[Scoo]

Well, it looks like being laid off has it's advantages: severely reduced income = severely reduced taxes. We are actually getting a refund this year!

I bit the bullet and plunked down $299 for the Powerlogix G4 550 ZIF at MacMall. Along with the GB RAM, Radeon Mac Edition and 100 GB HD upgrades, this baby is gonna be one mean FrankenMac.

I found out via XLR8yourmac.com that Powerlogix is no longer making this model, thier products page lists only a 500 Mhz ZIF. Maybe the supply of this chip has been exhausted? Neither OWC nor Powerlogix is stocking this item, MacMall is the only game in town AFAIK. If you have want one of these for your BW G3 or Yikes! machine, you'll want to move quickly.

Now, my question. The XLR8yourmac.com CPU upgrade database ratings shows many folks like this UG for the fact that it can be reliably overclocked up to 600 Mhz via a little dial build in to it. They report adding inexpensive 3rd party CPU fans to make this possible, some mentioning models they liked. I want to know what the MacNN community thinks. Can anyone recommend a good CPU fan that will attach to the CPU without my needing to fire up the Dremel of soldering iron? Where does it plug in to my Mac?

[Scoo]

It's here. It's installed. It's Snappy©.

However, while Cache Control X shows the backside cache at 1MB, Apple System Profiler shows L2 cache at OKB. Is this normal?

[redJag]

Yeah the cache is controlled by the software that came with the upgrade, so OS X Profiler probably won't recognize (they may add support for it later, Apple that is). I know in OS 9 my upgrade card registered in Profiler. If you have it installed, give it a boot maybe. As long as the card's software is workin thats all that matters.

[Scoo]

Originally posted by redJag:
Yeah the cache is controlled by the software that came with the upgrade, so OS X Profiler probably won't recognize (they may add support for it later, Apple that is). I know in OS 9 my upgrade card registered in Profiler. If you have it installed, give it a boot maybe. As long as the card's software is workin thats all that matters.

I'm getting very noticable boosts from the usual suspects. Altivec Fractal Carbon is giving me 1400-1500 megaflops as compared with 900-1000 previously, so I'm pretty sure the cache is working. Ripped a few songs off a CD, very fast! I'm very happy with my purchase so far.

I've had three freezes, mouse completely frozen, shades of Mac OS 7.5.3!. From what I understand, this is completely normal as the new hardware "settles in" during the first day or so. I'll wait a few weeks to crank it up to 600 Mhz.