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Switching from Mac to PC...

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  • B Offline
    Burkhard
    last edited by 28 Mar 2008, 21:15

    I think you need a real open gl support on that graphic card. Don't know about chipset specs

    [http://www.ia-plus.de(http://www.ia-plus.de)]

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    • R Offline
      remus
      last edited by 28 Mar 2008, 21:41

      Quite a lot of info on graphics cards chipsets in the article mentioned here: http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=8077

      http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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      • T Offline
        Tim M
        last edited by 29 Mar 2008, 01:38

        I will check the options and article out. Thanks to all. I really appreciate the input and the expertise. This forum is really a great resource and community.

        Thanks,
        Tim
        😛

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        • S Offline
          sketch3d.de
          last edited by 31 Mar 2008, 08:54

          the OpenGL support of PC based 3D graphics accelerators is, because of the long experience the manufacturers do have with this platform, more mature and stable than on the Macitnosh side. Therefore OpenGL based issues regularly mentioned in connection w/ OSX driven systems are much less occuring especially in connection with the nVidia Quadro CAx series of video cards.

          If you can afford it, the e.g. Dell Precision workstation notebooks with a Quadro GPU are probably the best choice for running SU on a mobile system yet. Because single core speed is more relevant for SU than multiple but currently unused cores (by SU), focusing on the fastest dual core is recommendable.

          hth,
          Norbert

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          • T Offline
            Tim M
            last edited by 31 Mar 2008, 11:55

            Thanks Norbert, I’ll check this out too. It appears the nVidia cards are preferred by the SU community.
            Tim

            @sketch3d.de said:

            the OpenGL support of PC based 3D graphics accelerators is, because of the long experience the manufacturers do have with this platform, more mature and stable than on the Macitnosh side. Therefore OpenGL based issues regularly mentioned in connection w/ OSX driven systems are much less occuring especially in connection with the nVidia Quadro CAx series of video cards.

            If you can afford it, the e.g. Dell Precision workstation notebooks with a Quadro GPU are probably the best choice for running SU on a mobile system yet. Because single core speed is more relevant for SU than multiple but currently unused cores (by SU), focusing on the fastest dual core is recommendable.

            hth,
            Norbert

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            • M Offline
              Mike Lucey
              last edited by 31 Mar 2008, 12:09

              Hi Tim,

              I'm not sure what you are doing but I run both versions of SU
              on my MacBookPro. The Win version is run via Parallels 3.

              The reason for using the Win version on Parallels 3 is because
              I'm using Podium. It's not the quickest but does the job.

              When I switched to the Mac and started to get to grips with Mac
              SU it took a little while to get used to some of the key stokes.
              But again I was also getting used to the Mac way of things at
              the same time.

              I think your learning curve will be with the PC Win more that
              SketchUp itself!

              If you are going for a Win Laptop I agree that Dell is a good
              bet as their backup (in my experience) is quite good. But again
              I can't understand why you are taking this route 😲

              Mike

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              • T Offline
                Tim M
                last edited by 31 Mar 2008, 12:28

                Mike,

                I would prefer to stay with the Mac but I need a contingency plan in case the finances don’t allow a new one. I know a PC is in the budget. I’m crossing my fingers.

                Tim

                @mike lucey said:

                Hi Tim,

                I'm not sure what you are doing but I run both versions of SU
                on my MacBookPro. The Win version is run via Parallels 3.

                The reason for using the Win version on Parallels 3 is because
                I'm using Podium. It's not the quickest but does the job.

                When I switched to the Mac and started to get to grips with Mac
                SU it took a little while to get used to some of the key stokes.
                But again I was also getting used to the Mac way of things at
                the same time.

                I think your learning curve will be with the PC Win more that
                SketchUp itself!

                If you are going for a Win Laptop I agree that Dell is a good
                bet as their backup (in my experience) is quite good. But again
                I can't understand why you are taking this route 😲

                Mike

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • K Offline
                  kmead
                  last edited by 2 Apr 2008, 01:54

                  Be sure and compare the same specs on the PC as on the Mac, the Macs are much more cost competitive than you might think. The biggest issue I have with Macs is that they don't have a mid line box with an upgradeable video card available at the moment. I am toddering on with my 7 year old Mac tower which has been doing surprisingly well. My MacBook Pro is more than adequate and can go where I go.

                  If they offered a midline tower with an upgradeable graphics card, I would drop my 1800 tomorrow to buy it.

                  I don't often see graphics glitches on any mac, I see more on my bosses MSW box but so it goes.

                  Keep in mind that buying the memory after market is much better than buying it from Apple (or Dell for that matter) cost wise.

                  I created Dilbertville, sorry about that...

