WHICH is better MAC MINI!!!

[scruffles]

jsut deciding in about the same price range which I should purchase:

the 1.25 gig mac mini with 1 gig installed myself

or

the 1.42 gig with 512mb


My main reason for the attempt to get the most out of it is that i want the new OS ans still be able to continue to play Unreal Tournament 2004.(i'm utterly addicted!!) Everything else I do doesn't make any difference how much ram(512 the minimum) or the processor speed.

So summed up, which seteup do you think would get me the best UT2k play?

 

[CraigRT]

ut2k4 actual FPS, 1.42/512 RAM... everything else, 1.25/1gig RAM.

 

[thirdlegstump]

I'd go for the 1.42/512mb. My 1.25/512mb is rockin. Got it today.

 

[Excelsior]

u2tk4 on a 9200 32MB? Wow..thats stretching it...but...what Craig said. Id personally get the 1GB 1.25 though.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: deathkoba
I'd go for the 1.42/512mb. My 1.25/512mb is rockin. Got it today.

How much did it cost you, out the door for everything, just out of curiousity?

 

[scruffles]

thanks for the input guys, anyone else have a go at it?

more than, that anyone else actually play ut2k4 on it yet?

 

[aplefka]

I'd have to say that the MacMini is a little computer for a lot of money. At least from what I've looked at it makes more sense to look at the low budget system on the system builder's guide in the forum, but to each his own. With that system though, you at least get a monitor.

 

[scruffles]

importante`:*****, if anyone is getting the mini from the apple store, student discounts apply, you save a few bucks**

 

[killershroom]

Originally posted by: scruffles
more than, that anyone else actually play ut2k4 on it yet?

To buy this thing and actually think it will have any sort of gaming performance is semi-laughable.....

 

[scruffles]

Originally posted by: killershroom

Originally posted by: scruffles
more than, that anyone else actually play ut2k4 on it yet?

To buy this thing and actually think it will have any sort of gaming performance is semi-laughable.....

-------------------------------------------

i only want it for the one game , all others can go to hell! just hoping it would play it. mostly just want the better os with less virus, worm, etc. worries.

Deathmoba: any chance you will be installing ut2k4? or the demo atleast?

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: scruffles
mostly just want the better os with less virus, worm, etc. worries.

Then build your own x86 PC and learn how to not suck at using it.

- M4H

 

[Eug]

1.42 with 1 GB of course. It's only a $100 price difference over a 1.25 with 1 GB, and you get an extra 40 GB of hard drive space too.

 

[thirdlegstump]

Originally posted by: CraigRT

Originally posted by: deathkoba
I'd go for the 1.42/512mb. My 1.25/512mb is rockin. Got it today.

How much did it cost you, out the door for everything, just out of curiousity?

$574 tax exempt.

 

[scruffles]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: scruffles
mostly just want the better os with less virus, worm, etc. worries.

Then build your own x86 PC and learn how to not suck at using it.

- M4H

i've actually got 2 x86 pc's, prolly better than yours bit(h, but anyway, i don't have too many problems as of now, i don't dload crap and such, but i figure i'm setting myself up for a bit more security.

it's nice to know that you come here to help people make decisions and not criticise them for trying new things that your not willing too.


3500+64
asus sli a8n
2 74 gig raptors in sata raid
1 gig corsair
dual 6600gt's
antec 550w


Shuttle sb61g2v3
p4 3.2 oc'd to 3.606ghz
1 gig corsair
9800pro oc'd to xt speeds

so blo me

 

[scruffles]

Originally posted by: Eug
1.42 with 1 GB of course. It's only a $100 price difference over a 1.25 with 1 GB, and you get an extra 40 GB of hard drive space too.

yeah just gonna wait for the extra $100 buck i guess, thanks

 

[Cawchy87]

why would you buy the mac for gaming when you have those 2 beasts?

 

[scruffles]

i'm ebaying them, i'm moving into a different apartment with the girl and want to try a new os. In order to do so i need to sell off these guys. As a college student i've acrued a bit of debt. Also swaying the decision is my grades, need to buckle down and quit games all the time. Just want to make usre this thing will play a little unreal on the side. Even if i keep one of these, I want the mac for the living room, and i would like to be able to play lan with a buddie or 2, so it would need to run the game.

or i may just be a stupid pc user swayed by the hott new look and willing to pay x amts of dollars for that new look.

 

[halfadder]

I'm mainly a PC user, but I bought a PowerBook G4 about a year ago and I just got my Mac Mini. It's a great package for $479 academic price and free shipping.

If you already have a good PC rig, then go ahead and try a Mini, they're fun and different, I'm loving mine. But if you have to decide between upgrading / replacing an old PC versus buying a Mini, I would suggest getting your PC first.

