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David Thompson · May 12, 2005, 12:57 PM

I've been upgrading my QS DP800 slowly over the last couple of months and have been toying with adding a CPU upgrade. Looking at OWC, it appears that Sonnet, PowerLogix and GigaDesigns make such a beast. OWC has come out in a press release and has said that the PowerLogix upgrades are Tiger-compatible. I keep hearing, though, that PowerLogix has a bad rep and it's disconcerting that their web site doesn't have up-to-date information.

Has anyone done a similar cpu upgrade on the QS 2001/Tiger with a fairly recent model and how happy are you with it and the manufacturer?

Thanks!

bimmerphile · May 12, 2005, 01:05 PM

Stay away from Powerlogix. From personal experience it's really, really hit or miss.

I have heard good things about the dual and single CPU upgrades from gigadesigns. I would go with them.

Dual 1.67GHz QS...mmmm

Waragainstsleep · May 12, 2005, 03:21 PM

I installed a 1GHz upgrade in a Sawtooth and put Tiger on it. Runs great. The chip is a Sonnet I believe.

powertrippin · May 12, 2005, 06:43 PM

I have a gigadesigns dual 1.33 ghz upgrade I'm very happy with. I also have a 600mhz Harmoni G3 upgrade for my original iMac from Sonnet, which I was also very impressed with.

bimmerphile · May 12, 2005, 07:07 PM

heh heh heh

Lateralus · May 12, 2005, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by bimmerphile

heh heh heh

powertrippin · May 12, 2005, 10:51 PM

Originally Posted by bimmerphile

heh heh heh

The clockspeed is nice, but the lack of L3 cache totally blows ass. In a cube comparison the 1.3 ghz G4s with L3 cache were faster than the 1.7 ghz G4s in a lot of things.

Lateralus · May 12, 2005, 11:18 PM

Yeah, but you'd have to be pretty stupid to believe that a Dual 1.8GHz wouldn't have a significant upper hand over a Dual 1.33GHz~ upgrade with L3 cache in most things.

David Thompson · 08:36 AM

Checkout barefeats.com . There's a shootout with various kinds of tests showing that the dual 1.8 beats out (slightly) the dual 1.4 except for photoshop MP actions and some games. The upgrades seem fairly comparable overall in performance although the dual 1.8 costs about $100 more--and requires a firmware mod so that the QS can boot the processor (which I'm a little leary of).

bimmerphile · May 13, 2005, 11:03 AM

You're leary of a firmware mod but you're willing to...

...wait for it...

replace the enire processor board?

David Thompson · May 13, 2005, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by bimmerphile

You're leary of a firmware mod but you're willing to...

...wait for it...

replace the enire processor board?

Ah, but, the original processor board can be easily reinstalled. What happens if the firmware mod fails? Or if the new processor board doesn't work and the original board doesn't work with the new firmware? What recourse then? Can the old firmware be reinstalled? Worst-case scenarios do happen! BTW, I said that I was "leary" of the firmware mod, not that I wouldn't do it.

Lateralus · 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by David Thompson

Checkout barefeats.com . There's a shootout with various kinds of tests showing that the dual 1.8 beats out (slightly) the dual 1.4 except for photoshop MP actions and some games. The upgrades seem fairly comparable overall in performance although the dual 1.8 costs about $100 more--and requires a firmware mod so that the QS can boot the processor (which I'm a little leary of).

In addition to having a slight lead in most heavy duty work, the Dual 1.8 will have a decisive advantage in anything that doesn't tax the L3 cache. Basic Finder speed, boot time, SETI@Home, RC5-72... etc.

powertrippin · May 13, 2005, 04:14 PM

But still Lateralus.... the lack of L3 cache stinks, because if they higher clocked chips had it, they'd be even FASTER.

Lateralus · May 13, 2005, 06:04 PM

...no ****.

outsourced · May 13, 2005, 07:24 PM

GigaDesigns <period>
I've been thoroughly satisfied with their support and product for about 1.5 years now. I upgraded one of my G4/400 Gig-ethernet systems with their 1.2GHz (with L3 cache) upgrade and it's been great! No installation or operational issues at all.

I agree with bimmerphile -- stay away from PowerLogix. I tried their 1.4GHz upgrade before finally buying the GigaDesigns. The PowerLogix upgrade would ALWAYS kernel panic during startup AND while simply using the system.

ViviMaster · May 23, 2005, 01:48 AM

i orignally had a owc 1ghz processor which i have recently replaced with a giga designs 2ghz. i can say its much better. installation is plainless. firmwire update is nothing and takes no more than 5 mins and a restart. overall i like the 2ghz didnt feel like handing over the cash for the dual 1.8 tho