My Radical Rumors: G3s across the board!

Hmm...

Do you hear that? You said the Sahara CAN do this and CAN do that. But it wont.

Re: My Radical Rumors: G3s across the board!

Originally posted by rice_web
to Altivec. Well, let me just say that Altivec is terrible at tasks that are not optimized for it. The Sahara would be the G4 in most any OS 9 application, and does pretty well as it stands in OS X.

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Non-Altivec tasks aren't even handled by the Atlivec co-processor, so its not fair to say altivec is terrible at non-optimized tasks, it doesn't even touch them. the regular processor does. On top of that, the G4 without altivec is supposed to be a bit better than the G3 (as most tasks are not altivec aware), or at least thats my understanding.

So, improving on the G4's motherboard should be a lot better than even thinking about furzing around with the G3's.

Rice...

Do you work for motorola or what. How do you know all this and that. And that the Sahara is better

But what about multiple processor support, does the Sahara have that?

The IBM PowerPC roadmap has SMP and an integrated SIMD engine coming in the next generation.

PR nightmare

New Apple ad at MWSF:
Introducing our new 1 ghz G3. That's right potential switchers, we run at 1/3 the mhz of wintels AND we have reverted to our previous generation chip!

I guess the theory is that by now, all the "pro users" who use the "pro machines" are dependent on AltiVec, which the Sahara doesn't have. The G4 will still outperform any G3 at AltiVec-optimized tasks. In that case, the Sahara in the pro lines would be a step down. At the moment, in the eyes of the public, G3 = slow and G4 = fast. Apple would have to rename the Sahara to something snappy and modern... G3-XP?

The G3 is also not MERSI compliant, as far as I know, so no SMP G3 systems will be possible until that gets straightened out. Apple obviously realizes it's getting screwed by Motorola (and has realized this for years) - I wonder if it is merely waiting for AltiVec-compatible SIMD and SMP capability in IBM's PPCs and planning to jump ship and abandon Motorola forever once those arrive. That, I think, would be great. It would hopefully also shut up all the port-OS X-to-Intel idiots.

Alex

New G3 ~ New Name

Nice post rice_web. The only problem I see other than the lack of Altivec would be (as sjs touched on) the fact that switching to the G3 would be seen as a regression-- as if Apple were moving backwards which prove injurious to sales. However, if Apple were to bump up the bus and enhance performance in a number of other ways they could call it a whole new processor and problem solved.

Bill

hmmm

Originally posted by alex_ant
I guess the theory is that by now, all the "pro users" who use the "pro machines" are dependent on AltiVec, which the Sahara doesn't have. The G4 will still outperform any G3 at AltiVec-optimized tasks. In that case, the Sahara in the pro lines would be a step down. At the moment, in the eyes of the public, G3 = slow and G4 = fast. Apple would have to rename the Sahara to something snappy and modern... G3-XP?
Alex

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in my eyes the G4=slow and the G3=slow, but not as overpriced. i have a 933 Power and a 550 Tibook and they are both SLOW. my powerbook has become not much more than a bedside radio for listening to iTunes radio tuner when i sleep. and my tower which is maxed on RAM and has high-speed drives is getting too slow to handle serious Combustion and After Effects work. i can barely stand it anymore. whoever makes claims that OSX "runs like a dream" or "flys" on the current machines is nuts. yeah, it's fast compared to our old Macs, but it's still slow by todays technology standards. but, what choice do we have? Windows? It's a sad state of affairs right now. Lose the G4. Lose AltiVec. Lose Motorola. Do SOMETHING, anything. Don't you want another $4000 from me?

Re: hmmm

Originally posted by tjwett
in my eyes the G4=slow and the G3=slow, but not as overpriced. i have a 933 Power and a 550 Tibook and they are both SLOW. my powerbook has become not much more than a bedside radio for listening to iTunes radio tuner when i sleep. and my tower which is maxed on RAM and has high-speed drives is getting too slow to handle serious Combustion and After Effects work. i can barely stand it anymore. whoever makes claims that OSX "runs like a dream" or "flys" on the current machines is nuts. yeah, it's fast compared to our old Macs, but it's still slow by todays technology standards. but, what choice do we have? Windows? It's a sad state of affairs right now. Lose the G4. Lose AltiVec. Lose Motorola. Do SOMETHING, anything. Don't you want another $4000 from me?

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I also own a 550MHz TiBook, which I use as my primary workstation (!!!!!!!!!!!), and I second everything you said.

oh puhlease~

Ok APPLE is slow ,m but backwards is isnt slow its Backwards!

You are desperate to be posting this.... even if it makes sense ina twisted way.

It would never happen.

Ok maybe if Intel went back to the P3 , telling everyone that the p4 was a mistake and that a 2 ghz P3 is coming to blow everyone away!

I think that could happen first before APPLE does it~!

Originally posted by rice_web
The funny thing is this: I have an iMac DV 400MHz. And yet, it performs just perfectly for me. With 384MB RAM, it most certainly isn't maxed out, and OS X runs much better with 512MB.

However, I run DreamWeaver, Photoshop, BBEdit (and that is one processor hog, I tell you), and all of the iTools 'ceptin fur iDVD.

Now obviously, my demands on my iMac aren't that great, but I really just don't need any more speed.

