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So whats the PPC community's two cents on the new announcements?
- Thread starter Amethyst1
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I'm excited about the M1 Mac Mini, I need to purchase a desktop computer for my son to run X-Plane 11 on for his flight simulator training (he is studying to be a pilot) and after watching and reading info on this it seems that the new Mac Mini will run the program good enough. I realize I could blow more money by going with a Windows machine and have better performance but that isn't really necessary. Also I really don't want to have to go back to a dual OS household, it's so much easier for me only maintaining Mac machines. So as a system for a specific use at $699 (actually cheaper as I get an educational discount!!) this is a no brainer for me! In fact in the blog over at X-Plane they are also blown away and excited at the performance of the new Mac Mini with integrated graphics, and this is without a native M1 X-Plane app!
Thank you Apple for giving me an option for a reasonable amount of money!
My 2 cents!
Thank you Apple for giving me an option for a reasonable amount of money!
My 2 cents!
I still remember when the original Mac mini was $499 for the basic model. Then, with the Intel switch, it was $599. But you were getting a lot more bang for the buck, so...
I feel the sun is setting for PPC with the M1 now out. I will wait until the M1 is bug free before I trade in my 2015 Macbook Pro, just don't like the fact the new M1's will be watching me(kind of Orwellian).
Strictly speaking - M1 is in no way nearby with Power Architecture, because it's ARM-based.
This is starting to sound like a broken record. How many times do we have to debunk this BS?
It's ironic - is that the right word? unfortunate? - it's unfortunate that the switch to M1 coincides with the release of the 2020 edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is one of the most interesting games of recent years because it looks gorgeous and it really taxes your computer. It would have been fascinating to see how well Apple's new hardware coped with it.
It's the first game I've played in recent years that benefits as much from a good CPU and system bus as a good GPU - on my machine it's actually limited by the main CPU thread. It streams the world from the internet, caches a tonne of map data, requires a bunch of RAM to hold all the buildings and generally would be a fantastic test of the M1 system-on-a-chip.
My PC is roughly on a par with an entry-level trashcan Mac Pro albeit with an inferior GPU, and I have a choice between making it look nice but chug when I come in to land, or making it look less nice and chug slightly less. Here's what it looks like:
If there's one thing I learned during 2020 it's what "inert sep on" means, and also that flying through freezing fog is no fun at all even if you're sitting in a comfortable chair at home.
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I wish my computer could run that, right now I'm stuck with IL-2 Sturmovik from 2006. On the note of flight sims, has anyone used one on PPC? It doesn't seem like macs were ever a big platform for that genre especially back then.
I think it might be a good test of Rosetta 2 actually, assuming there's a Mac OS release. From what I know, Rosetta never really could to 3D games very well. I'd be interested to see how Rosetta 2 handles a game this taxing.
I haven't but I'd be interested to see what my SLSD could do, seeing as it's my most powerful PPC machine.
Honestly, this is maybe one of the first released games that, to me, feels properly next gen, and one of the first in years. We've seen evolutionary development for a long, long time in gaming, but everything about this feels so much more. And ironically it doesn't even use Directx 12. The best news is that it was also released on Steam, so if Crossover ever manages to get it running, it should run on the new Macs, but who knows how long that could take?It's ironic - is that the right word? unfortunate? - it's unfortunate that the switch to M1 coincides with the release of the 2020 edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is one of the most interesting games of recent years because it looks gorgeous and it really taxes your computer. It would have been fascinating to see how well Apple's new hardware coped with it.
It's the first game I've played in recent years that benefits as much from a good CPU and system bus as a good GPU - on my machine it's actually limited by the main CPU thread. It streams the world from the internet, caches a tonne of map data, requires a bunch of RAM to hold all the buildings and generally would be a fantastic test of the M1 system-on-a-chip.
My PC is roughly on a par with an entry-level trashcan Mac Pro albeit with an inferior GPU, and I have a choice between making it look nice but chug when I come in to land, or making it look less nice and chug slightly less. Here's what it looks like:
If there's one thing I learned during 2020 it's what "inert sep on" means, and also that flying through freezing fog is no fun at all even if you're sitting in a comfortable chair at home.