I bought a 1.25 GHz / 256 MB Mini and I will stick 1 GB in it later this week. I would suggest sticking with the 1.25 GHz model for the most balanced machine. The G4 is limited by its 167 MHz FSB, so you probably won't see much real world improvement by going with the 1.42 GHz model.

I just played the UT2004 demo and it actually works ok, although not as well as on my PowerBook (which has Radeon 9600 rather than the 9200 in the Mini). The audio and bot code in UT sucks up a lot of CPU cycles, so obviously the faster CPU would give better performance. If you're going to do any gaming with the Mini (or video editing) I would suggest going for 1 GB anyway, regardless of the CPU you choose.

Check out the Mac Mini discussions in the SFF forum for more chatter about this.

 

[scruffles]

thanks man, the feedback is much appreciated. So, finally 4 days after starting i have found a confirmed ut2k4 running mini.

thanks

 

[Samus]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: scruffles
mostly just want the better os with less virus, worm, etc. worries.

Then build your own x86 PC and learn how to not suck at using it.

- M4H

I donno, I agreee with M4H. Buying a MAC isn't the solution to spyware, I can't help but laugh at that philosphy...

Just learn how to use the idiotnet.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: Samus

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: scruffles
mostly just want the better os with less virus, worm, etc. worries.

Then build your own x86 PC and learn how to not suck at using it.

- M4H

I donno, I agreee with M4H. Buying a MAC isn't the solution to spyware, I can't help but laugh at that philosphy...

Just learn how to use the idiotnet.

Do you own a Mac? How the fvck would you know?

 

[halfadder]

Originally posted by: scruffles
thanks man, the feedback is much appreciated. So, finally 4 days after starting i have found a confirmed ut2k4 running mini.

It works, and it's playable, but it's not the Ultimate Gaming Experience. Fine for a secondary machine, though.

But the Mini has been great for all of the other lighter duty desktop tasks, like photos, editing MiniDV resolution videos, etc. If I had any musical talent, I'd buy a keyboard to use with GarageBand, it's a verrrry cool application for being bundled in at no cost. The Mac version of Quicken 2005 is pretty neat, has a million more features than I'd ever need, but it looks simple enough to actually use. I just played with Appleworks about 5 minutes ago, despite its age it's actually still a decent piece of software.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: Samus

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: scruffles
mostly just want the better os with less virus, worm, etc. worries.

Then build your own x86 PC and learn how to not suck at using it.

- M4H

I donno, I agreee with M4H. Buying a MAC isn't the solution to spyware, I can't help but laugh at that philosphy...

Just learn how to use the idiotnet.

Do you own a Mac? How the fvck would you know?

I own an iBook and he's right.

There are several very good and highly effective and most importantly FREE anti-malware programs for PC. The thing that gets me about the iBook is that if OSX starts to get targeted, you're going to be pretty SOL at first until there's antimalware software out there. And then the fact that is Mac won't help make a viable free solution, you'll most likely have to end up paying a ton of money in the end on all your programs. Although I'm sure the MiniMac could run Linux just fine so you could always go that route, but then it'd probably be pretty hard/unpleasant to play UT2k4 then...

UT2k4 is snailish at best on my 64MB Radeon 8500, this is with a AMD Athlon Barton XP @ 2.3GHz as well... Certainly the inferior Mac Mini won't be any more fun to play on, details cranked down all the way at low resolutions. If the OP is serious about quitting gaming, and gets a Mac Mini, he may be going cold turkey sooner than he thinks. Its a LOT easier to learn how to play a game as a slide show straight up, than get accustomed to tripple digit frame rates and high res eye candy only to be forced back down to the slide show. You might find some success but it just won't be as enjoyable either before or after you knew the game as it was meant to be played.

With that said I'd probably go with the faster CPU, seeing as you definately won't be playing at any sort of high resolution let alone decent resolution, perhaps 800x600 might work out, of which a fast CPU could actually boost your frame rates.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: scruffles
3500+64
asus sli a8n
2 74 gig raptors in sata raid
1 gig corsair
dual 6600gt's
antec 550w


Shuttle sb61g2v3
p4 3.2 oc'd to 3.606ghz
1 gig corsair
9800pro oc'd to xt speeds

so blo me

I fail to see what your hardware has to do with it...?

Being able to build them != being able to use them. The solution to security woes is a FIREWALL, not a Mac.

Hey, do what you like....if you want a mac, get it. But don't get it because of spyware, and certainly don't expect to game on it.

 

[scruffles]

if you didn't notice, I said viruses, worms, etc. , i agree mac ans other unix sys. don't do much of anything for spyware. That comes from using compromisable software, p2p ans such or visiting irreputable websites. I was simply answering to his comment which was completely not called for nor appreciated in any way. I'm here to share and recieve info from other KNOWLEDGABLE users that would like to share that with me. Not dicks that would rather say something rude.