Apple Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger - ** ANANDTECH'S REVIEW POSTED **

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Hmmm, searching on the device ID shows my video as an ati mobility radeon 9700...

From what I hear, with that GPU, Tiger would give you a nice performance boost.

That's good to read. I don't have any problems with the performance anyhow, except for maybe the hard drive. 😛

When I've updated to the latest version of OS X I've jumped in at the beginning... Not sure what I'll be doing this time.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Hmmm, searching on the device ID shows my video as an ati mobility radeon 9700...

Lucky bastard.😛 I have a Rev. A 12" PB, all I have is a GF4MX Go420, so no pixel shading/core image for me.🙁

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Hmmm, searching on the device ID shows my video as an ati mobility radeon 9700...

Lucky bastard.😛 I have a Rev. A 12" PB, all I have is a GF4MX Go420, so no pixel shading/core image for me.🙁

nVidia is the biggest reason I went with a 15" instead of a 12".

 

[Eug]

Actually the GeForce FX Go5200 supports Core Image in hardware. I've been told though that some of the stuff is actually faster on the CPU though. 😛

Here's hoping my next-gen 12" (or 13" widescreen 😉) PowerBook in the fall gets a Radeon X600 or something. I really don't want a 15", and I want a GPU better than that 5200.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I'm just hoping apple bumps up the minimum ram to 512MB. I'm planning on buying a 12" iBook this summer and it'd be really nice. Don't care as much about video though. 😛

 

[Eug]

Here is the Tiger welcome movie that gets played when you install Tiger. (CTRL-click on the link to download the movie to disk.) Note that the 2nd half of the movie is plain black cuz that's when you set up your accounts and register, etc.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

I think I am going to purchase Tiger soon! I am going to buy a new video card for my G4. Apple sells an OEM Radeon 9700 AGP 4x/2x card for the G4. I didn't call up Apple yet to find out what the price was. But then, I was also looking at the Radeon 9800 Pro for my G4. It's compatible with AGP 2x, and I would probably want the best to go in my G4. 😛 I bet Tiger would run great on the 9800 Pro! I would want my G4 to support Core Image fully. I am too poor to purchase a G5, or even a Powerbook at the moment. 😛

 

[omissible]

I wish they'd release a mid-level headless machine that actually has some power.

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2328&p=6

You'd be hard pressed to get close to 100% CPU utilization on even the low end 1.25GHz G4 without resorting to video encoding, and most importantly, the system is as smooth as can be with 512MB.

 

[RichieZ]

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
I think I am going to purchase Tiger soon! I am going to buy a new video card for my G4. Apple sells an OEM Radeon 9700 AGP 4x/2x card for the G4. I didn't call up Apple yet to find out what the price was. But then, I was also looking at the Radeon 9800 Pro for my G4. It's compatible with AGP 2x, and I would probably want the best to go in my G4. 😛 I bet Tiger would run great on the 9800 Pro! I would want my G4 to support Core Image fully. I am too poor to purchase a G5, or even a Powerbook at the moment. 😛

dont' you have an emac? I didn't know the video card was upgradeable

 

[RichieZ]

Originally posted by: Eug
Actually the GeForce FX Go5200 supports Core Image in hardware. I've been told though that some of the stuff is actually faster on the CPU though. 😛

Here's hoping my next-gen 12" (or 13" widescreen 😉) PowerBook in the fall gets a Radeon X600 or something. I really don't want a 15", and I want a GPU better than that 5200.

dammit! I upgraded from the ibook to the powerbook to get dvi and core image support.

o well I acutally made money when I upgraded 😀

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: RichieZ

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
I think I am going to purchase Tiger soon! I am going to buy a new video card for my G4. Apple sells an OEM Radeon 9700 AGP 4x/2x card for the G4. I didn't call up Apple yet to find out what the price was. But then, I was also looking at the Radeon 9800 Pro for my G4. It's compatible with AGP 2x, and I would probably want the best to go in my G4. 😛 I bet Tiger would run great on the 9800 Pro! I would want my G4 to support Core Image fully. I am too poor to purchase a G5, or even a Powerbook at the moment. 😛

dont' you have an emac? I didn't know the video card was upgradeable

The video card in the emac is not upgradeable at all. I own both an emac and a Powermac G4 400. I am upgrading the video card in my G4. It still has the stock ATI Rage 128 AGP card.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

So when is this going to be OEMed out with the retail units? I'm currently trying to get a Mini for my future in-laws and want it to have the latest OS.

- M4H

 

[ViRGE]

Anything you buy now will likely be elligable for a free upgrade, M4H. Units won't ship with it until it's released in a month or so.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Anything you buy now will likely be elligable for a free upgrade, M4H. Units won't ship with it until it's released in a month or so.

No, I don't believe that's correct. IIRC, you usually don't get the next OS for free with a hardware purchase unless it's been officially announced.

