Cheetah on older hardware
I did a search through the forums and I didn't find this question exactly, but forgive me if the answer can be found elsewhere. Cheetah3D looks like a great program and I would like to try it out, but since I am not a Mac owner I cannot. I also cannot afford one of those fancy dual-G5 jobs, $3000 is far too much for me. I have thought of using some sort of emulation to run it on a PC, but a 3D program would be far too intense to get halfway-decent performance out of an emulator. The only option that is affordable right now is to buy an older computer and put OS X on it and run it from there. That's the question here, is there anyone running this on an old G3 or something, maybe a Cube or something...something that's right at the requirements of Cheetah3D? I am curious as to the performance...is it something that I should just forget about? Or should I just wait and buy today's current computer after the Mactels come out and prices drop? Ideally, I would like to spend no more than $5-600. That's not a lot, I know, but on the horizon is the building of my "supercomputer" for less than $1500...no, not actually top of the line everything, but close enough (Athlon64 4000+, GeForce 6800GT, 2GB RAM, etc.). It's an advantage of being a computer tech that I can save a fortune by building it myself.
I know someone is going to suggest a MacMini at some point, but I have reservations about using that for 3D work, although I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses one. The main detractor is the video card, only 32MB of memory seems a little underwhelming. However, I have heard nothing but good things about the Mini overall.
For the record, I used to be a Windows loser...um, user...but I am currently running Mepis 3.3.1-1, and I LOVE it. I still dual-boot on occasion, but I rarely use XP. As for 3D programs, I have been learning Lightwave3D (hence the dual-booting) and Blender3D. I think Blender has a lot of potential, but DANG! the interface is a pain in the butt. Also, anyone out there who has used Lightwave3D on Mac, especially older Macs, let me hear about that. Although I am a Linux lover, I really hold no grudges against any OS (yes, even XP), because I do not believe there is one OS that can suit every person. I believe that having choice in your OS is important, and I would not be above investing a bit of $$ in a new Mac (at some point) just to run Lightwave, it's a great program. Cheetah3D looks like a good one, too...is it?
Anyway, I hope to be trying Cheetah3D at some time, hopefully soon. Thanks!!
I did a search through the forums and I didn't find this question exactly, but forgive me if the answer can be found elsewhere. Cheetah3D looks like a great program and I would like to try it out, but since I am not a Mac owner I cannot. I also cannot afford one of those fancy dual-G5 jobs, $3000 is far too much for me. I have thought of using some sort of emulation to run it on a PC, but a 3D program would be far too intense to get halfway-decent performance out of an emulator. The only option that is affordable right now is to buy an older computer and put OS X on it and run it from there. That's the question here, is there anyone running this on an old G3 or something, maybe a Cube or something...something that's right at the requirements of Cheetah3D? I am curious as to the performance...is it something that I should just forget about? Or should I just wait and buy today's current computer after the Mactels come out and prices drop? Ideally, I would like to spend no more than $5-600. That's not a lot, I know, but on the horizon is the building of my "supercomputer" for less than $1500...no, not actually top of the line everything, but close enough (Athlon64 4000+, GeForce 6800GT, 2GB RAM, etc.). It's an advantage of being a computer tech that I can save a fortune by building it myself.
I know someone is going to suggest a MacMini at some point, but I have reservations about using that for 3D work, although I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses one. The main detractor is the video card, only 32MB of memory seems a little underwhelming. However, I have heard nothing but good things about the Mini overall.
For the record, I used to be a Windows loser...um, user...but I am currently running Mepis 3.3.1-1, and I LOVE it. I still dual-boot on occasion, but I rarely use XP. As for 3D programs, I have been learning Lightwave3D (hence the dual-booting) and Blender3D. I think Blender has a lot of potential, but DANG! the interface is a pain in the butt. Also, anyone out there who has used Lightwave3D on Mac, especially older Macs, let me hear about that. Although I am a Linux lover, I really hold no grudges against any OS (yes, even XP), because I do not believe there is one OS that can suit every person. I believe that having choice in your OS is important, and I would not be above investing a bit of $$ in a new Mac (at some point) just to run Lightwave, it's a great program. Cheetah3D looks like a good one, too...is it?
Anyway, I hope to be trying Cheetah3D at some time, hopefully soon. Thanks!!