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I feel similarly with my 550MHz TiBook and my 500MHz iMac DV. They're "fast enough." The fastest PC I've ever used was 550MHz as well. I hope I never have an opportunity to use a modern 2GHz+ PC, because that will ruin everything - my Macs won't seem "fast enough" anymore. This is the dilemma that is winding so many Mac users into a tizzy today, and I think it's justified.

Alex

rice-
I think many of the points you have bought up are perfectly valid, but not quite in the context you see them. I suggest you, and everyone else, looks at what you've written, and rather than thinking 'desktop,' think 'laptop.'

Apple will never move their pro machines back to a G3 for all sorts of obvious reasons, many of which have been stated above.

However, the iBook still uses a G3. Remeber that comment from someone at Apple a few weeks ago that said the G3 still has life in it? Everythng you've said shows why.

Wasting time, money and resources on souping up the G3 for use in Pro machines would be a waste of time for Apple/IBM/Motorola. Why not put those resources into souping up the G4? But at the same time, why not let the G3 evolve into a chip that will make the iBook (and possible future Apple devices?) even more of a killer buy than it is now?

give me my 933 iBook

Yup, give me 933 iBook, 133MHz bus, and say maybe 256 built in so I can up to 768 total for ram, and I am so there. I was playing around with a 700 iBook and a 667 RevB TiBook last weekend, and I was surprised at how the iBook did. Now Photoshop wasn't on either of them, but for applworks, Office and IE were on both, and in some things, the iBook with less ram actually seemed faster! Don't know, maybe I was stoned, but since I don't live in Altivec land, saving the $1000 on the ibook seems like a good deal to me. ( I actually liked the iBook screen better than the Ti believe it or not, now the new rev c is sweet, just pricy!)

Oh well, hopefully we can get another small bump in the iBook in the next three months!

i hear ya...

Originally posted by alex_ant

I feel similarly with my 550MHz TiBook and my 500MHz iMac DV. They're "fast enough." The fastest PC I've ever used was 550MHz as well. I hope I never have an opportunity to use a modern 2GHz+ PC, because that will ruin everything - my Macs won't seem "fast enough" anymore. This is the dilemma that is winding so many Mac users into a tizzy today, and I think it's justified.

Alex

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This is how I got so depressed. A friend had a project due and the clock was ticking. His Mac workstation was down due to storage problems so we had to take the footage elsewhere to work. We rented a post room for the next few days and used the same apps we use everyday(After Effects and Combustion), except on Windows machines. These machines outran our dual 1gigs and didn't break a sweat. The work flow was super fast and he finished early. Granted, the gray interface was ugly to work in but hey, the final product came out great. Point is, the fastest and most expensive Mac has a hard time going up against consumer level PCs at less than half the cost. I think that is lame and I feel like a sucker when I'm chugging along at a cool 1ghz with an empty wallet. Still, I refuse to use Windows, for now.

Re: i hear ya...

Originally posted by tjwett
I think that is lame and I feel like a sucker when I'm chugging along at a cool 1ghz with an empty wallet. Still, I refuse to use Windows, for now.

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Like I keep saying... it's not the speed of the Mac that keeps me here... it's the OS. If I wanted raw power, I'd buy an AMD setup. But I hate Windows, and couldn't bare to run Linux 24/7. I love the Mac OS, and I'm willing to pay the extra $$$ to keep using it. More than happy.

I hope we get a 512K L2 on the new G4s.

check out the benchmarks on barefeats site comparing the 700Mhz iBook to an 800Mhz TiBook and some other models of desktop and powerbook.

The iBook is faster than a dual 800, iMac 800Mhz and the 800MHz TiBook at raw CPU muscle. In the bryce test on the page it totally trashes all the other models. This isn't a test based on Altivec, dual CPU code or how fast the graphics card is. It's just a fair cross platform test.

for example (in seconds) :

iBook 700Mhz : 34

Powerbook G4 800Mhz : 37

iMac 800Mhz : 48

Powermac G4 933Mhz : 33

Powermac G4 1Ghz : 30

and just for comparison....

Althon 1.4Ghz : 21

Pentium 4 1.8Ghz : 42


This suggests a few things to me.

1. A 512K L2 offers a big performance boost.

2. Apple should do a Pentium 4 vs G4 shoot out with bryce instead of photoshop.

3. AMD make the most efficient desktop chips but who cares when you have to stare at windows all day to use them.

4. We need a G4 with a 512K L2 and DDR so people doing work with similar CPU demands to bryce have a fast enough mac to do it.

5. The iBook is the best performing mac for the price.

Re: Re: i hear ya...

Originally posted by Beej
Like I keep saying... it's not the speed of the Mac that keeps me here... it's the OS. If I wanted raw power, I'd buy an AMD setup. But I hate Windows, and couldn't bare to run Linux 24/7. I love the Mac OS, and I'm willing to pay the extra $$$ to keep using it. More than happy.

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Oh no Beej!!, you're stranded on a desert Island!!!!

Yes I totaly agree on the OS keeps me around point. NOt only the OS, but the Form factor and programs too. I'm hooked on Final Cut after about three weeks, I can't go back to Media 100 and I can't afford and avid setup, so here I am. Even if my workflow is slower, When its done its dome better because I take my time with it. Its a labor of love.

Also cxonsider this: the Newtech G4 upgrade for the pismo comes with 1MB on the L2, they seem to undestand this cache thing, and it cost a wopping $300. I can't wait to get mine!!