[Pilotkev]

I have a B&W G3/300 which has been a great computer, but it's time to do a ZIF CPU upgrade. I'm wondering which is better? Both cost about $290. BTW, I've been running OS X on the B&W since Jaguar came out and it is completely doable, just a little slow at times. I'd like to make this machine last another 12 months before buying a fast dual G4.

I don't use Altivec at all EXCEPT for OS X and occasionally Virtual PC. I don't do games at all.

What's everybody think?

Thanks,
Kevin

[dreilly1]

Not sure about the ZIF upgrades in particular, but you might want to search for the threads about people who were thinking of replacing their older model (~500 MHz) TiBooks with the new 800 MHz iBook.

IIRC, they said that for things that didn't involve AltiVec, the faster G3 beat the slower G4 hands down.

Let me know how it goes, my B&W 400 may need an upgrade someday!

[tiborg]

I'm also considering upgrading my Beige G3/500 (replaced the original 266 a couple years ago). I bought a PBG4/550 last year and would say for everyday use, the 550MHz G4 is about the same as the 500MHz G3. However, the 1MB cache on the G3 makes a lot of difference in VPC compared to my PowerBook's measly 256K cache.

If you haven't upgraded your HD in the last couple years, you should look into that too. Replacing my original 4GB with an IBM 45GB Deskstar made almost as much a difference upping the CPU to 500MHz.

[DrBoar]

I have done extensive switching between a G3/300 running at 350 and a G4/400 AGP. Apart from the slower HD and inferior game performance they feel the same in things like Office web browsing, Prism etc. Based on that I would assume that the G3/800 is faster than the G4. If I remember correctly it does not require any drivers as well and that is a good feature.

[Lateralus]

Get the G3.

[D'Espice]

In your case, the G3/800 will be a lot faster than the G4/500. You said you don't use AltiVec, which however is the only difference between the G3 and the G4.

[Pilotkev]

Originally posted by D'Espice:
In your case, the G3/800 will be a lot faster than the G4/500. You said you don't use AltiVec, which however is the only difference between the G3 and the G4.

Thanks to all for the replies. I just didn't know how much OS X uses Altivec. My TiBook has a G4/400, my B&W a G3/300 and my Imac a G3/350. To be honest, all seem about the same speed to me when running OS X. But the B&W has a new, fast hard drive, and the other two don't.

I think I'll get the G3/800.

Thanks again,
Kevin

[D'Espice]

The Quartz Layer does use AltiVec however it's not worth 300 MHz.

[Simon]

Originally posted by D'Espice:
The Quartz Layer does use AltiVec however it's not worth 300 MHz.

I'll second that 100%. Get the G3.

A 10% overall benefit from Altivec nowhere near competes with a 60% overall benefit from 800MHz instead of 500MHz.

[Superchicken]

G3