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                  • T Offline
                    Tim M
                    last edited by 2 Apr 2008, 12:04

                    Currently I have a G4 450 MHz running on OS 9. It has been and still is an excellent machine. I have had it for 8 plus years. Of course I can't run SU on it unless I upgrade to OS 10. One of our IT guys at the office advised against it saying I would be better off in the long run with a new computer. What I don't know is if OS 10 would work on my current computer or not. Is anyone running SU on a computer like this? Maybe there is hope in an upgrade.

                    I will compare both platforms. Thanks for the advice.
                    Tim 😛

                    @kmead said:

                    Be sure and compare the same specs on the PC as on the Mac, the Macs are much more cost competitive than you might think. The biggest issue I have with Macs is that they don't have a mid line box with an upgradeable video card available at the moment. I am toddering on with my 7 year old Mac tower which has been doing surprisingly well. My MacBook Pro is more than adequate and can go where I go.

                    If they offered a midline tower with an upgradeable graphics card, I would drop my 1800 tomorrow to buy it.

                    I don't often see graphics glitches on any mac, I see more on my bosses MSW box but so it goes.

                    Keep in mind that buying the memory after market is much better than buying it from Apple (or Dell for that matter) cost wise.

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                    • G Offline
                      Glenn at home
                      last edited by 2 Apr 2008, 20:25

                      [quote="Tim M"]Currently I have a G4 450 MHz running on OS 9. It has been and still is an excellent machine. I have had it for 8 plus years. Of course I can't run SU on it unless I upgrade to OS 10. One of our IT guys at the office advised against it saying I would be better off in the long run with a new computer. What I don't know is if OS 10 would work on my current computer or not. Is anyone running SU on a computer like this? Maybe there is hope in an upgrade.

                      I will compare both platforms. Thanks for the advice.
                      Tim 😛

                      I'd have to agree with him. What is the ram in a G4 450, PC-100? Does this one even have an AGP video card? Sure OSX will run on it but why do it?
                      Looking at http://www.everymac.com I see that these could have a 2X AGP slot and they did have a 100mhz system bus speed. Looks like a mini would be a faster machine that these in OSX. I got rid of my old PowerMac6500 for this reason. Not worth the upgrade headaches 😞

                      301 Moved Permanently

                      favicon

                      (www.everymac.com)

                      SketchUp Pro 2024/2025 Dell XPS 8950 i9-12900K 64GB Ram RTX 3080

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                      • T Offline
                        Tim M
                        last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 12:09

                        Glenn,

                        I can’t remember the exact specs on my G4 but I do remember I maxed out the RAM a few years ago. His concern was the same as your’s it probably isn’t worth the headaches. Oh well, I’d rather know this than attempt a futile upgrade.

                        Thanks

                        @unknownuser said:

                        I'd have to agree with him. What is the ram in a G4 450, PC-100? Does this one even have an AGP video card? Sure OSX will run on it but why do it?
                        Looking at http://www.everymac.com I see that these could have a 2X AGP slot and they did have a 100mhz system bus speed. Looks like a mini would be a faster machine that these in OSX. I got rid of my old PowerMac6500 for this reason. Not worth the upgrade headaches 😞

                        301 Moved Permanently

                        favicon

                        (www.everymac.com)

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                        • C Offline
                          caronte01
                          last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 18:02

                          Tim

                          I recently moved from a pc to a mac. As someone else pointed before, considering specs, macs are competitive, when compared to a similarly spec´ed peecee.

                          I work on a macbook, which i upgraded to 2 GB of ram, and find sketchup performance adequate, even with integrated graphics. Take into consideration the fact that a lot of stuff you see on your screen on OSX is opengl accelerated, so apple makes sure performance is ok. I work with hardware acceleration on, and there are no visible glitches (something you more than likely would have on a pecee with integrated graphics), and speed is ok on small and medium to large models. In this case, it´s not just a matter of raw speed, but also good drivers, and the mac certainly does have good ones.

                          I guess it all depends on the kind and size of models you do. I would be more than happy to have a macbook pro though, but it was out of my budget.

                          I also use a late gen imac, with ati graphics, and performance is very good, but, strangely i get more graphic glitches than on the macbook. Nothing terrible though.

                          Certain plugins do work only on peecee, but you have several option on a mac to run windows for those, if you need to.

                          Your computer is imo too old to run sketchup properly though.

                          It´s up to you in the end, but if it was my call, i would stick with osx. Not pretending to turn this into a flame war, but if you are used to mac, the switch will be full of surprises, and not all of them will be good.

                          The peecee has more variety, software wise, i agree, but most freeware, shareware, low cost programs on a mac are imo of a higher quality than equivalents on peecee.

