New PC???,,, or a new MAC????

Okay,,,,. Santa's reindeer made a mess on my roof so he owes me!! lol. Anyway here's my question;

I may be in the market for new computer. Needless to say, SL is a "very", big part of my computer use.

I'm considering a fully loaded Alienware 7500 SLI with XP as the operating system, or a comparable Mac Pro. ( No CyberPower PC's! Received two in a row severely damaged. )

I've been very impressed with the ease of use regarding the Mac platform. Getting real tired dealing with windows. But, if I'm going to be spending this much money, I want a machine that will give the best performance.

The only (so called) games I play, is SL and EVE. Nothing else. My other activities will be using the standard word and excel applications along with internet access, e-mail and so forth. No other high end processing

In the past I've received many very helpful responces in the Resident Answers Forum. All opinions are welcomed and requested. Thanks in advance.

Surrealist Seesaw smiles. You'll only ever get a very biased view from a dedicated Mac user ... as she lovingly runs her hands over her precious iMac...

Theres a MAC users section on the forums, I know cross posting is bad but maybe a slightly different question like:

"how does Mac performance compare?" Over in that section, it might reach more MAC users.

Ive known a couple Mac users and from what I gather the Mac client doesn't have the most LL effort put into it...

Of course those who will be most helpful are people who have both, that way they can make comparisons based on first hand knowledge.

Colette's right about the LL support, but I can't say I've ever had a problem. Chatting to PC users, I don't think there's much difference in performance with my particular configuration, and my setup is quite basic - 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo running OSX 10.4.11, ATI Radeon X1600 graphics, 1.5 GB RAM (should probably increase to 2GB).

SL is the only 'game' I run, but I also use a variety of graphics programs in addition to the usual stuff.

Cross-posting to the Mac forum is a good idea, but if you want fast (and generally very helpful) feedback, join the group Macintosh Users in-world and ask the question in group chat. You'll reach more users than via the forum, and I've always had fantastic responses to my many idiot questions.

Curiously, Macintosh Users was founded by a Linden...

I don't know the details but I do know that new macpro users have been having some graphics card issues and I've heard that there are issues with the latest operating system with SL.

I adore my mac but I would definitely do lots of research on the above before buying a new one to play SL. Both of these issues were show stoppers.

/me hunts around

Here are the links I have...

graphics card issue:

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-1978

Leopard issue:

http://www.massively.com/2007/12/28/beware-of-the-leopard/

Thank you all soooo much for the quick feedback! I'll definitely follow all of your advice and investigate those sources.

Please keep the suggestions coming! Which ever machine I finally settle on,, it will have to last me as long as possible!!! Future financial status will not allow for another upgrade. It's now or never. lol

I'm a Mac user, but always have been. If you buy a Mac, make sure you upgrade the graphics card to the best you can afford that's best for games and ram memory should be 2GB and 4 again if you can afford it.

I used my sisters PC over Christmas and it's not as powerful as my Mac, I was surprised at the ease of use in SL. so maybe a really powerful PC set up in the best possible way for SL is a way to go (can't believe I said that)

I've never used a MAC before, but before I bought my current PC, I looked into a MAC, taking into account the stylish person I am and how much nicer it would look on my desk.
At they time all I used the computer for was like the OP, word processing, email and web browsing, no games or any type of multimedia applications, so despite the "advice" of several salespeople I went with a PC.When it's time to replace the machine, hopefully not for another couple of years, I'll make the same evaluations, what I need/can afford and go from there. If were to run noticeably better on a MAC, I'd take that into consideration.

Remember that if you get a Mac, it's not necessarily an either-or question. You can run Windows on an Intel Mac, and recent test reports in the computer news media show that the newest Macs are some of the fastest Windows machines you can get. Some Mac owners claim SL runs better when they use Windows, some say it makes no difference.

And I'll second the advice to join the Mac group in-world and ask any questions you have.

I recently was in the local Apple store (I might be upgrading soon) and tried out the standard SL viewer under the current release of Leopard, and had no troubles connecting.

Mari

Any kind of Gaming is a no-brainer, PC. You get the most processing power for your buck vs. a Mac. Thats a fact not opinion and if you want links google if your friend search 'mac vs pc gaming' or such

Mac users have been, more or less, brainwashed by the monopoly that is apple to think a stylish case = better computer. If my PC looks like it was beat with a ugly stick but performs x3 better at what I am doing then a 'stylish' mac for the same price or less I'll go with looks ugly option. But thats just me, Your mileage may vary.

I would have agreed with some of your points four or five years ago, Strauss.

I'd go into more detail, but I'm late for my get-brainwashed session.

I call it like I see it *shrugs*
Anyone claming the mac performs just as well in gaming as the PC (or better) is living in fantasy. when I start seeing consistent independant benchmarks showing otherwise I will be happy to state otherwise.

Unless this the a same play on words as the old mac commercials from several years ago. Where they boldly and factually said the 'mac outperforms the pc'. Yes, under ONE specific benchmark, on ONE specific app using ONE specific feature (a specific photoshop effect if I recall). Of course they left that little detail out in the commercial. I am sure it was a 'oversight' on their part. Because we all know apple is above being deceptive...

Just saying

I have a MacBook and a desktop PC. I run SL on both.

The MacBook is nice, easy to use but with SL I am pushing it badly. All options are turned down or off to afford me the best performance from SL. It runs, and runs nicely but Lag is an everyday thing on it.

