Apple Mac Graphics card?
Community Forums/General Help/Apple Mac Graphics card?
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| I havnt got clue when come to Apple Mac Graphics card and now let say if I buy Apple Mac G5 2.5GHZ but is their motherboard upgradable graphics card? if yes then how far can it go? for example Geforce GTX? I am not sure hence why I ask! |
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| Impossible to say with that little inforomation -- it greatly depends on what kind of mac you have -- imac? Mac mini? macbook? powermac? what year/model? -EDIT- Nevermind, completely missed the G5 reference in the original question, somehow. |
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| A G5 is a PPC-era computer. You really probably want to get yourself an Intel-based machine if you can. As for gfx cards with the G5 tower. There were some available, but from a limited selection as there was a lack of PPC-specific drivers for them. With the newer Intel Macs, there is a bit more choice. |
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| Why would you ever buy a G5 these days? |
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| Why would you ever buy a G5 these days? I dont know hence why I ask. Should I get Mac Mini then? |
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| Why would you ever buy a G5 these days? I dont know hence why I ask. A G5 would be between 8 and 11 years old -- Apple stopped making the G5's in 2006. it's a boat anchor on the best of days -- aside from being ancient in computer years, it doesn't have an intel-compatible processor yet and won't be compatible with the vast majority of mac software created in the past decade. Should I get Mac Mini then? A mac Mini is basically the entry-level model Mac -- While it's a half-way decent machine, it does have just an intel onboard video adapter, with no ability to upgrade. The >2012 models have Intel HD4000 which is actually not complete crap, but older models have crappier video. See here for a list: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3246 |
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| Intel Macs are OpenGL based and well optimised I've had 2 mac minis (current one is 2.7G i7) and the graphics are great for what I'm doing. Got a lesser MBPro which doesn't slouch either. Definitely recommend the Intel ones. One thing I've found is not an issue with the hardware, but third party games are terribly optimised for macs with CPU hogging (RTC3, ROTMG to name 2). CPU hogs will cause the Mini to turn into a small vacuum cleaner. Activity monitor is great for watching this in operation. |
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| If you want 'cheap' apple computing, Mac Mini is the way to go. If you can afford it, buy new or nearly new. You want to be able to run OSX Mavericks. |
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| If you can afford it, buy new or nearly new. And FWIW, if you need to lower the price a little: Note that Apple also sells refurbished versions with factory warranty on their website. |
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| My "Mid 2011" 2.7G i7 Mac Mini has an AMD Radeon HD 6630M, which is generally quite capable. |
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| I bought myself Mac OS X Snow Leopard and just installed on computer eh? :) |
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| I wouldn't use Snow Leopard on the 'net. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/snow-leopard-end-support,news-18386.html |
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| Ok then what you suggest I should do? |
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| Ok then what you suggest I should do? Upgrade to a non-vulnerable still-supported OS? |
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| Hang on a minute...im not a mac user but isnt snow leopard new? Ish. When I first started teaching we were using cocoa or something in about 02 03. Xp for win was out before then and only just finished its life a nonth ago. How many versions has mac os gone through in that time? |
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| Snow Leopard Lion Mountain Lion Mavericks - latest version Anything that can run Lion will run Mavericks, not too sure about some of the Snow Leopard Hardware though |
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| Anything that can run Lion will run Mavericks ...and even a Mid 2007 iMac 20", shipped with Tiger, has no problem running Mavericks! Here is the full history of OS X releases |
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| Hang on a minute...im not a mac user but isnt snow leopard new? Ish. Apple's support cycle is much shorter than Microsoft's -- Microsoft will give you 10+ years of security updates on an OS (XP came out in 2001, and wasn't dropped until 12.5 years later, in 2014) Apple just supports the last three versions of their OS, regardless of age. Even though Snow Leopard is less than 5 years old now, there's been three newer versions so support was dropped. |
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