So M4H, wait for the official announcement before you buy. After they announce it they should probably also announce that you'll get a voucher for Tiger if your machine doesn't come with it. It may mean a $20 "shipping and handling" fee for Tiger though, which is irritating, unless you get the copy from your store directly for free or something.

But yeah, it will take a month or so before Mac mini machines actually ship with Tiger preinstalled.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy

Originally posted by: RichieZ

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
I think I am going to purchase Tiger soon! I am going to buy a new video card for my G4. Apple sells an OEM Radeon 9700 AGP 4x/2x card for the G4. I didn't call up Apple yet to find out what the price was. But then, I was also looking at the Radeon 9800 Pro for my G4. It's compatible with AGP 2x, and I would probably want the best to go in my G4. 😛 I bet Tiger would run great on the 9800 Pro! I would want my G4 to support Core Image fully. I am too poor to purchase a G5, or even a Powerbook at the moment. 😛

dont' you have an emac? I didn't know the video card was upgradeable

The video card in the emac is not upgradeable at all. I own both an emac and a Powermac G4 400. I am upgrading the video card in my G4. It still has the stock ATI Rage 128 AGP card.

You're talking about putting a *$300* (!!!) video card into a G4/400? The G4/400 is ancient. I'd suggest upgrading your G4 to something newer (say, a G4/1400 or G4/1700) _long_ before spending that kind of $$$ on a video card that will be far, far faster than your current CPU can push it. Most Mac rags say there's not a whole lot of benefit to the faster CPUs in the slower (that's...any G4-based) Macs once you get past the 9700, etc. territory.

eBay probably has some Radeon 7500 and 9000 series models for under $100. That would probably be a far better match.

I have a GeForce 3/64MB (Asus model - flashed from a PC) in mine. Works great, and it's faster than even the newer FX5200s that are in today's Macs. It walks all over the FX5200 To Go that's in my PB 12" 1.33....

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
It doesn't look like the Mac mini will support core image. I don't plan on running Mac OS X on the mini anyhow. 😱

I can't figure out how to find out what video card I have in my powerbook though. I can't find a part number anywhere, and there's no place on the website to look at previous models. 😕

http://www.info.apple.com/support/applespec.html

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
So when is this going to be OEMed out with the retail units? I'm currently trying to get a Mini for my future in-laws and want it to have the latest OS.

- M4H

Probably around month's end if you're buying from Apple direct. If you purchase from a reseller, you'll either need to do Up-to-Date or they'll supply a flat pack CD.

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy

Originally posted by: RichieZ

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
I think I am going to purchase Tiger soon! I am going to buy a new video card for my G4. Apple sells an OEM Radeon 9700 AGP 4x/2x card for the G4. I didn't call up Apple yet to find out what the price was. But then, I was also looking at the Radeon 9800 Pro for my G4. It's compatible with AGP 2x, and I would probably want the best to go in my G4. 😛 I bet Tiger would run great on the 9800 Pro! I would want my G4 to support Core Image fully. I am too poor to purchase a G5, or even a Powerbook at the moment. 😛

dont' you have an emac? I didn't know the video card was upgradeable

The video card in the emac is not upgradeable at all. I own both an emac and a Powermac G4 400. I am upgrading the video card in my G4. It still has the stock ATI Rage 128 AGP card.

You're talking about putting a *$300* (!!!) video card into a G4/400? The G4/400 is ancient. I'd suggest upgrading your G4 to something newer (say, a G4/1400 or G4/1700) _long_ before spending that kind of $$$ on a video card that will be far, far faster than your current CPU can push it. Most Mac rags say there's not a whole lot of benefit to the faster CPUs in the slower (that's...any G4-based) Macs once you get past the 9700, etc. territory.

eBay probably has some Radeon 7500 and 9000 series models for under $100. That would probably be a far better match.

I have a GeForce 3/64MB (Asus model - flashed from a PC) in mine. Works great, and it's faster than even the newer FX5200s that are in today's Macs. It walks all over the FX5200 To Go that's in my PB 12" 1.33....

How do you flash PC video cards to be Mac compatible?

 

[manly]

Just checked out the VoiceOver demo. They need to license the AT&T Natural Voices TTS engine. 🙂

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy

Originally posted by: RichieZ

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
I think I am going to purchase Tiger soon! I am going to buy a new video card for my G4. Apple sells an OEM Radeon 9700 AGP 4x/2x card for the G4. I didn't call up Apple yet to find out what the price was. But then, I was also looking at the Radeon 9800 Pro for my G4. It's compatible with AGP 2x, and I would probably want the best to go in my G4. 😛 I bet Tiger would run great on the 9800 Pro! I would want my G4 to support Core Image fully. I am too poor to purchase a G5, or even a Powerbook at the moment. 😛

dont' you have an emac? I didn't know the video card was upgradeable

The video card in the emac is not upgradeable at all. I own both an emac and a Powermac G4 400. I am upgrading the video card in my G4. It still has the stock ATI Rage 128 AGP card.

