Comparing video cards

I'm about to purchase my first new machine in about 7 years. A lot has changed in that time including my finances. I'm now on disability which is why I haven't bought a new machine in a while.

I currently have a laptop running Windows 98 (First Edition), a G4 Powermac Mac running MacOS 9.0.1 and a desktop running Linux Redhat 7.1. I used to be a computer programmer and wanted a variety of options available so I tried to have a little of everything.

As I said, I'm now on disability and that means I'm not working. I don't need three machines nor do I really need to cover all the options. I've been considering what to buy and, right now, I'm leaning toward a Macbook Pro. If I want to, I can run Windows and Linux on it.

What has me stumped is the video card issue. At least 50% of my usage is gaming and I need a decent video card. The Macs have the ATI Radeon X1600 in them. However, most of the games I look at in the store say that I need Nvidia GeForce 7200 or better. How do I compare the video card in the Mac to the ones listed on a random game box as the minimum requirement? Is there some website that will give me this information? Or do I have to buy the game and take my chances? Is there a website that lists all of the video cards by all manufacturers that a person might have and "rank" them somehow showing which cards are equivalent to which other cards and which are "better"?

True, if the card I have is the same vendor as the one listed on the box I can compare model numbers and assume, for example, that a Nvidia GeForce 7400 is better than the 7200. But how do I compare the Nvidia card with the ATI? Or what if the model numbers are substantially different such as might happen with a different series of cards by the same company?

I know that if a game is made for the Mac, the requirements on the box will probably mention the Mac cards but what if I run Windows on the Mac and want to run a Windows game? How do I know if the video card is sufficient?

This issue has me stumped...

Can anyone give me any help/advice?

 

compare all ya want! http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

you're on the right track but ive gotta go to work right now so ill see if i can clarify everything later

 

Well, thanks for the pointer to the web page. It answered most of my questions from a technical viewpoint. The only thing I can't tell from that page is whether the video card now in the Mac notebooks would be sufficient for my needs. Comparing the Macbook Pro (ATI x1600 Radeon Gddr3) with alienware's Aurora m9700 (Nvidia Geforce 7900 GS) makes it a difficult choice as to what to buy. The ATI card is rated on the page you pointed me to as about 600fps while the Nvidia is rated at 1200fps. The alienware machine is $300 less than the Mac with everything else except the graphics card being roughly equal. Yet Mac is a superior machine, in general, in my opinion. Would I really suffer with a 600fps card? Would I notice the difference if the two machines were next to each other? Hard to say.

Decisions, decisions, decisons. Now if Mac would let me put in a different card, like I used to be able to do, the choice would be much simpler.

 

what are the full specs for both computers?

if you're gaming then yes, the 7900GS will be a significant improvement over the x1600

 

Here are the two machines I'm considering, configured as equally as I can make them given the manufacturer's options:

Alienware m5550
----------------------------------
15.4" XGA screen 1280x800 Max
2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
4MB L2 Cache
2GB DDR 2 667MHz Memory
160GB Disk 5400rpm
NVidia GeForce Go 7600
with 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM
8x CD-RW/DVD+-RW

10/100 Ethernet, Bluetooth,
802.11a/b/g/draft-n wireless,
56K modem
1 firewire, 3 USB, 1 Expresscard
Height in inches: 1.36
Width in inches: 14.25
Depth in inches: 10.75
Weight: 6 lbs
Windows Vista Home Premium
$1839.00

Apple MacBook Pro
15.4" TFT screen 1440 x 900 Max
2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
4MB L2 Cache
2GB DDR 2 667MHz Memory
160GB Disk 5400rpm
ATI Radeon X1600
with 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM
6x write DVD+R DL/DVD+-RW/CD-RW; 8x read
10/100 Ethernet, Bluetooth,
802.11a/b/g wireless, 802.11n capable,
56K modem
2 firewire, 2 USB, 1 Expresscard
Height in inches: 1.0
Width in inches: 14.1
Depth in inches: 9.6
Weight: 5.6 lbs
Apple MacOS 10.4 Tiger
$2648


The alienware certainly seems to me to be the better buy, but all my friends tell me to buy the Mac. As I said at the start of this, it's hard to compare the video cards and whether or not I'll notice a difference based on the games I play. Diablo II is probably the most graphics intensive game I've played to date.

