Need a Mac Mini Urgently

So I can compile games for PPC Mac. So I should be looking for a G4 right? I've seen some with only 256Mb RAM and thought this seemed a bit crappy, is it enough to run the OS OK?

I've seen some with OSX 10.3, would that be OK with BMax or should I only get 10.4? Some have 10.5 but does it take more CPU power/RAM to run that OK? I'm a noom about these things so any advie welcome, thx!

Anyone know if such a box would run BMax and games made in BMax at an OK (not stellar) framerate so I can at least test the game behaves normally.

In fact is there anything weird about the PPC I should know (apart from that little/big endian stuff)?

Been looking on ebay for buy it now deals. All seem over £200. Wonder if there are any elsewhere online.

Why mini? Well I could get like an 800Mhz G4 in a minitwer but that would take up a ton of room in my office...mind you I guess I only need to get it out when I finish a game which is not that often...If I got one of these, what speed and RAM will OSX10.4 need to run Bmax.

Thanks all.

get used to the fact that "apple-ianers" are willing to pay massive second hand fees.

My Ex GF sold her G3 based IBook after 2 years for the same price she originally bought it ...

Actually the G4 is a very nice CPU from a assembler point of view, very well designed, i like it more than the G5.

My Mini is a G4 1.25 GHz with 1GB RAM. It doesn't matter this much if you're using 1.25 or 1.44 GHz here but what matters is how much RAM you have. Anything below 1GB slows you down with hd swapping if you're really using the machine but for a compilation only, 512MB also would be okay but i wouldn't recommend 256MB only. No idea how well 10.3 is supported but 10.4 is working. And the 9200er in the G4 Minis mostly is also better than the GMA950 in the Intel Minis.

an emac would do the job and is the size of a 17inch crt.

Your probably going to need 10.4 there is a lot of difference in the point releases.

But two mac minis would be nice, a ppc and an intel...pretty

HMM, I almost picked one of these up yesterday on the way home.... Wonder what the spec was. I'll check today!

Hi Grey,

I've got a PPC Mac Mini(1.42 GHz) with 512MB and 10.4.11. The compile time on it for my Crumb game is about the same as my PC. It also runs at about the same speed(at least I don't notice any difference). So I think with 512MB you should be fine.

If you need some testing, please let me know.

OK thx for the info all. Took a look at emac on wikipedia, may be underpowered dunno. Guess I should check on ebay.

Cartman: OK thanks! Yeah I need the PPC myself here so I can see what it runs like and look for strangeness.

What about this one? I could try and sneak in with a £175 bid or something at the last minute:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Apple-Mac-Mini-1-33Ghz-G4-Apple-Keyboard-Pro-Mouse_W0QQitemZ300182029803QQihZ020QQcategoryZ101189QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sounds good from the pictures. Contrary to buying software twice i in this case also wouldn't mind paying £200 for it as at least the Minis i've seen are very reliable machines. But if you're after more than just compiling i would look out for a 1GB RAM Mini.

No it's just for compiling as I have a MacBook Pro already.

That one doesn't have Wireless, but this one does:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MAC-MINI-1-42GHZ-1GB-RAM-80GB-HD-SDRIVE-KBD-MSE-SCN_W0QQitemZ270194788278QQihZ017QQcategoryZ101189QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

But it costs more.

I could use LAN on the first one but it's a pain when my whole house is wireless...

I wouldn't mind about the wireless option in this case and go for the cheaper offer because i'm more happy if i can avoid e-smog but that's a personal taste thing.

I could always get a bulky box like this and store it away and only get it out when I finish a game that needs compiling...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Apple-POWER-MAC-G4-QS-733mhz-512MB-80GIG-OSX-iLife_W0QQitemZ260194992768QQihZ016QQcategoryZ4607QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

A suggestion? :O) Get the Mini...

I would recommend a G4 at at least 750Mhz - 256mb is enough to run the os if it's 10.3, probably 10.4 and .5 needs or at least recommends the 512 mb ran. I would go with the most recent os possible. I have a 1GHz G4 with 256mb ram and os 10.3 panther and it works fine for BlitzMax.

really? 10.3 is fine with BMax, well that's good to know. Perhaps I should just buy a big ole G4 box then...

Hmm, might try to save money after all. Look at this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=360006195675&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=023

800MHz, 512RAM, 80GB HD, 10.4 installed, 32MB ATI, LAN. I'd probably get a wireless PCI card, there are some really chepar ones on ebay I'm a bit dubious of though...

Sounds fine for a PPC compilation machine if not even a development machine.

great, think I'm gonna get it.

Hey, I see you bought it! Congrats! Pretty nice price for a fairly decent machine.

Yep I thought it seemed OK and it's not too much money if it's a complete mess up, but I'm sure it'll be fine. Now I need to get a wireless network card for it. Do you think I can just get any of those PCI Airport G4 cards that seem to be all over ebay?

I came in too late, but thought I would post for future reference. I have been messing with some of the older G3 Macs the last week or so. I am a Mac newb, but have a strong PC background. Someone gave me 2 iMacs. One is 233mHz, 32MB RAM(can only load up to 10.3 on it, but it would need a RAM upgrade and I'm not paying for it.) The other though was a bit newer, 450mHz, slot load DVD. I threw in 512MB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. I loaded the latest version of Tiger and it actually runs along just fine. Also got a 350 mHz G3 tower for free and did the same thing, put 512MB RAM and an 80GB hard drive. The difference in speed is noticable between the two, but the tower is still usable. I think either of these would be suitable for a compilation machine and they are cheap on eBay. Can get them shipped for less than $100.

wow OK cool. See I'd never dream of trying to do anything on a PC with those specs.

What about making it wireless then, what do I need? Something like this?:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Airport-Extreme-PCI-Wireless-Card-G3-G4-Power-Mac_W0QQitemZ310007091894QQihZ021QQcategoryZ80034QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That would work great in the g3 and g4 tower because they have standard PCI slots. The imac actually has a proprietary slot for an airport card underneath by the memory.

I'm with you on the speed thing. I definitely wouldn't dream of using those speeds on a PC. But the 450mHz iMac is actually fast enough for day to day basic use. The windows snap right open and it isn't sluggish at all. I am going to play with the tower, I have some 15K SCSI drives laying around, maybe get the RAM to 1GB and that will be my learn OS X machine. I have wanted to get a Mac Mini, but I am not paying the prices they want for them on ebay.

OK I'll order that then. Thanks for your advice. I forgot to order it before the last post today, doh! Yep the Mac Minis are a bit much considering I just want it to compile PPC, I already have a MacBook Pro as my amin Mac machine (and it's REALLY good).