OT: Which is better, Wintel P4 machine or Power PC G4
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OT: Which is better, Wintel P4 machine or Power PC G4
I am planning on purchasing either a Pentium 4 1.8 Ghz computer or an Apple Power PC G4. I know the Wintel machines are cheaper and have more software available, but what are it's disadvantages, and what are the pros and cons of the Mac. Thanks in advance.
Joel
Joel
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Honistly you should use what ever you use at work, or which OS you know best
Personally I am a PC guy. Mac's you are limited by the amount of software out there, and that like 80% of the market is owned by PC/Microsoft owners. Mac's have historically been better at graphic applications. Word, or Excel, etc will be the same on either machine.
PC's are cheaper, and do everything a Mac can do. Mac's are neater looking, and can usually do graphic stuff better/faster.
PC's are cheaper, and do everything a Mac can do. Mac's are neater looking, and can usually do graphic stuff better/faster.
AudiWorld Super User
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From: Texas
More games on a PC if that's important to you.
Eventually the best games make their way to the Mac.
Argually, the Mac has lower TCO (total cost of ownership) and is easier to use. Mac OS X, the current shipping OS from Apple on Macintoshes is very easy to use, but is more comparable in <B>power</B> to an SGI workstation running IRIX than a Windows PC.
Thinking of Macs as "only for graphics" is <U>serious</U> old-school thinking and ignorant of the current state of applications. Many will say that the PC has more programs, but in reality it has more <U>games</U>.
Both platforms have <I>x</I>,000 programs you'll never use or need.
Argually, the Mac has lower TCO (total cost of ownership) and is easier to use. Mac OS X, the current shipping OS from Apple on Macintoshes is very easy to use, but is more comparable in <B>power</B> to an SGI workstation running IRIX than a Windows PC.
Thinking of Macs as "only for graphics" is <U>serious</U> old-school thinking and ignorant of the current state of applications. Many will say that the PC has more programs, but in reality it has more <U>games</U>.
Both platforms have <I>x</I>,000 programs you'll never use or need.
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Whatever you buy, look at the complete system -- don't skimp on the graphics, etc
Remember:
1. performance = (avg work done per clock cycle) * (clock cycles per second)
2. Most of the time the processor is waiting for something else (modem, hard drive, video card)
Intel's P-4 doesn't do as much per cycle as either the Athlon or G-4. In most cases, a 1.4 GHz Athlon is definitely faster than 1.8 GHz P-4.
BTW, if you're looking at Mac's (and my friends running OS X love it), you should consider waiting until the new 1.2 - 1.6 GHz G5 Mac's come out (rumored for MacWorld in January). A G5 PowerPC at 1.6 GHz should be substantially faster than 2.0 GHz P-4's.
But, it's more important to get a good graphics card, good printer, fast hard drive, fast memory (DDR, or RAMBUS if you like paying more) and most important of all, BROADBAND access (DSL / cable).
Tony
1. performance = (avg work done per clock cycle) * (clock cycles per second)
2. Most of the time the processor is waiting for something else (modem, hard drive, video card)
Intel's P-4 doesn't do as much per cycle as either the Athlon or G-4. In most cases, a 1.4 GHz Athlon is definitely faster than 1.8 GHz P-4.
BTW, if you're looking at Mac's (and my friends running OS X love it), you should consider waiting until the new 1.2 - 1.6 GHz G5 Mac's come out (rumored for MacWorld in January). A G5 PowerPC at 1.6 GHz should be substantially faster than 2.0 GHz P-4's.
But, it's more important to get a good graphics card, good printer, fast hard drive, fast memory (DDR, or RAMBUS if you like paying more) and most important of all, BROADBAND access (DSL / cable).
Tony
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amd athlon xp over p4
go see the benchmarks on anandtech or sharkyextreme, or any other hardware site. cheaper too.
as for a g4...hmmm. megahertz myths aside, i still think it's pretty hard for apple to claim better performance than a top-of-the line x86 machine except for some very particular applications. but are you really looking for absolute best number crunching anyway (compiling large apps or 3d modeling, etc.)? my guess is if you were the type, you wouldn't be asking here. macos 10.1 has a lot going for it. before osx, i wouldn't have given a mac much consideration in a new computer purchase. now i found myself wavering, but in the end, i think i'd personally probably pick the athlon system--but also because it means i wouldn't have to rebuild and reinstall my windows/linux box which would be a large hassle, as well as obtaining all new software.
i don't think the software availability argument against the mac is so strong unless you have very specific application needs. you'll have office, photoshop, ie, netscape, quark, acrobat, various compilers, java, you inherit the bsd legacy and a host of traditional unix applications.... and i love the new user interface.
but again, athlon xp over the p4 in a heartbeat.
as for a g4...hmmm. megahertz myths aside, i still think it's pretty hard for apple to claim better performance than a top-of-the line x86 machine except for some very particular applications. but are you really looking for absolute best number crunching anyway (compiling large apps or 3d modeling, etc.)? my guess is if you were the type, you wouldn't be asking here. macos 10.1 has a lot going for it. before osx, i wouldn't have given a mac much consideration in a new computer purchase. now i found myself wavering, but in the end, i think i'd personally probably pick the athlon system--but also because it means i wouldn't have to rebuild and reinstall my windows/linux box which would be a large hassle, as well as obtaining all new software.
i don't think the software availability argument against the mac is so strong unless you have very specific application needs. you'll have office, photoshop, ie, netscape, quark, acrobat, various compilers, java, you inherit the bsd legacy and a host of traditional unix applications.... and i love the new user interface.
but again, athlon xp over the p4 in a heartbeat.
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Games???? who has time for games... have a PS1 that has not been turned on in over a year. ;)
I guess I was taloring my response towards a business/productivity frame of mind.... I do not consider gaming as a descision tool (even though that is what seams to be driving the market these days) when it comes to what computer to buy.
Been out of the Mac market for a few years, so you are telling me that there is some new killer app that makes the mac useful in other areas besides graphcs??? And from what I have heard, OSX has its share of compatabilty issues as well.
I have always like the MAC platform, but being an engineer, I was forced to the dark side (Wintel) as ALL of the cad tools are PC based - they flat out do not exist in the mac market (Orcad, PADS PCB, SPICE to name a few).
Been out of the Mac market for a few years, so you are telling me that there is some new killer app that makes the mac useful in other areas besides graphcs??? And from what I have heard, OSX has its share of compatabilty issues as well.
I have always like the MAC platform, but being an engineer, I was forced to the dark side (Wintel) as ALL of the cad tools are PC based - they flat out do not exist in the mac market (Orcad, PADS PCB, SPICE to name a few).
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Pick what you like to work with
The 'which one is better' stuff is overrated. If you find an OS that you are comfortable with, go for it. I use both platforms, and I find I enjoy working on the Mac much more than the PC. You can find applications to do what you want to do on both platforms relatively easily. Games are the exception, but even that is changing now that OSX has come along for the mac.
Oh, and since you are a TT owner, you do have a sense of style about you, so those icky PC thingies may be to drab for you
Oh, and since you are a TT owner, you do have a sense of style about you, so those icky PC thingies may be to drab for you
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