You're talking about putting a *$300* (!!!) video card into a G4/400? The G4/400 is ancient. I'd suggest upgrading your G4 to something newer (say, a G4/1400 or G4/1700) _long_ before spending that kind of $$$ on a video card that will be far, far faster than your current CPU can push it. Most Mac rags say there's not a whole lot of benefit to the faster CPUs in the slower (that's...any G4-based) Macs once you get past the 9700, etc. territory.

eBay probably has some Radeon 7500 and 9000 series models for under $100. That would probably be a far better match.

I have a GeForce 3/64MB (Asus model - flashed from a PC) in mine. Works great, and it's faster than even the newer FX5200s that are in today's Macs. It walks all over the FX5200 To Go that's in my PB 12" 1.33....

The problem is that Core Image needs a ARB fragment shader capable card (e.g. DirectX 9 class hardware/shader model 2). Thus, he should be looking at an FX5200 or better. Unfortunately, your GF3 won't be able to run core image on the card itself, and you'll have to fall back on the Altivec on the CPU.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy

Originally posted by: RichieZ

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
I think I am going to purchase Tiger soon! I am going to buy a new video card for my G4. Apple sells an OEM Radeon 9700 AGP 4x/2x card for the G4. I didn't call up Apple yet to find out what the price was. But then, I was also looking at the Radeon 9800 Pro for my G4. It's compatible with AGP 2x, and I would probably want the best to go in my G4. 😛 I bet Tiger would run great on the 9800 Pro! I would want my G4 to support Core Image fully. I am too poor to purchase a G5, or even a Powerbook at the moment. 😛

dont' you have an emac? I didn't know the video card was upgradeable

The video card in the emac is not upgradeable at all. I own both an emac and a Powermac G4 400. I am upgrading the video card in my G4. It still has the stock ATI Rage 128 AGP card.

You're talking about putting a *$300* (!!!) video card into a G4/400? The G4/400 is ancient. I'd suggest upgrading your G4 to something newer (say, a G4/1400 or G4/1700) _long_ before spending that kind of $$$ on a video card that will be far, far faster than your current CPU can push it. Most Mac rags say there's not a whole lot of benefit to the faster CPUs in the slower (that's...any G4-based) Macs once you get past the 9700, etc. territory.

eBay probably has some Radeon 7500 and 9000 series models for under $100. That would probably be a far better match.

I have a GeForce 3/64MB (Asus model - flashed from a PC) in mine. Works great, and it's faster than even the newer FX5200s that are in today's Macs. It walks all over the FX5200 To Go that's in my PB 12" 1.33....

I don't consider my G4 ancient. If I were to get a new computer, it would probably be a G5, but I am too broke at the moment. My G4 will be my main machine for the time being.

As for a faster CPU, there won't be much of a difference in word processing, web surfing, etc. But when there are tasks that rely on the CPU speed and Altivec, i.e Photoshop, Final Cut, etc. then you will see a speed difference.

 

[wickedone]

I just looked at there web Site to see what a G-5 cost. I am going to be buying maybe my last PC and was thinking hard of starting off with a FX 55 and DFI NF4 for the base of my system. Othere parts I have not decided on yet. Even with geting a FX 55 the G5 is very expensive.
I only am considering a G5 Because I am abot to quit palying games just dont have the time.
The price of the G-5 compared to what I can build may be hard for me to justify.

 

[Sunner]

Ok, I give up.

What's Core Image?

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: Sunner
Ok, I give up.

What's Core Image?

Core Image

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
I don't consider my G4 ancient. If I were to get a new computer, it would probably be a G5, but I am too broke at the moment. My G4 will be my main machine for the time being.

As for a faster CPU, there won't be much of a difference in word processing, web surfing, etc. But when there are tasks that rely on the CPU speed and Altivec, i.e Photoshop, Final Cut, etc. then you will see a speed difference.

Right - but why put $300 into such an aging machine? You'll hit the CPU's limits far before the graphics card's limit - what's the point?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: sparkyclarky
The problem is that Core Image needs a ARB fragment shader capable card (e.g. DirectX 9 class hardware/shader model 2). Thus, he should be looking at an FX5200 or better. Unfortunately, your GF3 won't be able to run core image on the card itself, and you'll have to fall back on the Altivec on the CPU.

Agreed - but there's no FX5200 on the common Mac market that works in an old G4. The cheapest he can use that will support CI is the 9800, and it's debatable what would happen with CI support on a G4/400 - and how fast it would be.

I'm aware the GF3 won't do CoreImage in hardware - for $80 that I paid for it several years ago, and for all the great speed it's given me, I'm not complaining a bit. It's *still* faster than most of the graphics cards in Macs, even today. (That's assuming most Macs have Radeon 9200 and less graphics cards, and if we look at volume on the market, I'm pretty certain that's correct. )