Mac Quandery

[Anonymous]

Guys i need some help!

Im a student studying Architecture in Melbourne

I need some recommendations, I have to buy a Mac to run Archicad and iMill on for uni but are tossing up between 2 models and are looking for a hopefully long term, yet also inexpensiver option which really is a contradiction considering the alternatives.

Option 1 is to buy a G5 1.8ghz 20inch iMac, and upgrade putting in another 512mb ram. This appears to be more than satisfactory for the use of archicad and associated software am i right?

Option 2 is to buy a new Mac Mini 1.42ghz, for which I already have 19in LCD and mouse etc. I would upgrade this to a 1gb ram and a superdrive as well as an external 160gb HD.
Is there any way that this would run ArchiCAD sufficiently?

There is of course my dillemma between spending AUS$1800 and AUS $3000 as a student who cannot see this technology lasting much further than the end of my 5 year degree. Surely something new will be available.

Can you please recommend to me the sensibility and practicality of these options. I understand that the mini mac is not as powerful processor, but would that amount of ram support archicad? The other worry is the capability of the graphics card in the mini, which i take is very inferior to the G5.

I would appreciate any information and tips you could give to me!

Cheers,

Toby

[Anonymous]

Sorry to say, the mini will not hack it. It is not the Ram. 1 gig of ram is enough. It's the G4 processor. I find AC9 frustratingly slow on our G4. You will kick yourself every time you count the seconds while you wait for your library part to turn 45° in the tool box.

[Greg Kmethy]

It's not even the processor, but rather the 32MB VGA that will limit your OpenGL usage with the mini. You will not have problem with small (residential scale) models, but anything larger will not run smooth with OpenGL in 3D.

[Anonymous]

Dr wrote:
Sorry to say, the mini will not hack it. It is not the Ram. 1 gig of ram is enough. It's the G4 processor. I find AC9 frustratingly slow on our G4. You will kick yourself every time you count the seconds while you wait for your library part to turn 45° in the tool box.

But remember the clock fequency of the mac mini is almost twice that of your G4. Its not like Archicad is written to take advantage of the 64 bit G5

My emac at home is running ArchiCAD 9 fine, albeit Im not working on very big models, the mac mini has the same spec as the current emac.

Just my tuppence worth.

[Phil]

The HDD of the Mac mini might be another reason: It's an 4200 rpm model. In an eMac there's usually an 5400 rpm model and in the G5 it's even faster ...

[Eduardo Rolon]

It will run on both, though the mini will be slower. Everything bring equal I would choose the iMac over the mini since IMO the iMac will have the ability to run OS X tiger better and faster.

[__archiben]

tobys wrote:
There is of course my dillemma between spending AUS$1800 and AUS $3000 as a student who cannot see this technology lasting much further than the end of my 5 year degree. Surely something new will be available.

this is probably the heart of the matter. if this is going to last you for a five year degree then go for broke now! a lower spec machine will be out of date with performance decrease to match far quicker than a high end machine. if you buy the low-spec machine you'll probably have to upgrade within two years and the machine will be worth nothing on a trade-in.

i buy a new powerbook every year or so - and i go for the high-end specs. this way i can sell it for more at the end of the year. i see it more like leasing this way: i pay x/year for a very good laptop . . .

hope that made sense . . . my brain's not operating at a particularly high spec today!

~/archiben

[Anonymous]

2 years ago the mac mini would have the equivalent CPU speed at least of the top of the range powermac. (excluding the dualies which dont help day to day Archicad speed much)

Its funny how adjectives used to describe a top of the range machine such as "blazingingly fast" and " extremely powerful", are quickly forgotten a few years after its been released, and another "blazing ingly fast" supercomputer takes its place.

Does this render the first computer slower, or is it still as fast as when it was bought?

I think it goes to show how good the marketing people at Apple really are!

[__archiben]

Lennox wrote:
Does this render the first computer slower, or is it still as fast as when it was bought?

the first computer is obviously still as fast as when you bought it . . . but what you are forgetting are the software cycles that happen as well. are the minimum system requirements of archiCAD 9 the same as those of archiCAD 4? no!

this is of course the hardware-software vicious circle that all manufacturers/developers (not just apple!) are marketing to the masses. ooo! the cynicism!

~/archiben

[Anonymous]

~/archiben wrote:
this is of course the hardware-software vicious circle that all manufacturers/developers (not just apple!) are marketing to the masses. ooo! the cynicism!

~/archiben

Of course it's not like the users are clamoring for new features or anything