ARENA on Mac Intel/Windows?

[tvining]

Will the ARENA system work on an Intel Mac booted into Windows?

[Birch]

Yes, we use one as a test system. It works nicely.

[tvining]

Cool! Could you outline the specs of the machine, and which Windows emulation software you are using?

Thanks--Tim

[VincentG]

MacBook Pro -
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB (two SO-DIMMs) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300)
120GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm

BootCamp Beta 1.4, but we also used Beta 1.3 with no issues.....

Windows Version - XP SP2

Note - ARENA will not work in any virtualization or emulation modes (due to USB issues)

[tvining]

I was considering a Mac Mini with 2GHz dual intel processor, 1gb ram, 120gb hard drive, 4 USB 2 ports. Do you think this is sufficient to run ARENA and 6 cameras?

Thanks--Tim

[VincentG]

Everything would be within specifications......

but let me get a second opinion on the video card in that......
(Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory)

[Jim]

Hmm, I think it should work with 6 cameras, but I am a little hesitant because I haven't tried one of those boxes myself, or seen how XP runs on one using Bootcamp, or some other software like it.

[tvining]

Okay thanks. Is a good graphics card a necessary for ARENA? It isn't mentioned in the specs, so I wasn't sure if that was something ARENA needed. The Mini doesn't seem to have a particularly big graphics card.

[VincentG]

Consensus is that it should work, and is within system specs., but we haven't tested it on that type of system.

A good one isn't required, but it will not something that can be "adequate". a 5 year old graphics chip, might have issues.

[tvining]

Okay, thanks! Perhaps a safer option would be an iMac with:

* 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB memory
* 250GB hard drive
* 8x double-layer SuperDrive
* ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory