 inch lcd....then photograpy as a hobby, camcorder may be down the road... so what sofware do i need for what i intend to use my rig for........also,,so you think a imac with the 2400xt might be pretty nice too???

i am on my 800mhz quicksilver ,,its really not that bad,,,just needs a bit more help

getting off the subject a bit, anyone that is looking to buy a lcd montior, widescreen, i just bought a hp w2207 lcd...this is one nice lcd,,,it has the same lcd as is in some notebooks...some say the mirror finish reflects too much light, but it really doesn,t bother me....also, web pages are nice and big ,,,for those with bad eyes.... but got to say , i am very happy with his purchase.

[OreoCookie]

For $1k, you can pick up a refurbished iMac instead (or add $200 for a brand-new 20" iMac; and yes, you can connect your second screen and use monitor spanning). It's way too much for a used G5.

[ronss]

thanks again...i just watched a dvd on the quicksilver,,,works pretty nice..keep ya informed.,,,,,but i imac ought to pretty nice, i sure like the new alunium cases..

i have ran some linux rigs,,,,and i can see some of that in apple

one other question, i did not get any software with the quicksilver, came with mac 10.4x loaded...what would be your suggestions on software ,,,should i buy any...

[ronss]

okay ,,i just upgraded the ram from 384 to 640mg,,grabbed some pc133 from my pent 3 rig,,,,the mac did not recognize one of the 256mg simms,,but at least i got one of them to work ....it does seem like it helped some....so i am making progress with this rig.. i sure like the apple cases,,,,,all cases should be built this way.....sort of looked over the cpu while inside of it...does not look that hard to change....

[ninahagen]

Still not listening.

[ronss]

yes,,,i know what you are thinking,,,i probably will jump on a duo g5 1.8...it will be definitlly a dual powermac 5 if i get a tower,,though i have to say the imacs look pretty nice...but upgrading them is very tough

but i have to say,, by adding more memory..sure did help..i can really notice it ..and loading the web pages much faster...

[OreoCookie]

Upgrading iMacs is not tough at all (you can even upgrade the cpu of the Intel Mac minis). $1k for a dual 1.8 G5 is waaaay too expensive, you'd just waste your money on something else. Even when you max them out, they will be slower than an iMac for the same price in pretty much all benchmarks.

So either get a dual G5 for a lot (read: a lot) less than $1k or get an Intel-based iMac.

[DrBoar]

The good news.
The G4 800 is faster than the G3/450 and has a AGP slot for decent cards (second hand). A ATI 8500 or a flashed PC 9600 will enable you to play games like Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and several other games much better than on a G3/450 even with a top of the line Radeon card.

The 800 is good enough for decent websurfing etc in OSX

The bad news
It is still to slow for games and more demanding apps. Full screen video playback etc can be less than smooth.

If you want performance to approch that of a mac mini. By the time you have added a dual 1.6 GHz CPU and perhaps also a IDE or SATA card and a graphic card and a USB 2 card, it is more expensive than a new mini...

So either
1. keep it as it is
2. Spend a small amount of money to get a better graphic card and RAM
3. sell it.

Spending a lot of money on it may be a hobby but not a sound investment. If you like to have it as a fun hobby project to twek the hell out of it why not if you like to do it

[zaghahzag]

if the QS g4 was upgraded with a big HD, lots of RAM, a high end video card (9800?) and a dual processor CPU card running at 1.25 or preferably higher, then it MIGHT be as good a machine as a mac mini which you can buy new for 600$ and then upgrade w/ more ram for about 80 bucks.

Prices of used macs are way out of whack for what you get, and you got one that's seriously outdated. Sell it or throw it away. If you want an up to date machine, get the cheapest mac pro or g5 you can get. Or just get a mini.

the dual cores of the mini will spank any g4 you can ever put in a machine. If you want to have a serious 3d solution, then WHY THE HELL ARE YOU BUYING A MACHINE FROM 2000?!?!?

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by zaghahzag 

if the QS g4 was upgraded with a big HD, lots of RAM, a high end video card (9800?) and a dual processor CPU card running at 1.25 or preferably higher, then it MIGHT be as good a machine as a mac mini which you can buy new for 600$ and then upgrade w/ more ram for about 80 bucks.

Prices of used macs are way out of whack for what you get, and you got one that's seriously outdated. Sell it or throw it away. If you want an up to date machine, get the cheapest mac pro or g5 you can get. Or just get a mini.

the dual cores of the mini will spank any g4 you can ever put in a machine. If you want to have a serious 3d solution, then WHY THE HELL ARE YOU BUYING A MACHINE FROM 2000?!?!?

Just forget it, this guy is just wasting everybody's time...

"Duh, I sure luv dem cases, ya know... brushed aluminum, yesirree! Tanks for all the advice ya done gave me, but I just like hearing myself blab. Oh and uh, what's a DVD anyway, is it like a CD but bigger?" Integrated graphics are bad for Pong, I need a ATI 1900XT. Can I put that in my TRS-80 along with a dual core Xeon?"

[ronss]

well,,, i made a mistake by not doing some reading first, but the g3 i bought was indeed a waste of money, will sell on ebay...the g4 is not bad after upping the ram, made some difference. i don,t plan on games,,,but the video , photo, and photography was my main thoughts with it..i watch dvd yesterday, played it okay.. but my pc computers will play it better. i quess i sort of like playing around with computers, the problem with macs, the parts are not cheap as compaired to the pc,s....great stuff,,,learning quickly.

[goMac]

Get an Intel. I know this might provoke the ire from some posters on here, but I would not buy a "new" PowerPC machine at this point unless you have apps that you must run on PowerPC. Getting on Intel, especially 64 bit Intel, will be much better for the long haul.

I think we're into the final few hurrahs for the PowerPC platform, and Intel Mac's are about to pass PowerPC Macs in marketshare.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Get an Intel. I know this might provoke the ire from some posters on here, but I would not buy a "new" PowerPC machine at this point unless you have apps that you must run on PowerPC. Getting on Intel, especially 64 bit Intel, will be much better for the long haul.

I think we're into the final few hurrahs for the PowerPC platform, and Intel Mac's are about to pass PowerPC Macs in marketshare.

While that's all true, the truth is there are people like me who can't afford an Intel Mac. What I can do is buy a G4 and be pretty well set to do pretty much anything you would like.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

While that's all true, the truth is there are people like me who can't afford an Intel Mac. What I can do is buy a G4 and be pretty well set to do pretty much anything you would like.

I can elaborate a bit more on what I said when Leopard comes out. Most of the future of the platform falls under Leopard.

[ninahagen]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

While that's all true, the truth is there are people like me who can't afford an Intel Mac. What I can do is buy a G4 and be pretty well set to do pretty much anything you would like.

But this guy can afford an intel iMac.

[Todd Madson]

The original posters misgivings about the Mac Mini's onboard video would
perhaps be correct if the G3/G4 towers with AGP 2x cards were in any way
faster.

BUT THEY'RE NOT! Those machines are simply dog slow and should be
retired or given to a parent or someone who just needs e-mail capability.

My old G4/400 with a Radeon 8500 is fast enough to run X-Plane with most
of the options turned off but if I tried to make it work like my G5 2.5 dual with
all of the options on the thing would seize up and die. That G4 is now just
a house server, it doesn't do anything else - I wouldn't dream of using it as
an everyday computer anymore.

Have you TRIED a Mac mini's onboard with a graphically intensive app to see
how it performs versus your current setup?

The machines you have:
-slower single core architecture
-older slower front side and memory buses
-older slower video buses
-older slower video cards
-older slower video memory
-older processor architecture
-older ide architecture
-in 2007, this translates to "blah".

Mac Mini:
-efficient dual core processor with faster clock speed
(up to 2.0 ghz core 2 duo - a better less power consumptive chip)
-faster front side buses with fast ddr memory capability
-shared video but the capability of that shared video card is better than your setup
-faster hard drive with capability of more externally (see next line below)
-firewire, gigabit ethernet, optical audio in/out, and four usb 2.0 slots.

Look, it's nice to want to have a setup like you have but in 2007 it doesn't make
any sense. If I thought I could sell my G4/400 for any amount of money I would
just to put some money in my pocket.

The days of the G3/G4 are long over and the G5 is pretty much done too, it's
just a matter of time. And I'm a G5 user.

[ronss]

well.. for some reason its hard for me to believe that a mac mini with intergrated video, is faster that a mirrored g4, with a 9800 pro video card.. .my feelings are the 9800 pro would be faster , a lot faster than the integrated video on the mini mac...am i missing something here..

[Lateralus]

The G4 with the 9800 would indeed be significantly faster.

[Kenneth]

You can always goto xBench.com for a rough reference between a Mac mini and MDD G4. I have a MDD F4 (FW800) since 2003, I'm happy with it. However, I would take the Mac mini any day due to more efficient and power saving.

[ronss]

i quess i do not think that much about power saving, maybe that is why my electric bill is HIGH...when it comes down to brass and nuckles, i prefer speed over power saving,.....thats just me.