Still, taking off from a tiny airport near home, and flying over the place I've lived all my life is utterly magical. I've been playing these sims since FS98, and nothing has ever hit like this one. Almost every random screenshot feels like art. They really have something special.
I gotta say, FS2020 looks pretty awesome. It actually has me considering building a gaming PC again. But to run it at 4K would require a big fat load of grunt.
Might buy FS2020 if I can justify it to see how it runs on my ThinkPad P53 (i7-9750H, Quadro T2000, and 32GB RAM). I'd be interested to see how it runs on there.
That Quadro is going to struggle a little, but the easiest way to try it out is to just get the Xbox Game Pass, it's a part of that.
Now don't get me wrong, that system will definitely run it, and you have enough ram, but you're going to have to keep the settings fairly low. My Ryzen 3600 and RTX 2060 are able to get ok performance out of max settings, where "ok" is 20 fps in places like New York City. It gets much more in more rural areas. You want to install it to an ssd, and you basically need 32 gb of ram or you're going to have a bad time.
1080p. Yeah, I know. And the limiting factor on my system is my GPU. It can do better in more sparse areas, but big cities are performance killers in general. Mind you, you don't feel it anywhere nearly as much as you would in some twitch shooter.
Mostly, if you're interested, it's definitely worth trying, and Microsoft has made it easy to try. I know I'd be trying it out on a laptop like that, if I had one.Ah, ok. Cool! Thanks for the info
At the very least, that system has enough ram, and a powerful enough cpu, you should probably have a decent time at medium settings.
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I mean to be fair, adjusting for inflation a new M1 Mini is only like $30 more than a Gen1 PPC Mini. So, it's not like they're trying to gut everyone with pricing.
That aside, I think I'm more excited than not for the desktop series of Apple Silicon. I'm not really in the place for buying yet (my iMac is only slightly a year old), but my fiancée may be ready for a new MBP or MBA (she does medical transcriptioning and is a hobby artist, so she doesn't really need much outside her iPad Air).
Ok, cool! I am quite interested to see how it handles my area, as I don't live in the most populous area. I don't know if I'll buy it however, as it is quite expensive and I don't generally buy things like games.
For what its worth a $700 budget on a PC can still knock the Mac Mini out with regards to graphics. The M1 GPU is a lot better than the Intel crap in the 2018 Mini but its still behind most dedicated GPUs. Of course if you spend more it'll perform better and on the upside upgrades are easy and doable saving money down the road.I'm excited about the M1 Mac Mini, I need to purchase a desktop computer for my son to run X-Plane 11 on for his flight simulator training (he is studying to be a pilot) and after watching and reading info on this it seems that the new Mac Mini will run the program good enough. I realize I could blow more money by going with a Windows machine and have better performance but that isn't really necessary. Also I really don't want to have to go back to a dual OS household, it's so much easier for me only maintaining Mac machines. So as a system for a specific use at $699 (actually cheaper as I get an educational discount!!) this is a no brainer for me! In fact in the blog over at X-Plane they are also blown away and excited at the performance of the new Mac Mini with integrated graphics, and this is without a native M1 X-Plane app!
Thank you Apple for giving me an option for a reasonable amount of money!
My 2 cents!
I recently switched from a 2018 Mini to a custom built PC. Both were about $1200 CAD. PC knocks it out of the park in everything but number of USB C ports. And in the future I can add more RAM, a better GPU, etc.
What graphics card is in stock right now? I lost track. My 1080 Ti is still kicking but I paid over a grand back then.
I haven't used this, but have been meaning to get around to it for a long time now. If you get around before I do, let us know how it goes.
Take Flight with Fly! II
When people talk about flight simulators for Macs, they mostly talk about X-Plane, but there was another somewhat overlooked flight sim for ...
ppcluddite.blogspot.com
Right now is not the greatest time. Lol. GeForce RTX 3000 series recently just launched and so did the Radeon 6000 series. Lower end cards like the GeForce 1660, 2060 aren't too hard to find right now but 3070s and up are trickier. Not as bad as peak cryptomining though.