[MikeM32]

I'm trying to get an idea of speed improvement from adding a Sonnet Crescendo G3/500 to older PCI based 9500 & 9600 systems.

At my place of work we've got one of each needed for semi heavy graphics work (some Illustrator and Photoshop, but mostly 99% QuarkXPress work). Both of these systems have a decent amount of RAM (at least 320 MB or more).

I'm trying to give my supervisor some options, short of purchasing a brand new workstation to replace one or both of these.

So the real questions:

1.) Is there a very noticable speed jump from adding this sort of upgrade to such systems? (and I mean something that'll make our Mac Operators say "wow!" and have them "feel" like theyr'e using a whole new system compared to the way they currently run).

2.) I am aware of and accepting of compatability issues with Mac Operating Systems, but are there any compatability issues with applications, such as QuarkXPress, Illustrator or Photoshop?

3.) Are there any bugs, glitches, or hazards in terms of day-to-day operation and useage from adding these upgrades to these systems? These systems are generally needed to perform at thier best 16 hours a day or more.

4.) Is there anything else that I should know about adding such an upgrade to such systems?

My understanding is that the system won't be as fast as a Mac that was actually manufactured with such a processor, but have heard that it "should" be a noticeable speed jump.

So far I've only asked about ZIFF upgrades (or G3 to faster G3 / G3 to faster G4 / G4 to faster G4). I've never inquired about PCI upgrades and how well these improve performance on older PCI based systems.

Thanks in advance for any help here.

Mike

If you're doing graphics work, get a G4. A 400Mhz G4 will be faster than a 500Mhz G3 for Photoshop, etc. because of Altivec. You'll definitely notice a difference in the machines, especially if they still have the stock, non-Mach5 processors (<300Mhz). Another useful upgrade would be faster disks; a good Ultra SCSI raid will do wonders, and you can never have too much RAM. Check the FAQ and upgrade card database at XLR8 Your Mac for info. That site is fantastic.

[MikeM32]

Thanks <eddie>:

As I mentionned we don't do intensive Photoshop work. Based on Sonnets benchmark comparrisons thier G3/500 1M/250 Mhz backside cache "looks faster on paper" than thier G4/450 1M/225 Mhz backside cache.

The G4 will have altivec, but with the sort of work we do I don't think we'll see much use for the altivec enhancements.

I'm mainly looking at this possibility as a means of expanding the lifetime of these systems for another year or two, but not forever. Adding even more memory as a means of "speeding-up" these systems was a misconception I had last year around this time. Now everyone wants to know "why" theyr'e not running faster.

From my own experience (and I always have to learn things "the hard way") having added memory to these last summer, I've found that this simply will not make such systems any faster. Our 9600 (for example) has the most RAM of all our systems and is still slower than one of our G3 systems which has the least RAM of all our systems.

Thus the idea of the processor upgrades versus adding more RAM.

Mike

[itomato]

Yup.. The XLR8 database rocks.
Yup.. A good Ultra SCSI drive/controller combo really improves performance on these machines.. I run a 2940UW with 10K SCSI drives in my 9500, and the performance increase from that alone was probably close to 2X..

Another bonus is that these machines would become OS X capable with Sonnet's G3/4 card and X installer thing.

You might think about getting a ZIF adapter and CPU separately, if the shop will be hanging onto these boxes for a while. Other World Computing has a special on a 333MHz ZIF and carrier for in the $150 range.