Apple Modding

[okcpulse]

One of Apple Computer's biggest downfalls is its lack of flexibility and selection of Apple computers. Couple that with steep prices, and what that adds up to is a market Apple will NEVER get their hands on... PC modders.

I myself am a PC modder (for those who do not know, PC modders are those who either build there own PCs, or modify their own PCs by customizing everything right down to the power supply). PC modding has become somewhat of an art as much as skill. There are a ton of small companies out there building PCs of all kinds, from your normal towers to computers literally built into a desk. Most hard core modders show off their masterpiece with a custom paint job on the tower, a pricey water cooling kit, and some beefy hardware that pushes the cost of their hobby well above $7,000.

So, what's in it for Apple? They've done little. Sure, the Power Mac towers are nice, and the new G5 Power Macs can address upto a whopping 16GB of RAM (Mac OS X has these capabilites since it is a Unix operating system). But the cheapest Power Mac G5 is $1,999, and comes with a 250GB HDD, 512MB of 667 MHz RAM, and a dual 2.5 GHz PowerPC processor. You can get the same hardware in a $900 PC.

Steve Jobs does not encourage building your own Mac, especially since no computer stores carry ANY Mac hardware. But if you must, and can't shake the curiosity, there are a few but limited options. If you want to mod an Apple Power Mac G3 or G4, you can. Since they are used, these computers are a bit cheaper on the street. EBay will be your best option.

Macinstosh PCs use a proprietary motherboard made by Logic. And in a G4, you're limited on FSB speeds, only 133 MHz. Mac motherboards use the same type of DIMM slots and PCI slots as does any other motherboard, and some even have an AGP slot. But again, EBay is the only place you can find a video card upgrade, from ATI (for Macs) and NVidia (for Macs). Be sure to specify on RAM whether it will go in a G4 or G3, because the low FSB speeds limit your choice, and RAM on Windows-based PCs that have 512 MB are generally 333 MHz.

Forget sound cards. Sound Blaster Audigy provides no drivers for Mac PCs, and Apple's Mac OS X indicates no support for SB cards, so you have to rely on integrated sound.

Sonnet is the only known provider for PowerPC CPU upgrades, but putting in a new PowerPC CPU requires some knowledge. The processor comes on a circuit board, and the old PowerPC G4s and G3s use only a heatsink, no fan. And NO water cooling.

Should you want to mount an Mac motherboard in a PC case, beware. Mac motherboards are their own form factor. That means the mounting holes will not line up with those in a PC tower. You're better off just sticking with a Mac tower, or building a Windows-based PC. I found it is simply not worth the expense and time-consumption for a project such as this. However, people have asked me. And my answer is... yes, it can be done. But you be the judge on the rewards, and if you are that desperate to run Mac OS X without the emulation of PearPC (emulation sucks, I like the real thing), then by all means.

But I must warn you... do this for yourself. Don't mod an Apple and market it for sale. Apple's lawyers will come knocking.

[PUGalicious]

That was an interesting post, but I'm not sure how much of it I agree with. As a Apple/Macintosh user for close to 20 years now, I've not found this "downfall" to be that big of an issue. In my experience with other Mac users, I've not heard a great outcry for Mac "modding." Perhaps it's because the Macs are built well enough in most respects that they don't need much "modding." Or perhaps it's a different demographic of users who find everything they want and need in their Macs and don't want to mess with "perfection."

I presently own two PowerMac G5s (for work), a Powerbook G4 (laptop) and a PowerMac G4 at home. I used to own a PC in addition to the Macs, but found that I don't need it anymore. Although the PowerMac G4 is showing its age (now more than 4 years old), it's still runs well and fast enough for our home purposes. It certainly runs as well as the more recently purchased PCs that my other family members own. I've heard time and time again the complaints about Macs costing so much more, but I've watched my "modding" friends and family members spend more on a machine than I have for my Mac and still not get it to where they want it or working as well as my Macs.

Perhaps Apple doesn't know what it's missing out on with "modders." But I can tell you that they have one of the most loyal customer bases in any industry. The company, because of it's relatively small market share, has been prognosticated to be near demise more times that I can count in the last decade or more, and yet it still thrives today. Fortunately, the "Goliath" Microsoft has been unable to crush this "David" of a company. The chief reason is because they continue on the cutting edge of design and technology, and they produce quality products. Yes, you may pay more for a Mac — initially — but you more than get what you pay for. And that's what keeps bringing Mac users back again and again.

[okcpulse]

You've made some good points, Scribe, and I do agree with you. For the most part, home users do not do what I do on my PC. However, the Power Mac G5 has me particularly intrigued, mostly because of its Quad Core Power PC processor option (at $3,299, but I'd pay that for a Quad Core).

Problem is, I have a passion for building PCs from scratch. And I'm picky about hardware. Everything has to match, and it runs great.

Should I ever switch to Mac, I can't take by Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card with me, and it's been my best investment thus far (mostrly because of the front end monster jacks that fit into the optical drive bay).

And, if I ever switch to the Mac OS X platform, I feel as though I'm turning my back on several years of Windows training for Microsoft certification, which I still plan to get.

I am buying my wife an Apple iMac Intel for her birthday, so I guess I'll have the best of all three worlds for experience gain... Linux, Windows, and Mac OS for IT purposes.

Apple computers run well because the hardware selected is thoroughly tested for seamless integration. I just hope that someday, Apple gets more hardware vendors involved.

Nonetheless, PC modders who build performance PCs for showmanship share my passion... bringing the PC you built with your hands to life.

[PUGalicious]

You've made some good points, Scribe, and I do agree with you. For the most part, home users do not do what I do on my PC. However, the Power Mac G5 has me particularly intrigued, mostly because of its Quad Core Power PC processor option (at $3,299, but I'd pay that for a Quad Core).

Problem is, I have a passion for building PCs from scratch. And I'm picky about hardware. Everything has to match, and it runs great.

Should I ever switch to Mac, I can't take by Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card with me, and it's been my best investment thus far (mostrly because of the front end monster jacks that fit into the optical drive bay).

And, if I ever switch to the Mac OS X platform, I feel as though I'm turning my back on several years of Windows training for Microsoft certification, which I still plan to get.

I am buying my wife an Apple iMac Intel for her birthday, so I guess I'll have the best of all three worlds for experience gain... Linux, Windows, and Mac OS for IT purposes.

Apple computers run well because the hardware selected is thoroughly tested for seamless integration. I just hope that someday, Apple gets more hardware vendors involved.

Nonetheless, PC modders who build performance PCs for showmanship share my passion... bringing the PC you built with your hands to life.

All good points and I can understand where you are coming from. I just don't think the Mac OS platform is geared for the "modder" crowd.

I just hope that someday, Apple gets more hardware vendors involved.

They tried that once and it didn't work out so well. It diluted the quality of the MacOS platform. I actually had one of the alternative hardware computers during that period; I liked the price, but Mac just wasn't as innovative and as quality when third-party hardware vendors flooded the Mac market. There were too many competing interests and the Mac suffered and Apple was on the verge of collapse. When Steve Jobs returned and brought it all back in house, Apple and Mac paved the way to its current success.

Anyway, thanks for bringing attention to this not-too-frequently discussed platform.

[Bobby H]

I do computer graphics work. However, for the last several years I have done that on WindowsNT, Win2000 and WinXP based PCs. There is a common misconception that all computer graphics work is done on Mac-based systems.

The real key to Mac-dominance in graphics relates to workflows. Newspapers and publishing houses that have been around for anymore than a few years are almost exclusively Mac-based. A decade ago, most professional level imposition software and color management tools were almost entirely Mac based.

Fonts and color profiles have not had the ability to jump platforms reasonably well until only recently. Still, your old files, fonts and other resources keep you rooted to the platform you have been using. Most folks who have been using Macs for graphics will keep using Macs.

Other more industry-specific graphics trades are far less Mac-dominated. Windows-based PCs hold a very wide lead in the 3D modeling, animation, engineering and CAD/CAM/CAE fields. The domination is there for many of the same reasons why PCs hold a huge lead on video gaming. WindowsNT supported features like OpenGL, symmetric multiprocessing, protected memory and preemptive multitasking in the early 1990s, well ahead of Apple putting those features into OSX. That allowed Windows quite a head start.

PC users have a much wider array of add-in acceleration cards for 3D, engineering and video work than what exist for the Mac platform. Everything, except for Apple branded creative products, have Windows versions. Some applications, such as Autodesk Studio3D Max or Eyeon Software's Fusion aren't available for the Mac platform. Fusion is a $5000 compositing app used alongside Lightwave3D to create much of the visuals in the movie Sin City.

Windows still has its short-comings, namely in the security area.

In the end, I think it was a very smart move for Apple to shift over to Intel processors.

My hope is for companies like Adobe to deliver universal binary products that can install on Intel-based Macs or PCs (or even PPC Macs for that matter). If lots of software titles start shipping in platform independent "single inventory" boxes it will make the situation much easier for people to buy whatever computer hardware they choose.

I'd like to own a Mac for the access to Apple's Final Cut Studio suite. But the thousands of dollars I have invested in Windows-based applications keep me stuck on the PC platform for now.