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webraider · Jan 16, 2005, 02:03 AM

I'm currently using a Power Mac G4 and I have it upgraded with a ton of ram, a new Radeon Video Card, extra PCI USB and Firewire ports etc... I'm thinking of upgrading to the OWC's G4 1 ghy processor. I would also like to get a superdrive from OWC. I know that buy the time I do this I could possibly invest in a new mac (maybe) but I'm just curious to know if the upgrade is worth it. I'm picking OWC because it seems to be 100 percent compatible at it's recommended speeds (no overclocking) and it keeps my Bus at 100 MHZ! Why anyone would want to downgrade their bus for any processor increase is beyond me. Has anyone had any experience with thess chips? Are they as compatible with Apple software and such as they are (deafult speeds setting)? Does the Apple System Profiler recognize it at the correct speed? Thanks for any information that you can offer.

Weezer · Jan 16, 2005, 12:40 PM

people downgrade their buses sometimes to go from 133 to 100 mhz, your bus is already slow

Luca Rescigno · Jan 16, 2005, 01:43 PM

The only PowerMac processor upgrade that alters the bus speed is the 800 MHz and 1 GHz G4 upgrades for the B&W G3, which drop the bus from 100 MHz to 66 MHz for compatibility reasons. You must be confused because some processor upgrades are meant for PowerMacs that have a 100 MHz bus, and others are meant for PowerMacs with a 133 MHz bus. You have to determine which one you have before you just buy a processor upgrade, and make sure the upgrade you buy matches the bus speed on your PowerMac.

italiano · Jan 16, 2005, 02:59 PM

I got my 1.2 ghz. upgrade from OWC - it rocks! Replaced a dual 450 with it and with 1.25 gigs of ram and a Radeon 9800 Pro - I play everything game wise and also my Video hobby is so much faster now... The Superdrive rocks too

MORT A POTTY · Jan 16, 2005, 03:26 PM

I think it's worth it. you couldn't get a G5 PowerMac for the cost, and expandability is a MAJOR reason to upgrade instead of getting anew mac that costs as much.

for this reason, I bought a Radeon 9800 Pro, SATA HD controller, SATA HD, 3 port USB2.0 / 2 port FireWire 400 PCI card, a lot of RAM (more is actually on the way to make it 1.5GB), 4x SupderDrive (fastest out at the time...) and I have a dual 1.6Ghz upgrade on the way.

so, being faced with the exact same situation as you, I opted for the upgrade route. I'm very happy with it. plus, I was able to spread the upgrades across a year (mostly though in this last december) because money is definitely an issue.

Rowen7 · Jan 16, 2005, 06:48 PM

Right now we're caught at an awkward time to upgrade.

A 1.42 Ghz G4 is about $600 with the introduction of the mac mini. A 1.25 is only $500.

And the processors in our old computers may have the distinct ability for upgrade, but lets face it: If you own a G3 B&W the powerlogix 1.0Ghz or OWC 600mhz G4 upgrade is half of what that mac is. Then you have to consider SATA, Video card (Radeon 9200 PCI Mac is $120), and more... you're still stuck with lower bus, older hardware, and an erection the size of a battering ram for the new toys.

This is not a speech to say, "Don't Upgrade!" But rather one to say, wait, and take inventory of what you need for your purposes.
B&W, $120, 1Ghz ram; $120, Radeon 9200; $200+, Best Processor.
As you can see its nearly the price of a new mac mini.

As for the Powermac G4 series, is it worth the upgrade, probably. But right now would be an awkward time as we wait for the companies and prices to respond to the introduction of new and better equipment.

My suggestion would be wait atleast a month, what i intend to do. You'll notice the industry shock whether better or worse.

bossep · Feb 11, 2005, 11:22 AM

Originally posted by Rowen7:
Right now we're caught at an awkward time to upgrade.

A 1.42 Ghz G4 is about $600 with the introduction of the mac mini. A 1.25 is only $500.

And the processors in our old computers may have the distinct ability for upgrade, but lets face it: If you own a G3 B&W the powerlogix 1.0Ghz or OWC 600mhz G4 upgrade is half of what that mac is. Then you have to consider SATA, Video card (Radeon 9200 PCI Mac is $120), and more... you're still stuck with lower bus, older hardware, and an erection the size of a battering ram for the new toys.

This is not a speech to say, "Don't Upgrade!" But rather one to say, wait, and take inventory of what you need for your purposes.
B&W, $120, 1Ghz ram; $120, Radeon 9200; $200+, Best Processor.
As you can see its nearly the price of a new mac mini.

As for the Powermac G4 series, is it worth the upgrade, probably. But right now would be an awkward time as we wait for the companies and prices to respond to the introduction of new and better equipment.

My suggestion would be wait atleast a month, what i intend to do. You'll notice the industry shock whether better or worse.

I can't decide if to upgrade with Sonnet 1.4GHz or the new 1.7GHz? I have a G4 'Sawtooth' so I would benefit from the L3 cache support that the 1.4GHz has, but then the 1.7GHz don't need more than 200W, and will not be as hot. The third option is to wait for 7448. I have so far upgraded memory to max (1.5GB), Graphics card (ATI R8500), Superdrive, PCI USB2 card, WD 80GB HDD.

Thade · Feb 11, 2005, 06:52 PM

I just replaced my dual 450s with a Sonnet 1.2. for $275.00 (at buy.com) 1.2 was the sweet spot for me. Along with my other upgrades: fast HD, dvd burner,9800 Pro, 1 Gig RAM..it's a really nice machine. I'm not so sure a 1.4 or higher would be THAT much better for me.

J

italiano · Feb 11, 2005, 07:59 PM

Originally posted by Thade:
I just replaced my dual 450s with a Sonnet 1.2. for $275.00 (at buy.com) 1.2 was the sweet spot for me. Along with my other upgrades: fast HD, dvd burner,9800 Pro, 1 Gig RAM..it's a really nice machine. I'm not so sure a 1.4 or higher would be THAT much better for me.

J

I duplicated Thade - dual 450 -> 1.2, faster HD, 9800 Pro and DVD Burner - sweeeeet! Call of Duty, UT2004 and FCP never ran so good!

bossep · Feb 14, 2005, 03:29 PM

Originally posted by Thade:
I just replaced my dual 450s with a Sonnet 1.2. for $275.00 (at buy.com) 1.2 was the sweet spot for me. Along with my other upgrades: fast HD, dvd burner,9800 Pro, 1 Gig RAM..it's a really nice machine. I'm not so sure a 1.4 or higher would be THAT much better for me.

J

Are you in the US or the UK? (buy.com) looks great, but what about shipping and taxes? I am in the UK.

Bo

Floyd WHO · Mar 10, 2005, 04:15 PM

As I was looking to upgade my 400Mhz sawtooth and this was the question I was going to start my first thread with but there is a lot of useful stuff here. Was the sonnet upgrade a no brainer as that is what the OWC upgrade claims and I notice that the price you paid for your sonnet is less than a comparable OWC. Anyone no the pro's and Con's???

Originally posted by Thade:
I just replaced my dual 450s with a Sonnet 1.2. for $275.00 (at buy.com) 1.2 was the sweet spot for me. Along with my other upgrades: fast HD, dvd burner,9800 Pro, 1 Gig RAM..it's a really nice machine. I'm not so sure a 1.4 or higher would be THAT much better for me.

J