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G4 Processor upgrades?

T

The_Mage18

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 31, 2004
Messages
1,712
I've been using my G4 for a while now and liking but it MUST GO FASTER.

I was wondering what everyone's experiances were with various upgrade procs. I've been looking at owc.com nad am considering a Powerlogic Powerforce55 (1Ghz chip).

Any suggestions from those of you more experianced than me?
 
The upgrades have gotten better over the years. The thing you need to look at is the rest of the specs of the system to find out if it is worth upgrading. Things like the amount of ram, hd speed, and video card also need to be looked at to determine what should be done. What are the specs of the machine you are looking at upgrading?
 
Specs:

Gigabit Ethernet edition
G4 400Mhz
896 MB of RAM
20GB 5400 RPM Ultra 100 (x2, one entirely for OS 10.3.9, the other split for OS 9 and blank)
ATI Rage 128 (trying to get a better card)

I've added a USB 2.0/firewire combo card and a Linksys PCI 802.11g card to the system The card works as if it was an actual Airport card and the USB works perfectly.
 
What is it that's agonizingly slow? Page rendering in Safari, or resizing windows, or switching applications? If it's the first, or tasks like it, upgrade the CPU. If it's the second, or tasks similar to it, upgrade the video card. If it's the third, upgrade the RAM and hard drive..
 
I bought a Sonnet 1.2 ghz G4 upgrade from Newegg for my Digital Audio Tower. Price was about $280 - recently I saw them for $265 but they seemt o be out of stock at the moment. They do have the 1.4ghz for $370 and 1.0ghz for $199

I give the current Sonnet chip an A+ in quality and performance. This thing runs just perfect for what I do (email, surfing, average photoshop use, itunes, iphoto)

Another great brand is Gigadesigns. Check the FAQ or look at xlr8yourmac.com for more info
 
Black Morty Rackham said:
What is it that's agonizingly slow? Page rendering in Safari, or resizing windows, or switching applications? If it's the first, or tasks like it, upgrade the CPU. If it's the second, or tasks similar to it, upgrade the video card. If it's the third, upgrade the RAM and hard drive..
Click to expand...

Take your pick... It's mainly suffering from the old Rage and a slow CPU.
Scrolling is slow, the GUI is muddy at times and it would be nice if it could run WoW. :D
 
Ok am I really going to see a big difference in performance with a chip that has L3 cache versus one that doesn't?

I found on the Gigadesigns store a 1.2Ghz for the same price as the Sonnet 1.0 Ghz but the Sonnet has 2MB of L3 cache, the Gigadesgins doesn't.
OWC also has an 800Mhz Powerlogic for cheap that also does not have L3 cache.
My current chip has 1MB of L2 cache whereas all of the upgrades I've seen only have 256K


I know in the PC world L3 cache was nice to have but it wasn't a huge increase except for extremly CPU intessive apps and even then had diminishing returns, does this hold true in Power PC land?
 
Ok am I really going to see a big difference in performance with a chip that has L3 cache versus one that doesn't?
Click to expand...
Well, it depends. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Often, a 1.2GHz G4 with L3 cache performs better than a 1.7GHz G4 with no L3 cache. Or something such. I'm sure xlr8yourmac.com and barefeats.com will provide you with a wealth of information about such matters.
 
Well you figure a mac 8500/9200 is what like 90 bucks or so on ebay. You get one of those and a upgrade card and that system would be pretty good. Figure around 300 to 400 bucks you can get a system that should be about the same as a mini. With this tough you could always upgrade to more hds and dual cpus in the future.
 
I would definitely recomend going for a lower clocked dual processor upgrade rather than a higher clocked single. The percieved speed is much higher with a dual system, in my experience.
 
i just got a digital audio powermac (single 533), and found a used dual 867 upgrade for 280 bucks (mac forums marketplace)...i'd keep an eye out for a used dual upgrade.
 
bah - For "general use" I wouldn't get a dual cpu upgrade unless:

1 - you are using an application that ACTUALLY makes use of both (like Photoshop or some 3d programs)

2 - you are a super power user and you ALWAYS have multiple programs open and performing several tasks at the same time

3 - you just want to spend twice as much on an upgrade.


