Will a Dual 1.4 G4+ ATI 9800 Make a Good Game Box?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Will a Dual 1.4 G4+ ATI 9800 Make a Good Game Box?



Will a Dual G4 1.42 GHz + ATI Radeon 9800 AGP 4x make a good game Mac for these games:



Americas Army

Doom 3

Half-Life 2

Raven Shield



etc...





Cheaper than a G5 and earsier/faster to get too. But can the G4's mobo feed the 9800 properly?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Hell, yes. An iMac with a Geforce makes an okay gaming machine. You should expect framerates in the (at least) 125-175 range in all the games, at a good resolution with sound. This is the 9800 we're talking about: even with the slight (slight!?) impedement that the G4's bottleneck offers, it will still be more than acceptable at all the games you can get.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    agreed. right now, there aren't many games that can tax the radeon 9800 in a 4x AGP. though in a year, i may change my tune. also, remember that it's all about the drivers. some games can play like sh!t on even a geforce2 mx, but then get decent framerates after a driver update or two.



    the one problem i have found is that with OEM video chips (i.e. video chips soldered on the board and unchangeable, like the iMacs), apple has to make the driver for the chip (well, that is the story ATi used to tell... don't know if it's still fact). that can mean slower and sometimes less-than-stellar driver updates.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    All game will play well until Doom III comes out...but then I'll get a Quaddro FX and my jaw will come off.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    well, by the time doom 3 is released your vid card will not be that good anymore and half life 2 I believe is not coming to the mac, wish it did. raven shield is not out yet,

    you can wait for the G5, those games an't out yet..



    another factor is how much RAM you have...



    I will be getting the G5,
  • Reply 5 of 12
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dstranathan

    Will a Dual 1.4 G4+ ATI 9800 Make a Good Game Box?



    Will a Dual G4 1.42 GHz + ATI Radeon 9800 AGP 4x make a good game Mac for these games:



    Americas Army

    Doom 3

    Half-Life 2

    Raven Shield



    etc...





    Cheaper than a G5 and earsier/faster to get too. But can the G4's mobo feed the 9800 properly?




    No. Get a PC.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Existence

    No. Get a PC.



    Yes get a PC...



    Shhhhhhhh... you silly mac fanatics! You know you will get more bang for your buck (when it comes to games) in the PC world. Plus you get more games to pick from.



    The G4's bus is a bottle neck only a mother could love.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    resres Posts: 711member
    The only game that might give you a hard time would be UT2k3 (it is probably the most demanding game out there right now). On the PC side my Athlon XP 2100+ (1.73GHz) with a 64MB Radeon is not fast enough to play it.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dstranathan

    Will a Dual 1.4 G4+ ATI 9800 Make a Good Game Box?



    Will a Dual G4 1.42 GHz + ATI Radeon 9800 AGP 4x make a good game Mac for these games:



    Americas Army

    Doom 3

    Half-Life 2

    Raven Shield



    etc...





    Cheaper than a G5 and earsier/faster to get too. But can the G4's mobo feed the 9800 properly?












    HALFLIFE 2??? For Mac? Is it really coming out for Mac? If it is...... oh man thats gonna rock on my G5!!!(that I have yet to order)



    Can anyone confirm that half life 2 is coming for Mac?
  • Reply 9 of 12
    dstranathan:

    As I answered at Arstechnica: No.



    Any G4 is crap as a gaming machine for most todays games, and as the future games approach, you'll really feel the suckage of having an 167MHz shared bus and an old CPU-architecture.



    The G4 will be slow on all the games you mentioned, compared to a G5.



    I can not see how you people can suggest that an iMac is a decent gaming machine. They'll perform unbearably slow running any future/modern games.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    As much as I love the Mac platform, Macs are not 'good' gaming machines. If you already own a computer and wish to play a few games casually, a Mac will do just fine.



    However, if you're a gamer and associate with gamers, you are better off buying a console or cheap PC. Consoles are cheaper than high end graphic cards and offer a superior gaming experience. That is, Unless your enjoyment comes from one-upping your neighbor's resolutions and frame-rate specs. In this case, a hand-built PC with generic components is the only way to go.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    resres Posts: 711member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dfiler





    -snip-



    However, if you're a gamer and associate with gamers, you are better off buying a console or cheap PC. Consoles are cheaper than high end graphic cards and offer a superior gaming experience. -snip-





    Consoles are certainly cheaper, but you definitely get the superior gaming experience with a PC (Better input and control options, superior looks and sound, and much better on-line play).
  • Reply 12 of 12
    klinuxklinux Posts: 453member
    Get a cheap PC.



    PC may also be able to emulate a console soon too! Work in progress for Xbox...
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