The desktop is a newly built AMD (forget the processor but know it is dual core) I have 2 GB memory and an ATI Radeon 2400 pro card or something like that. with 512 MB memory if I am correct. SL runs on it very nicely, most options turned on and/or all the way up. only lag I get is when SL is the cause of it.

Now as it turns out.....

The newer iMacs (desktop systems) have about the same hardware and in fact on the Apple web page has the exact video card I have but with only 256 MB standard ( I believe). The macs now use core 2 duo intell procs can have a lot of memory and it's OS is still easy to use.

*However* I do not own one to try SL on it to know if the OS does in fact get in the way and slows down SL or not. But then you can set it up to dual boot OS X or Windows XP/Vista.

I will never step away from the PC totally, for games there are more options under the PC than Mac, but I am seeing more games slowly comeing out for Mac as well.

Bottom line, look to the future and go with your best choice as if you are like me, you can't just go out and replace a system if you feel you made the wrong choice. If you think you may start to game more.... PC seems still the best option, if your gaming is light. A Mac may just be the thing for you.

hardware wise they are very similar, it is now mostly OS that you need to worry about.

Pot, meet kettle

We have plenty of things to argue over (zOMG! ageplayers camping in casinos and putting the lindens they gained into an in-world bank!) without getting all platform evangelical.

Mari

once you go mac, you never go back. I'm using a 17" MacPro Intel Core 2 Duo, with a GB of RAM, and never have problems with SL.

Plus, when you're not in SL, you'll be able to find and store stuff in a way that makes sense to you.

I didn't buy this computer based on looks either. Just performance and ease of use. Oh yeah, you can run windows also. So win win. It's really a no brainer, if you have the cash.

Therein lies the rub for some of us, I guess.

IMO being 'brainwashed' to like a specific CPU, FX card or OS has legit pros and cons and can be debabted logicly and with merit.

However when Jobs in essence pushed a imac because how 'cool' it looks with the undertone looks = better PC I take issue with that and call that, legit 'brainwashing'. A plastic case selling point is a smoke screen for a, to be blunt, crappy computer to sell (and take advantage of) the uninformed/uneducated masses.

thankfully using mostly PC hardware now, that is becoming a moot point. However, Jobs PR was very effective, people still equate cool look to a good performance PC.

Just look at the comment by the mac user above who hails his mac as good because its looks good and fits with his office deco. Perhaps I missed it but I see no comment about its performance, hardware or the aspects that really matter.

*shrugs*

Not anti-mac. But pro-realistic

But it makes for so much fun, Mari. let's also pit the LapTop Users vs The Desktop Users while we're at it

Are you referring to this post? *Pardon me for quoting myself*

These days a Mac is just another brand of PC. Just like Alienware.

It's just a question of which operating system you prefer. Oh, and whether you like the styling of the Mac PCs.

I could care less what operating system or hardware vendor you use But I went to each site and the Alienware is cheaper and a far more powerful gaming computer.

Gaming is about the video card, at least in most cases. There's a few weird games that are CPU bound--I play one: EQ2. But mostly it's the video card. The Mac Pro has 7300GTs as video cards. That's last generation in terms of hardware capabilities and not a fast card for gaming. Looking at Tom's hardware VGA charts, it's 15 or 20% as fast as the 8800 offered on the Alienware.

You will get better SL and Eve performance on the Mac side out of an iMac with a 2600Pro video card than you would with the Mac Pro and the 7300GT's. But even then, the 2600Pro card is about 1/4-1/3rd the speed of the 8800 you're going to get with the Alienware.

For a higher end gaming machine, I'd suggest the Alienware with the Intel 6750 CPU, a single 8800GT video card, and 2gig of memory. For gaming, that is insanely more powerful than any of the Macs and would be around $1700. You could build it yourself for about half that (it's basically what I run and I can run two instances of SL at once with all the graphics turned up).

But you don't really need that.

If you really just need to run SL and Eve, I'd suggest you either go for the 2.4ghz Imac with the 2600Pro card or for about the same $1500, you could get a Dell XPS with a Dual core CPU and an 8600GTS video card. The Dell would be faster than the IMac, but you might prefer the "look and feel" of the MacOS.

Does my iMac desktop look 'cool' ? You bet! Was that the reason I decided to go with Mac? No. Brainwashed? Give me a break. There are many reasons to purchase one over an other. The OP wanted to know what our thoughts were on SL performance on both. She stated she wasn't a gamer.
I held off answering since I hardly ever use Windows - so I can't compare.
I have never understood why people get so touchy on this subject. They're just computers. Some love their Windows PC because it fits their needs, others enjoy using their Macs for the same reasons.
Did I mention my iMac looks way cool?

and instead of installing Windows on a Mac, why not install the Leopard OS on a PC?.

btw - I use a Apple wireless keyboard on my Windows computer.

Thank all of you for the replies and suggesrtions.

I should also mention that I already have a 30" Dell monitor which I only bought 6 months ago. I plan to use that monitor with the new computer.

Regarding the lesser graphic card selection that MAC offers. If I did decide on the MAC Pro, I was going to ask the rep at the Apple Store if I could order it with the Nvidia 8800 Ultra card. I had already realized that MAC's offerings regarding the graphics cards were less then I would want. (I wonder why they only give those selections?)

And from what I've also read, SLI would be useless regarding SL. Am I correct in that assumption?