Intel Mac comes very poor second to PPC

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Lando wrote:
I noticed a very interesting article on SpyMac regarding the new Intel iMac versus the G4 and G5 Macs.  Seems the Intel Core Duo isn't all it's cracked up to be.  The thread can be found here.

Actually, it felt clunky and more like being on a PC the way that it seemed to hesitate for just a moment when doing things.   But I was the most disappointed with the render speeds, which were only slightly faster than single processor iMac G5 1.8 Ghz on most test, and half the speed on anything with h264.

The personal Reviews on ars technica and macnn.com have actually been rather favourable... the system feels faster, the native apps (iLife) are much faster, and the Rosetta seems to give 1Ghz G4 speeds... not bad all in all.

I'll give my own feelings when I get my hands on one.

-Edit- New builds of Handbreak H.264 encoder appeared last night, which were getting 30fps on the new intel iMac, where it only gets 10fps for the G5.

Also note that the new iMacs are being reported as much quieter and a bit cooler than the G5.

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More and more reviews are poping up now... looks like the new macs are delivering as promised... same price, less heat, less power used, better performance than the G5... The new MacBook is getting very exciting for those who are going from G4!

http://www.macworld.com/2006/01/features/imaclabtest1/index.php etc...

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http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=282752

Some Photoshop tests showing that the new Core Duo is able to out perform a 1.6Ghz G4, when running Photoshop in rosetta PPC emulation.

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Ok, I've had a play with a 1.8Ghz and 2.0Ghz Core Duo iMac.

(My attention was focused on the 1.8Ghz iMac as I plan to get a MacBook Pro)

First off, the 1.8Ghz generally runs PPC aps about as fast as my 1.5Ghz G4. I tested all the PPC software I regularly use. This was a huge surprise for me, as I had previously tried rosetta (an old developer release of MacOS 10.4.1) on my Athlon64 3200 and found it slow and not compatible with my G4 apps. So that was a big plus.

The native apps on the 1.8Ghz really fly! As a user I could see no difference between this machine an the dual core 2Ghz G5 PowerMac sitting next to it.

The 2Ghz Core Duo was just faster, I didn't really spend much time testing it. But, the CPU usage graphs were smaller under load. I also never once managed to max out the dual cores, usage rarely went above 60% on either machines.

As a user I couldn't tell that the machine didn't have a G5 in it... all apps ran without problems (Though I wasn't able to test VirtualPC :-( ) regardless of what CPU they were compiled for. Frankly, Apple could have released these machines and not told anyone that they had changed the CPU...

The iMac Core Duos are noticably cooler and quieter than their G5 siblings, but the iSight does make me look rather fat :getmad: .

P.S. Darwine works really well, and I was able to run several Windows apps using it :-D

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Oliver wrote:
Turns out it is possible to install Tiger on most modern PC's with a little jiggery pokery.  Must have sse2 to run, and sse3 for rosetta.  Not sure of the legality though.  I think it's worth checking out.  I want to try more OS's.

With the Maxxus patch rosetta works fine on an SSE2 CPU. I have done this myself, but then I own a Mac (PowerBook G4 1.5Ghz) and plan to get MacBook Pro... I was just trying to find out how compatible my software would be with the new Macs... :-D

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mdma wrote:

Tripitaka wrote:
I don't take a great deal of interest in the Mac most of the time and avoid Intel for AMD if at all pos. However, I would be interested to know if the MacOS ever makes it on an AMD, I might....only maybe ...give it a go. I hated any MacOS prior to OSX but as I have not given the Tiger a walk yet I'd give
it a look. On Intel, not a hope! I'm just not going to buy an Intel box for that.

I've only bought AMD CPU's for years, but would never not buy a product just because it has an Intel CPU inside it.

That's the same mentality that the BAF's have. :-/

Exactly! I always buy best performance for my money... which has meant that I've only generally bought Athlon CPU's... Had to get a Mac to run Logic Audio 7.0 though :-) and it turns out they MacOS X is really good, and the Laptops are vastly superior to any other maker!

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Oliver wrote:
Oh, thanks.  That's worth knowing.

Do you know if there are any issues with legality, in using Tiger on a non Apple x86 machine?

I expect it's highly illegal... But if you try it, I strongly suspect that your next computer purchace will be an Apple one ;-) (Their laptops are amazing)

http://www.pistolwimp.com/media/40718/

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A Quick note, to say that the new MacBooks are actually shipping with faster processors than previously advertised... the original 1.65Ghz Model now ships with a 1.85Ghz CPU and the original 1.8Ghz Model now ships with a 2.0Ghz CPU (with a BTO option of a 2.2Ghz CPU).

Very exciting stuff!!!!

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koaftder wrote:
I'd like to know how the cooling is on the machine. I'm thankful that on my powerbooks, all the heat is radiated away from the battery. My 876MHz 12" power book still gets 2 hours on a battery, and the machine gets up upfront where the ram is, but the battery stays cool. I'm assuming if the battery gets mad hot, i will not last as long.

A G5 iMac gets much hotter than an iNtel iMac... after a days constant useage at the Apple Store (on Regents Street here in London), the iNtel iMac back slightly warm to touch, with a gentle "breeze" from the top vent... the G5 is Very hot (I guestimate about 50C).

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Karlos wrote:
iNtel :lol:

Somebody in apple's marketing department needs brutally murdering and their tattered remains stringing up along the main corridor along with a sign, forged from the entrails, reading: "Use the fricking 'i' prefix one more time, you motherf***ers, I dare you! I double dare you!"

...

sorry, I dunno what came over me there...

Perhaps we should ask the iProphet (iPBUH) ;-)

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Just a quickie to note that the new MacBooks started shipping yesterday!

I've already earmarked funds for a MacBook and Logic 7.2! My GF isn't happy, for some reason she wants to waste my money on a house  :-?

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The_Editor wrote:

Stick to your guns !!

buy the house and she will expect you to decorate it ....

And so on and so forth..  Never ending expense !!

:lol: Why doesn't she understand the value of a MacBook Pro?

I love the ironic title of this thread :-D

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i...  I mean aye :-)

Personally i find iT an iNnovation... iT makes perfect sense... like the "qu" rule.

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It seems apple have used a cheap DC-DC board in the new MacBook Pro causing the typical "cheap laptop" whine that some of us are all too familiar with, when the laptop is under no (or low power) load!

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=374397&tstart=0



Very embarrassing, I hope the Rev B machines fix this issue.


Click here if you haven't heard a DC-DC whine before!

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adonay wrote:
check it out the mac minis can be found with dual core now way cool and even 2gig mem i think i want a new one

Be warned though, that the new mini's do use the integraded iNtel graphics rather than the old ATI gfx chip... I personally think the iMac is a better deal.