[Lateralus]

POWERLOGIX ANNOUNCES 1 GHz CPU UPGRADES FOR POWERBOOK G3 PISMO, POWERMAC G3, and POWERMAC G4 PCI



AUSTIN --April 5, 2004 -- PowerLogix today announced two new CPU upgrade models, continuing its leadership position in the marketplace. Both products offer the fastest clock speeds for their respective platforms.


Based on the new IBM PowerPC 750 GX CPU, these user-installed upgrades deliver clock speeds up to 1.0 GHz with a full megabyte of cache also running at 1.0 GHz. These upgrades significantly extend the useful life of these computers at a very competitive price.


The low-power IBM PowerPC 750 GX is similar to the 750 FX chip of which PowerLogix has been the sole supplier since February of 2003. However the GX has twice the L2 cache of the FX, and is available in faster clock speeds. (The FX based upgrades are are also still available.)


The first product using this chip is Blue Chip G3 Pismo running at 1.0 GHz. The Blue Chip is compatible with all Pismo PowerBooks, and is two to 2.5 times faster than the clock speed of a stock Pismo. The L2 cache is also five times faster, ensuring the highest possible performance.


The Blue Chip G3 Pismo with the 1.0 GHz 750 GX also operates very cool, due to the lower power characteristics of this chip. The CPU speed is adjustable on the fly to a lower clock speed, for additional battery life. Tests show an additional 30 minutes on a full charge can be expected (all other factors equal except clock speed.)


The second product also using the 750 GX is the PowerForce G3 ZIF running at 1.0 GHz. This model is compatible with the PowerMac G3 Beige, Blue and White, and original PCI PowerMac G4, and offers up to four times the performance of the original PowerMac.


The very economical price will be sure to please many owners of these machines who have been desiring faster CPU performance for some time.


Availability: The PowerForce G3 1.0 GHz ZIF and Blue Chip G3 1.0 GHz Pismo are available now. Supplies will be limited initially due to IBM ramping GX production.


Pricing: Blue Chip G3 1.0 GHz Pismo, $399; PowerForce G3 1.0 GHz ZIF, $349.


Kinda wish I'd hung onto my B&W G3.

[WizOSX]

I've been thinking about the pros and cons of putting a 1ghz G3 in my Beige desktop (one of my 3 Macs) in place of the current 300mhz G3. The most reasonably priced, bang for the buck, right now is OWC's G4 ($150) which can be clocked (not really "overclocked") to 533mhz. I wonder if this IBM G3 would really be much faster than the G4, when all is said and done, expecially considering the $200 price difference.

[Eug Wanker]

The G3 1 GHz would blow away a G4 533 in the overall OS snappiness, but certain apps like iDVD won't work with a G3.

[Lateralus]

It would also beat the G4 in AltiVec tasks because of the raw clock speed advantage. I had a 900MHz G3 in my B&W that replaced a G4 500 and the G3 beat the G4 in pretty much everything I tested, including video encoding with ffmpegx and iTunes MP3 encoding.

And yes, overall the OS was much snappier with the G3 than the G4.

[Cadaver]

Just for fun I'd love to see a comparison between the previous speed king Powerlogix 900MHz PPC750fx 512K L2 and the 1.0GHz PPC750gx 1MB L2.

I've got the 900MHz 750fx in my B&W G3 (acting as both a server and a basic office Mac) and I'd be interested to see if there is a significant performance improvement with standard desktop applications.

[Krypton]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
The G3 1 GHz would blow away a G4 533 in the overall OS snappiness, but certain apps like iDVD won't work with a G3.

I'm sure you can hack iDVD to get around this - the CPU requirements will be in a .plist file somewhere.

[ReggieX]

Originally posted by Krypton:
I'm sure you can hack iDVD to get around this - the CPU requirements will be in a .plist file somewhere.

Not necessarily. Besides, the MPEG-2 encoder Apple uses is highly AltiVec optimized, so the app may run but once the compression starts, a G4 will go much faster.

[bojangles]

Question reposted in Power Macintosh forum.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by Krypton:
I'm sure you can hack iDVD to get around this - the CPU requirements will be in a .plist file somewhere.

There is in fact a hack that allows iDVD to launch on a G3, but once launched it doesn't seem to work.

I think the MPEG2 encoder requires a G4 too.