(for example - a dual cpu isn't going to make WoW run any faster)
 
seanmcd said:
1 - you are using an application that ACTUALLY makes use of both (like Photoshop or some 3d programs)
Click to expand...
No but its spare cycles will be used either to fold for the [H]orde or as a render cow

seanmcd said:
2 - you are a super power user and you ALWAYS have multiple programs open and performing several tasks at the same time
Click to expand...
That's me, minimum number of open apps is usually 3, not including multiple browser tabs

seanmcd said:
3 - you just want to spend twice as much on an upgrade.
Click to expand...
Now now, let's not be rude here! :p

seanmcd said:
(for example - a dual cpu isn't going to make WoW run any faster)
Click to expand...
But it's DOUBLE the CPU power!!!! IT SHOULD BE FASTER!!!!! :D
 
Black Morty Rackham said:
Obviously he hasn't. :)
Click to expand...
Dear Morty - I've had several Dual CPU pc's - including Pentium 166's, DUAL Celeron 550's (ABIT BP6), P3 1000's, Dual XEON workstation at work, and I've used extensively the latest Dual G4 1.42ghz powermacs. Don't believe the hype - a second CPU is a waste MOST of the time. I don't know if mage is a power user or if he's just getting online to look at cousin Elroy's summer vaction photos.
 
briang said:
i just got a digital audio powermac (single 533), and found a used dual 867 upgrade for 280 bucks (mac forums marketplace)...i'd keep an eye out for a used dual upgrade.
Click to expand...

Bastard, I found that forum and that post. I was all excited until I read the worst 4 letters ever, S O L D.

Anyone know of some good Mac sale forums? The sale forum here is pretty PC oriented, can't imagine why... :rolleyes:
 
by the way another good upgrade for you would be a fast (7200rmp) hard drive. (lose the two 20's) and of course a better video card. Try and find good CAS2 PC100 Ram as well
 
seanmcd said:
by the way another good upgrade for you would be a fast (7200rmp) hard drive. (lose the two 20's) and of course a better video card. Try and find good CAS2 PC100 Ram as well
Click to expand...

I have a video card on it's way already. I am thinking about upgrading the drive as I'm using almost 10GB of it already! :eek:

The RAM I have is CAS2, two sticks of Kingston and two of Micron. I'm mainly needing a proc upgrade at this point.
 
The_Mage18 said:
Bastard, I found that forum and that post. I was all excited until I read the worst 4 letters ever, S O L D.

Anyone know of some good Mac sale forums? The sale forum here is pretty PC oriented, can't imagine why... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I just finally got it all set up tonight...man it is fucking sweet...now I just need a new video card, and I am golden.
 
briang said:
I just finally got it all set up tonight...man it is fucking sweet...now I just need a new video card, and I am golden.
Click to expand...
briang please visit www.xbench.com, download the benchmark program and let us know what you score ;)
 
nice...interesting results. How do you like the 9600? Im thinking of heading towards one..
 
briang said:
nice...interesting results. How do you like the 9600? Im thinking of heading towards one..
Click to expand...
it's good - although the only thing I seemed to gain over the 8500 I had previously (which is about to go on ebay), was the "ripple" effect in Tiger (or "core" support). Other than that - they feel about the same. I've tried a few FPS games and it was definitely stronger (but I could care less as I have a Windows PC for games).
 
seanmcd said:
it's good - although the only thing I seemed to gain over the 8500 I had previously (which is about to go on ebay), was the "ripple" effect in Tiger (or "core" support). Other than that - they feel about the same. I've tried a few FPS games and it was definitely stronger (but I could care less as I have a Windows PC for games).
Click to expand...

WHOA wait a minute, is it AGP? The card I have comming is a 7500.
 
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