Analysis: x86 Vs PPC
Linked by Nicholas Blachford on Wed 9th Jul 2003 16:43 UTC
Talk, Rumors, X Versus Y This article started life when I was asked to write a comparison of x86 and PowerPC CPUs for work. We produce PowerPC based systems and are often asked why we use PowerPC CPUs instead of x86 so a comparison is rather useful. While I have had an interest in CPUs for quite some time but I have never explored this issue in any detail so writing the document proved an interesting exercise. I thought my conclusions would be of interest to OSNews readers so I've done more research and written this new, rather more detailed article. This article is concerned with the technical differences between the families not the market differences.
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RE:Lovechild
by Harbinjer on Wed 9th Jul 2003 21:23 UTC

You can get a quiet heat sink and power supply for that Athlon. It will cost you some money, but much less than getting a new Mac. Just check the decibel rating for something below 40 dB, below 30 if you can. I've heard of power supplies with a 28 dB rating, which is VERY quiet. Plus you can get anechoic tiles to absorb even more noise.

While it may not be quite as quiet as a new Mac, they can be very tolerable. I've heard(or not heard) several Dells that I could barely tell if they were on or off. (That depends on where you live, in urban areas that can definitely be true).

Fan technology is no reason to spend $3000 on by itself.

P.S. I would only get a G5 for OS X, because whether or not its faster than an x86 cpu, that is probably unnoticeable, except in benchmarks.