javabear90
macrumors 6502a
if someone wants to Really see if the G5 is the fastest they should install the same os. Same hdd, same grafics.... Same ram etc. Or as close as possible. Then run the benchmarks..
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Apple 'world's fastest' Claim...
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djbahdow01
macrumors 6502a
javabear90 said:
Too bad thats virtually imposible. Can't swap OS's although you can basically put in the same amout of other stuff. The processor is going to be different as well. Best tests would be against an AMD64 and a G5 both dual, running 160 GB SATA or (2) 160 GB Raid 0, 1GB DDR400 RAM, and a Radeon 9800. Both with 4x DVD-R's. My guess is that would be the closest. But who knows benchmarks look good but when i can't "see" how it works on both then i can't say which one is quicker. All i can say is that for the work i plan on doing the G5 "should" do it better.
djbahdow01 said:
but couldnt you install a 64-bit linux or unix on both machines? i know someone released (or is planning to release) a 64-bit linux for the G5, and im sure there is one for the x86 architecture
javabear90
macrumors 6502a
sakasune said:
exactly. Put the same distro of linux on both of them. You would have to do one for ppc and one for x86 but......
ya
jsw
Moderator emeritus
javabear90 said:
Yeah, but that proves nothing, assuming they could fit, say the same rev of Linux on both. People would always claim, on either side, that the software you installed was biased for or against the G5.
Frankly, I think it's all BS. To me, "fastest" means this: take about a day's worth of typical tasks. Put two people of the same ability (or run it twice, with each person on each machine) on the fastest Mac and on the fastest PC (or, to be fair, one person on each of the platforms you're evaluating, including, say, Linux and Solaris). See which platform does the job fastest.
And, assuming they're all within 10% or so, which I'd guess to be the case because most people spend most of their time doing things which don't task the CPU, then fine. They're all about the same. Pick the one you like the best.
Speed is important. But ease of use is more important. That's why most people - even single people - drive cars instead of motorcycles.
Jeff Goldbloom
That was his BEST movie and the only reason I give him much credit.
fenlyn said:
That was his BEST movie and the only reason I give him much credit.
Apple Genius reservations?
Segregation.
Discrimination.
Pro Care Activation.
Time to get Jessie Jackson on Apple's case. 😡
"Hi, I'd like to reserve a Mac Genius"
"Would you like the 15 minute rate at $30 the first 1/2 hr but not to exceed 31 minutes?"
"I am not sure. I mean, I don't know how long it will take"
"Oh, then may I suggest the 60 minute rate at $70 for the first 60 minutes. You get more minutes than the 1/2 hour rate"
" Wow, that's a bargain"
Yeah, they need to use the Mac OS scientific calculator to figure their bargain...and they NEED morethan one genius for that!
Segregation.
Discrimination.
Pro Care Activation.
Time to get Jessie Jackson on Apple's case. 😡
"Hi, I'd like to reserve a Mac Genius"
"Would you like the 15 minute rate at $30 the first 1/2 hr but not to exceed 31 minutes?"
"I am not sure. I mean, I don't know how long it will take"
"Oh, then may I suggest the 60 minute rate at $70 for the first 60 minutes. You get more minutes than the 1/2 hour rate"
" Wow, that's a bargain"
Yeah, they need to use the Mac OS scientific calculator to figure their bargain...and they NEED morethan one genius for that!
they should just say the G5 is the world's fastest macintosh, then nobody would be nitpicking at the speed. how can you compare a PC to a Mac in terms of raw speed? The architechtures are pretty different as far as I understand, people need to come to their senses and realize they are too different in terms of computation to effectively measure the difference objectively. Apple can develop their own propietary coding to improve the speed of functions, as can any PC manufacturer.
It's akin to comparing a Subaru WRX to a BMW M5 (used as comparison because my friend has both, insert Pocket Rocket and Luxury Sedan of your choice), the Subaru can outrun the M5, and saves you plenty of dough. But the ride is nowhere near as smooth, luxurious, comfortable or consistent as the M5. For those who are concerned with money or pure performance, the Subaru is ideal. However, those who enjoy the practicallity of the M5 as well as the various creature comforts, etc, it's a clear win for the M5. Two totally different categories of car, two totally different categories of computer.
