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Budka Groshomme
Sparrow 23
Join date: 19 Feb 2005
Posts: 21
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03-06-2005 18:58
Has anyone had any experience with using the new Mac mini in 2L? Are there performance issues and, if so, ways of getting around them? I'm thinking of trading up from a G4.
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Ghoti Nyak
καλλιστι
Join date: 7 Aug 2004
Posts: 2,078
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03-07-2005 07:10
I'm interested as well... in particular, how does the default graphics card handle SL? I'm assuming the default 256mb of RAM needs to be upped at least.
-Ghoti
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"Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon." ~ H.P. Lovecraft
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Kelly Linden
Linden Developer
Join date: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 896
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03-07-2005 07:52
We have a mac mini in the office. Couple of things to note:
The mac mini is still a G4.
The initial amount of RAM (256) is really not enough to do much of anything, especially SL.
The video card is low end and has very little memory (32mb) which just barely meets the minimum specifications for SL.
It will run SL, if the RAM is upgraded, but it is not really a very good system if you are looking for performance in SL.
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- Kelly Linden
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eltee Statosky
Luskie
Join date: 23 Sep 2003
Posts: 1,258
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03-07-2005 09:31
i've had a mini for awhile.. and it can run SL albiet not well. It serves as my general net access machine and is *very* good as a second dedicated computer for IM/email/web browsing/IRC/telnet/music (all at once, no problem)
Then okay very occasionally if i need to get into SL urgently while my main pc is in the middle of another game, or crunching a big news server batch, or half way through a complicated rendering operation .. aka cannot log into SL easily, the mini can get me in to IM with people...
its also nice having both my main account, and eltee altman, my alt, on at the same time for testing vendors and permissions etc
to sum up, the mini is a very competant 'second' computer for hard-core users who find their main pc often indesposed. its near silent, can literally fit in a cubbyhole in a desk corner, easy to use, is rock solid for 24 hour running, and can run SL in a pinch tho its definatly not going to be somethin you will want to do on a daily basis.
And you definately should upgrade the ram to 512, the gig is still ridiculously over-priced and frankly, given all i do at once on it, within the 512, just about wholly unnecessary
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wash, rinse, repeat
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Budka Groshomme
Sparrow 23
Join date: 19 Feb 2005
Posts: 21
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Mac Mini
03-08-2005 06:52
So, beefing up the G4 by maxing RAM and perhaps putting in an accelerator card would make SL more accessible? Right now I have to go to the PC to get decent rendering - the delay on everything makes the Mac a chore.
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eltee Statosky
Luskie
Join date: 23 Sep 2003
Posts: 1,258
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03-08-2005 06:58
no, more ram makes it more or less a technical possibility, there is nothing that can be done to make it enjoyable, or an acceptable primary means of connecting to SL
And there is no way to upgrade the video on the mini, its part of the main logic board
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wash, rinse, repeat
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Hiro Penguin
Registered User
Join date: 28 Feb 2005
Posts: 1
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03-09-2005 18:35
I've tried to run SL on my Powerbook G4 1.25Ghz with 1.25GB of RAM. It is VERY slow, almost unplayable. Frame rate is like 2 to 6 fps with lots of the slow stuff turned off.
The Mini is pretty darn close to my Powerbook in terms of computing performance. The PB has slower processor, more RAM and more Video RAM.
I'm throwing SL on my Thinkpad using Windows (bleh) and hoping for better results
If not, has anybody tried running SL on the new 17" Powerbooks?
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si Money
The nice demon.
Join date: 21 May 2003
Posts: 477
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03-10-2005 09:07
From: Hiro Penguin I've tried to run SL on my Powerbook G4 1.25Ghz with 1.25GB of RAM. It is VERY slow, almost unplayable. Frame rate is like 2 to 6 fps with lots of the slow stuff turned off.
The Mini is pretty darn close to my Powerbook in terms of computing performance. The PB has slower processor, more RAM and more Video RAM.
I'm throwing SL on my Thinkpad using Windows (bleh) and hoping for better results
If not, has anybody tried running SL on the new 17" Powerbooks? I run SL on my 1.33ghz 17" PowerBook pretty often. It's not good, but it's not bad. Unless i'm in an area with 5 or more avs i'm usually fine at around 12-13fps.
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Like a soul without a mind In a body without a heart I'm missing every part -- Progress -- Catherine Omega: Yes, but lots of stuff isn't listed. "Making UI harder to use than ever" and "removing all the necessary status icons" things.... there's nothing like that in the release notes. 
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