[d.fine]

My GF has a PowerMac G4 Yikes 400 MHz, PCI Graphics ...

I'd like to surprise her for her B_Day with a CPU upgrade, so that she again has more joy in working on this machine. I have been looking around on the web looking for the appropiate upgrade module, but I'm on my first Mac's and don't know much about this CPU upgrade module bussiness ...
This is a link for a CPU upgrade I found at OWC that I think is the right one, but I'm nowhere near sure ...
Any advice and/or buying locations will be much appreciated ...

[Lateralus]

Originally posted by d.fine:
My GF has a PowerMac G4 Yikes 400 MHz, PCI Graphics ...

I'd like to surprise her for her B_Day with a CPU upgrade, so that she again has more joy in working on this machine. I have been looking around on the web looking for the appropiate upgrade module, but I'm on my first Mac's and don't know much about this CPU upgrade module bussiness ...
This is a link for a CPU upgrade I found at OWC that I think is the right one, but I'm nowhere near sure ...
Any advice and/or buying locations will be much appreciated ...

Avoid the Sonnet G4 B&W upgrades like the plague. They force the bus speed on the B&Ws and Yikes! down to 66MHz, from 100MHz. It hurts performance drastically.

PowerLogix just released a 1.1GHz version of the GX G3 yesterday for $350, which allows the bus to continue to function at 100MHz. I would snag onee up. I am thinking of picking up a B&W or Yikes! from eBay just so I can have an excuse to pick one of the new upgrades up myself.

[d.fine]

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:
Avoid the Sonnet G4 B&W upgrades like the plague. They force the bus speed on the B&Ws and Yikes! down to 66MHz, from 100MHz. It hurts performance drastically.

PowerLogix just released a 1.1GHz version of the GX G3 yesterday for $350, which allows the bus to continue to function at 100MHz. I would snag onee up. I am thinking of picking up a B&W or Yikes! from eBay just so I can have an excuse to pick one of the new upgrades up myself.

Thanks for the tip. I surfed a little in search, and I found what I think is appropiate for her Mac : G3 1.1 GHz 750GX for PCI (Yikes) Thanks for the info

[Lateralus]

No problem.

If you do get one, please come back to this thread and let us know how it performs after you've played with it for a little while.

[d.fine]

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:
No problem.

If you do get one, please come back to this thread and let us know how it performs after you've played with it for a little while.

Sure will, that reminds me, I should do some tests now, so I can compare later, have numbers to compare ...

[amontague]

I have a B+W G3 350 MHz with 640 MB RAM and 40 GB hard disk.

I ordered the new PowerLogix 1.1GHz version of the GX G3 late last Wednesday night after reading this thread. I live in Ireland, and I got the cheapest carriage to save a few euros on shipping. I couldn't believe it when the package arrived on Friday morning. Impressive.

Installation was a bit tricky. There's a QuickTime video to watch - so it's handy to have a second computer to watch the video while installing the processor.

The key to the process is bending the "heatsink clip" into the right shape. The first time I tried, the machine got half way through booting and then got stuck. I retried bending the clip into shape and the second time everything worked fine.

After getting that far, I then had to install the "CPU Director" software. There was a slight hitch, as the software would only set the processor to 1 GHz, not the 1.1 GHz that I paid for. I emailed PowerLogix and they promptly sent more up-to-date software that did allow me to set the processor to 1.1 GHz.

I don't have bench marks, but overall it's a big improvement for me. I design websites, so most of my work isn't very processor intensive. When I'm working with Photoshop, the files are very small. However, the improved speed is very noticeable and very pleasant. iCal is now usable. Mail, which can be very slow, is much better. Hotsyncing my Tungsten T3 is surprisingly much faster. I didn't realise that the processor was slowing that process down. Using the Finder and switching between windows in Safari is no longer like molasses.

I'd certainly recommend this upgrade. Fair play to PowerLogix. They shipped the processor to me in record time and they responded quickly to my plea for help with the software.

Andrew Montague

[insert_coin]

PowerLogix just released a 1.1GHz version of the GX G3 yesterday for $350, which allows the bus to continue to function at 100MHz.

This is really true? the 100mhz maintenance?

amontage, could u tell me what's the shipping cost from OWC to Ireland?

Best regards,
insert