It's akin to comparing a Subaru WRX to a BMW M5 (used as comparison because my friend has both, insert Pocket Rocket and Luxury Sedan of your choice), the Subaru can outrun the M5, and saves you plenty of dough. But the ride is nowhere near as smooth, luxurious, comfortable or consistent as the M5. For those who are concerned with money or pure performance, the Subaru is ideal. However, those who enjoy the practicallity of the M5 as well as the various creature comforts, etc, it's a clear win for the M5. Two totally different categories of car, two totally different categories of computer.
thatwendigo
macrumors 6502a
I'm surprised that this has been left unchallenged for so long. Disregarding the opening insult, let's get down to nuts and bolts:
Expecting a large OEM to meet hand-built prices is business insanity, and you won't find it in the PC world, let alone at Apple. Only one PC manufacturer is making a profit right now, and they manage it on sheer volume of sales. The others are hemorrhaging money and barely surviving because of their attempts to compete in the low-price market. Gateway was just used to rebrand eMachines, for example.
Running an install disc for a major manufacturer's USB peripheral 802.11b bridge on my friend's computer ended up killing the whole thing. I'm no Windows guru, but the easy answer was pretty obvious... Reinstall Windows.
On the flip side, my Airport card slotted into my old Tangerine iBook (Rev A), and then into its Snow iBook replacement. Neither one has ever had any problems, and both played amazingly well wherever I took them. I've started wardriving/warwalking as a hobby, just to see where there are open access points around town, and it's easy for me to get access just by being in range.
I've been using OS X on some eight or nine machines, concurrently, since the public beta. I've had a grand total of five kernel panics on all of them, put together, since before 10.0 was official. By contrast, I hear constant questions from coworkers about how to fix driver issues (and worse) on their single machines they have at home.
My dad is on a corporate network, based largely on Windows and various *nix flavors, using some services that aren't native to OS X. That being said, he does everything his coworkers do, doesn't get the virii and other problems, can use all their networked printers and other resources, telnets to their terminal room, and can fileshare on demand with anyone on the network.
I do similar, though less secure, things with my iBook, and had a LAN with my roommate's PC tower where we would use each other's HDs as backups when doing something particularly dangerous with installing third party or Open Source apps.
I've never had an issue with this, and neither has anyone else I know. Maybe it's a problem with your setup, or some particular software that you're using.
I did, and I gladly paid for each update. The OS has really improved by leaps and bounds as time has gone on, and the major point updates have been worth the cost for the new life they breathe into my machines. Each time, performance has improved.
I find Expose and minimizing to be superior for me. Maybe you're trying to generalize your beliefs to everyone unjustifiably?
Hardware issued by outside vendors is not the fault of Apple.
That's a valid, though extremely minor concern, since WinAmp is a product by an outside vendor. For a version of WinAmp that can do what iTunes does, you shell out $15. For $5, you can get a little widget called Synergy that shows you track name, artist, album art, and other information in a translucent panel that disappears after a few seconds, and has a configurable controller that sits in the menu bar.
Says someone who posts neither their results nor their methods, as Apple has. I think I know who I'll stick with.
Two words: DirectX support.
Your PC is using optimizations that just aren't available on the mac, and so it will get more from comparatively lower and cheaper hardware, for as long as GPU manufacturers go along with DirectX. OpenGL is often an afterthought for the PC game coders, and so the performance is lackluster on their hardware, let alone on ports of code that's already a little below the standard that you're going to be used to from a Wintel machine.
I game on a G4 1.4ghz with 768MB of RAM, Geforce 3, and an SATA controller for the drive. I run Warcraft 3 at 1152x800 and Halo at the same resolution, and both of them only ever slow down for the connection, not for combat or anything processor or system related.
Only if you're dealing in FPS rates that are higher than we can probably perceive (as the top of the line 9800 XT and x86 processors are starting to), is it ever going to be noticeable. I've played on PC gaming rigs... So what? I don't feel like dealing with the headaches of Windows to get an extra couple of frames on something I'm doing for fun, in any case.
Powerbooks are using Radeon 9600 Mobility GPUs, SuperDrives, and get a hell of a lot longer battery life than the AMD Athlon64 desktop replacement books do. Also, the Athlons I've seen are all clunky (8-9 lbs, plus) and thick.
There are more roaches than people. Are the roaches superior?
