Which Intel-Mac is best for SL?

Does anyone have experience with the new Intel chips please, as follows?
I have an (original, 1st issue) iMac G5 1.6GHz, 766 MB memory, GeForce FX5200 display card, 64MB VRAM, plus some money to spend on a laptop.

a) General reviews of the Intel Core duo based Macbook Pro machines have mentioned reservations about speed, until dedicated softawre is produced to take advantage of the Duo feature. How does this affect SL performance?

b) Bearing this in mind, is the top-spec Core Duo machine (1GB memory, 256MB Radeon X1600 selling at £1760) likely to give better SL perforance than a Powerbook G4 (with 512MB memory and Radeon 8700 display card (£1400)?

c) Assuming I choose the Core Duo, will it really go faster if I instal Windows XP on it and run SL under that?

d) Is it technically possible to fit the NVIDIA Quadro FX4500, which comes with the new PowerMacG5 and which I understand is the most powerful Mac card around, to the Core Duo?

I'm increasingly bed-ridden, unfortunately, and would greatly appreciate comments on my proposed set-up. The existing iMac, linked via its existing modem to my cable service provider, acting as a base station for the laptop via a radio link (airport express, is it called?) I understand that its built into the iMac but am unsure about what I would need to fit inside the laptop so I could use SL in bed. I have heard talk about a router to replace my ISP's cable modem but do ISPs allow this?

Many thanks!

Anima Graff

Hi,

I am not technical by any means but I am running on a MacBooK Pro right now. 2 Ghz, 2 mb ram. SL runs fine with this set up. Maybe someone with more tech. data can help you. Wishing you the best.

Scarlet

the speed thing with the Core Duo chips is that programs written for PPC (like the G4s and G5s) run very slowly because it has to run processor emulation. Native intel mac apps, or universal apps which are native for both, run great... and no powerbook can come close to the speed of a macbook pro.

Sl doesnt seem to run faster under Windows XP on a Macbook than the universal binary testing version for OSX does.


as for the quadro, it would be way overkill for what SL needs. Also there are currently no Intel macs out that can use any video card at all, they all have cards made into the main boards, or integrated as part of thie chipset ont he mini. Until intel PowerMacs come out, you arent going to be able to change video cards out.


it might be better to get a decent wireless router to attch your cable modem to, but you wont really need it as you could use the iMac as a router if you wanted to. You can set it up to share its internet connection to computers over airport, and other computers, like a MacBook Pro, could connect wirelessly to the imac, and it would act as a router and let you to the outside world. But youd have to keep the imac on whenever you wanted to get out.

Very helpful info.
It arrives on Wednesday, yippee!