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                          • T Offline
                            Tim M
                            last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 18:11

                            All excellent points and will make for good ammunition, I mean talking points, when I present my findings to my financial advisor/my wife.
                            Thanks

                            @caronte01 said:

                            Tim

                            I recently moved from a pc to a mac. As someone else pointed before, considering specs, macs are competitive, when compared to a similarly spec´ed peecee.

                            I work on a macbook, which i upgraded to 2 GB of ram, and find sketchup performance adequate, even with integrated graphics. Take into consideration the fact that a lot of stuff you see on your screen on OSX is opengl accelerated, so apple makes sure performance is ok. I work with hardware acceleration on, and there are no visible glitches (something you more than likely would have on a pecee with integrated graphics), and speed is ok on small and medium to large models. In this case, it´s not just a matter of raw speed, but also good drivers, and the mac certainly does have good ones.

                            I guess it all depends on the kind and size of models you do. I would be more than happy to have a macbook pro though, but it was out of my budget.

                            I also use a late gen imac, with ati graphics, and performance is very good, but, strangely i get more graphic glitches than on the macbook. Nothing terrible though.

                            Certain plugins do work only on peecee, but you have several option on a mac to run windows for those, if you need to.

                            Your computer is imo too old to run sketchup properly though.

                            It´s up to you in the end, but if it was my call, i would stick with osx. Not pretending to turn this into a flame war, but if you are used to mac, the switch will be full of surprises, and not all of them will be good.

                            The peecee has more variety, software wise, i agree, but most freeware, shareware, low cost programs on a mac are imo of a higher quality than equivalents on peecee.

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                            • M Offline
                              Mike Lucey
                              last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 19:32

                              Tim,

                              Have you thought about building a HackIntosh, could be fun!
                              Check out, Build a Hackintosh Mac for Under $800 at,
                              http://lifehacker.com/software/hack-attack/build-a-hackintosh-mac-for-under-800-321913.php

                              They measure up quite well against MacBook Pros. Not too
                              sure how kosher this is but I can't see anything wrong with
                              it as once Apple moved to Intel they opened the gates for
                              DIY. You still have to buy Leopard though. Mmmmm I wonder
                              does Leopard have a clause with regard to it use ... no
                              doubt it has, must look! 😒

                              Mike


                              HackIntosh.png

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                              • J Offline
                                juju
                                last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 19:34

                                at caronte01: 😆 peecee - dunno what that is...

                                You probably meant a PC, the abbreviation for Personal Computer.

                                Anyhows, just thought I'd toss in my 10c. Always entertaining to hear people explain why they are Apple / PC fans.

                                Save the Earth, it's the only planet with chocolate.

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                                • T Offline
                                  Tim M
                                  last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 19:38

                                  I haven’t heard of that before but I will check it out.
                                  Thanks

                                  @mike lucey said:

                                  Tim,

                                  Have you thought about building a HackIntosh, could be fun!
                                  Check out, Build a Hackintosh Mac for Under $800 at,
                                  http://lifehacker.com/software/hack-attack/build-a-hackintosh-mac-for-under-800-321913.php

                                  They measure up quite well against MacBook Pros. Not too
                                  sure how kosher this is but I can't see anything wrong with
                                  it as once Apple moved to Intel they opened the gates for
                                  DIY. You still have to buy Leopard though. Mmmmm I wonder
                                  does Leopard have a clause with regard to it use ... no
                                  doubt it has, must look! 😒

                                  Mike

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • R Offline
                                    remus
                                    last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 19:44

                                    Mike, there is definetly a clause in the OS X terms of use that says you cant install it on non apple hardware, doesnt stop people form trying though 😛

                                    http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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                                    • soloS Offline
                                      solo
                                      last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 19:49

                                      Remus, You are correct it's states that in the EULA.

                                      However your OS setup is interesting, you run Vista with a Mac emulator? or is it just 'Window blinds' or themes?

                                      http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/2321861405_49648cf9f3.jpg?v=0

                                      http://www.solos-art.com

                                      If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                                      • T Offline
                                        Tim M
                                        last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 20:00

                                        Too bad, I had memories of my old Heath Kit days in 4-H. Could have been interesting.
                                        😞

                                        @remus said:

                                        Mike, there is definetly a clause in the OS X terms of use that says you cant install it on non apple hardware, doesnt stop people form trying though 😛

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                                        • R Offline
                                          remus
                                          last edited by 3 Apr 2008, 20:50

                                          its a program called objectdock.

                                          It lets you have a mac type dock on a windows machine. I just prefer it to the normal windows startbar sa its more suited to how i work.

                                          http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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