In all fairnes, they are better at one thing... In the event of nuclear war, there will still be roaches. Giant, glowing, horrible roaches that will spell the end of any person who survives. 😀
benpatient said:
Expecting a large OEM to meet hand-built prices is business insanity, and you won't find it in the PC world, let alone at Apple. Only one PC manufacturer is making a profit right now, and they manage it on sheer volume of sales. The others are hemorrhaging money and barely surviving because of their attempts to compete in the low-price market. Gateway was just used to rebrand eMachines, for example.
Running an install disc for a major manufacturer's USB peripheral 802.11b bridge on my friend's computer ended up killing the whole thing. I'm no Windows guru, but the easy answer was pretty obvious... Reinstall Windows.
On the flip side, my Airport card slotted into my old Tangerine iBook (Rev A), and then into its Snow iBook replacement. Neither one has ever had any problems, and both played amazingly well wherever I took them. I've started wardriving/warwalking as a hobby, just to see where there are open access points around town, and it's easy for me to get access just by being in range.
I've been using OS X on some eight or nine machines, concurrently, since the public beta. I've had a grand total of five kernel panics on all of them, put together, since before 10.0 was official. By contrast, I hear constant questions from coworkers about how to fix driver issues (and worse) on their single machines they have at home.
My dad is on a corporate network, based largely on Windows and various *nix flavors, using some services that aren't native to OS X. That being said, he does everything his coworkers do, doesn't get the virii and other problems, can use all their networked printers and other resources, telnets to their terminal room, and can fileshare on demand with anyone on the network.
I do similar, though less secure, things with my iBook, and had a LAN with my roommate's PC tower where we would use each other's HDs as backups when doing something particularly dangerous with installing third party or Open Source apps.
I've never had an issue with this, and neither has anyone else I know. Maybe it's a problem with your setup, or some particular software that you're using.
I did, and I gladly paid for each update. The OS has really improved by leaps and bounds as time has gone on, and the major point updates have been worth the cost for the new life they breathe into my machines. Each time, performance has improved.
I find Expose and minimizing to be superior for me. Maybe you're trying to generalize your beliefs to everyone unjustifiably?
Hardware issued by outside vendors is not the fault of Apple.
That's a valid, though extremely minor concern, since WinAmp is a product by an outside vendor. For a version of WinAmp that can do what iTunes does, you shell out $15. For $5, you can get a little widget called Synergy that shows you track name, artist, album art, and other information in a translucent panel that disappears after a few seconds, and has a configurable controller that sits in the menu bar.
Says someone who posts neither their results nor their methods, as Apple has. I think I know who I'll stick with.
Two words: DirectX support.
Your PC is using optimizations that just aren't available on the mac, and so it will get more from comparatively lower and cheaper hardware, for as long as GPU manufacturers go along with DirectX. OpenGL is often an afterthought for the PC game coders, and so the performance is lackluster on their hardware, let alone on ports of code that's already a little below the standard that you're going to be used to from a Wintel machine.
I game on a G4 1.4ghz with 768MB of RAM, Geforce 3, and an SATA controller for the drive. I run Warcraft 3 at 1152x800 and Halo at the same resolution, and both of them only ever slow down for the connection, not for combat or anything processor or system related.
Only if you're dealing in FPS rates that are higher than we can probably perceive (as the top of the line 9800 XT and x86 processors are starting to), is it ever going to be noticeable. I've played on PC gaming rigs... So what? I don't feel like dealing with the headaches of Windows to get an extra couple of frames on something I'm doing for fun, in any case.
Powerbooks are using Radeon 9600 Mobility GPUs, SuperDrives, and get a hell of a lot longer battery life than the AMD Athlon64 desktop replacement books do. Also, the Athlons I've seen are all clunky (8-9 lbs, plus) and thick.
There are more roaches than people. Are the roaches superior?
In all fairnes, they are better at one thing... In the event of nuclear war, there will still be roaches. Giant, glowing, horrible roaches that will spell the end of any person who survives. 😀
oingoboingo
macrumors 6502a
benpatient said:
Right click on the iTunes icon in the dock. It will bring up a menu showing you the currently playing song and artist. It also has menu entries for 'Next Song', 'Previous Song' etc. You don't need to bring iTunes up out of the dock. If you want an always-visible indication of what's going on in iTunes, as well as easily accessible iTunes controls all the time in the menu bar, take a look at a program called Synergy...try looking on www.versiontracker.com. It does everything you're asking for.
Alternatively, you could just find another MP3 player that does what you're asking. iTunes just happens to be the music player bundled with OS X. You're not limited to just using Windows Media Player on Windows, are you?