I know that Mac is a superior OS. In the 8 years I've had a Windows laptop, I've been frustrated no end with the constant crashes, and having to rebuild the registry, and fight viruses, and re-install software because the OS "forgot" it was installed, etc. I've owned a Mac longer than that and it's crashed 3 times on me, and once was due to a hardware failure that was unavoidable. I've never had to re-install any software because the OS "forgot" it. And I've never had to fight viruses or other malware.

I also know that I can run Windows on the Mac but I can't run MacOS on the Alienware machine. I also know there are more games available for Windows but I can always run Windows on the Mac. (For an added cost of $200 for Windows XP)

So the question is, how do the graphics compare? How do the machines compare? And, is one a better buy than the other? And why?

My gut is saying Mac. My wallet is saying Windows. My brain is hurting.

 

in my opinion id go for the alienware...though personally i think macbooks are just overpriced POSs (lets not start on that, shall we? ) so maybe im a bit biased lol

however, they should perform nearly the same in pretty much all applications

 

Hmmm, Macbooks overpriced, then reccomending Alienware..whats wrong with that picture?



both are, just Macs to a greater degree.

As for performing the same in applications, you cant compare, in the least bit. Different OSes entirely.

I'd say you will probably be happier with the Alienware, on the premise of price and software support. There is no question that OS X is the superior OS, but the hardware is not. For nearly the same specs, you pay Apple almost 1k more. So, if you dont like Windows, run Linux. No big deal. And you save a lot of money.



Pros for Mac
-------------
superior OS/can dual boot windows
looks perty


Pros for Alienware
-----------------
price
performance
superior software support
price


Personally, i'd check with a different company altogether and see if the cost is the same. Alienware isnt known for great deals.

 

yea, alienware is overpriced as well but apple takes it to a whole new level

adryn, I have to agree with you completely here though

check out some of the custom computer sites like ibuypower.com (ive had 2 friends buy from here and they are great computers for a nice price) But Alienware (aka Dell) and Apple will offer better service (usually) and warranties

 

This was an easier decision when I worked for a university and could get a Mac at 40% off.

Yes, I could probably do better price-wise by building my own box but then I'd have to support it myself. I'm getting too old for that.

And, yes, the Mac is the superior OS. In some ways, I like it better than Linux. I was a Unix sysadmin for about 15 years. There's a lot of work involved in keeping things up-to-date, and secure - more I think than with Macs but less than with Windows.

I've always liked the Macs. What concerns me now is the price/performance, particularly of the graphics. And the availability (or rather lack of) software for the Mac, particularly games.

If those two machines I listed will perform equally well, I think I still lean toward the Mac even though it's more expensive. It's far more reliable. My PC laptop crashes once a week. My desktop Mac has crashed 3 times in 7 years.

So, bringing this back around to the original question, how do the graphics cards compare? The Nvidia is rated better at fps than the ATI Radeon but what people here appear to be saying is that they'll perform equally well in their respective environments. Is that true? Or did I misread?

 

The 7600 will be superior.

But we are talking games...in everything else, i see no reason why it wont be largely the same. Games are not a benchmark for Apples anyway.

If you do go Macbook, maybe you should wait for Leopard?

 

What do you think is the benchmark for Apple? They've always claimed their graphics were superior, as far as I remember.

As for waiting for Leopard... I've thought of that. I gave it serious consideration. However, my laptop is about 9 years old and dying. And since it's running Windows 98 and can't be upgraded, most of the software is out of date and no longer supported. In particular, my anti-virus software will no longer be supported after June 30. So, it's looking like I need to upgade now rather than wait until Leopard comes out.

 

I'm not a benchmarking sort of fellow. But I will say this, Apple made that graphics claim back when the Pentium III was in power That, and it was a reference to graphics editing, not so much games.
The x86 world caught up years ago.