[Dudewheresmydell]

Hello all, I just recently bought a G4 Gigabit Dual 450mhz PowerMac for $150 Currently the machine has OSX 10.3, 1Gb of ram, a 32 bit video card, and I just purchased the Sonnet card to run a raid drive setup from Ebay. I am new to the Mac world so I am not entirely sure what else I will need to make this machine fairely modern. I have been thinking of going with the Miglia Dvr pci card, and iLife software bundle to edit movies. My question is will the Dual 450mhz handle what I want to do with it, before I purchase anymore hardware? I have been thinking of going with the a sonnet dual processor upgrade. Any hardware suggestions would be appreciated.

[opengame68]

It will run, but it won't be very fast. The best possible way to get the most speed for your money is to find a fairly fast G4 tower on ebay that's ALREADY BEEN UPGRADED. Purchase that, and sell your current machine. Upgrading a fairly stock tower is a good way to lose money, basically.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PowerMac-G4-Dual...QQcmdZViewItem

There's a dual 867 with a big HD and DVD burner for under $700.


http://cgi.ebay.com/Powermac-G4-1-4G...QQcmdZViewItem

There's a 1.4ghz tower with 1 gig of ram and 280 gigs of storage and it's only at $350 with 4 hours left. That's a SCREAMING deal.

Again, sell your current tower, and purchase a pre modified tower on ebay. It'll save you a TON of cash.

[partybymarty]

Originally Posted by opengame68

It will run, but it won't be very fast. The best possible way to get the most speed for your money is to find a fairly fast G4 tower on ebay that's ALREADY BEEN UPGRADED. Purchase that, and sell your current machine. Upgrading a fairly stock tower is a good way to lose money, basically.

Actually, listening to bad advice is a good way to lose money.

$150 for a dual 450 is a very good deal. A RAID card has already been purchased, so it's just a matter of getting a pair of hard drives and a $40 DVDRW. PC100 RAM is pretty cheap, considering that it's the same memory used by old Pentium III's in the PC world. You can upgrade that machine very nicely for under $200, with NEW parts that have a warranty.

If someone who's new to driving asks, "how can I soup up my new, pre-owned Honda Civic," your advice would be analogous to telling them, "go out and buy yourself an Acura Integra since it already has the upgrades you want."

There's really not much thought behind the "go spend more money for better quality" logic, and it's not helpful for the current situation. It's more laziness than good advice. If you were to add a brand new 1.4GHz CPU upgrade to the above items, you'd get the same deal as what that auction ended at--without the hassle of selling your machine and paying shipping on another one. Everyone knows that most of the bidding occurs in the last 15 minutes of an auction. Don't be so naive...

[DrBoar]

www.xlr8yourmac.com har tons of test of various CPU upgrades. Sonnet, OWC and GigaDesign all have good reputation.

[quote68]

Originally Posted by partybymarty

Actually, listening to bad advice is a good way to lose money.
.

I did have a long and drawn out response written to this that proved you dead wrong and made you look like a fool, but I was banned when I hit the post button. Anyway, a CPU upgrade runs from around $170-600 for a cutting edge one. Hard drives cost a lot, ram, videocard, etc etc etc etc. Yet you can get a pimped out dual G4 tower for under $1000 on ebay. What does this mean? You can get a mildly modified dual G4 system for about $500 on ebay.... that's MUCH CHEAPER than building one yourself.

[partybymarty]

It all depends on where you shop, doesn't it? I would say the foolish ones are those who pay too much for parts.

The fact is, he's already purchased a cheap Mac AND a RAID card. He won't be saving any money by selling those items (at a loss) and paying more money (e.g. shipping) for a used machine that has no guarantees. We're already past the option of buying an upgraded machine; he's made an excellent purchase and is at step 2. Pay attention. I'm trying to give advice to Dudewheresmydell and his situation. Your advice is valid but not very applicable to him.

And if you would bother to read his post more carefully, he has relatively modest needs. He already has enough RAM, a RAID card, and an adequate processor for a computer that'll be used as a DVR and light video editing. He just needs a couple of drives, which can be found dirt cheap on eBay (used) or still very cheaply (new w/warranty) from various places on the internet, and a DVDRW ($40 anywhere).

Not all of us drive to the local CompUSA and pay retail like your lazy self. You advice would've been fine at step 1, BEFORE he bought his Mac, but it's a little late now and very impractical. The savings at this point would be insignificant and not worth the hassle. Sure, he might end up with 200MHz more or an additional 40Gigs, but he won't have (1) a warranty on any of the parts and (2) the satisfaction & experience of upgrading it himself (priceless).

eBay is a good place to sell junk. I bought a computer once that had a flaky drive which eventually died. Wasn't such a great deal after all. Just imagine all the used, potentially defective parts in a machine that "has it all at a great price". Not everyone shares your myopic view of what value is.

Besides, some people purchase things as they need them (and can afford them), like paying a mortgage on a house. You may end up paying twice as much, but that's the only way some can pull it off. People have their reasons for doing things the way they do. Your way of buying machines is fine (for you), but it's certainly not the best way for everyone.

[Dudewheresmydell]

OK people, I realize that modifying an old G4 isnt the most practical thing to do. I am looking to have some fun and learn all at the same time, I almost considered purchasing a refurbed iMac g5 from Apple, but I want to make sure I will stick with macs before I spend more money. A little back ground info here, I work for a rental company, so I also perform tech support for clients with plasma displays/projectors, computer networks, computers, you name it at conventions centers nationwide. I always had an interest in Macs, so I purchased one from my company, I know the computer works. The reason I am "experimenting" with a Mac is because I always run into people that have some Mac problems while I am at work. Since the market is so PC based not too many techs in my company will even want to try solving a mac problem. So I figured if I purchased one, and became more familiar with the operating system, it wouldnt be so intimdating when I have to help someone with theirs. As for cost, I realize that I am not going to end up with a cutting edge machine. I was just looking for some advice from people that are more familiar with mac upgrades than me. As far as cost I dont think I am doing too bad.

$150 Dual 450mhz G4 gigabit model, 32mb video card, added 1gb of ram before I went out the door.
$90 for two 160gb Western digital hard drives from best buys bought last week $40 each after mail in rebate. (already sent the receipts and upc symbols)
$89 Sonnet raid controller card from ebay with shipping
Total so far $330 still under the cost of a mini mac.

So all I am asking is what processor, video capture card, has some people had good experience/performance from. I realize that it is all a matter of opinion, I have been folowing the treads on processor upgrades, but they always seem to just endup in conflict.

[budster101]

Originally Posted by Dudewheresmydell

Hello all, I just recently bought a G4 Gigabit Dual 450mhz PowerMac for $150 Currently the machine has OSX 10.3, 1Gb of ram, a 32 bit video card, and I just purchased the Sonnet card to run a raid drive setup from Ebay.

I am new to the Mac world so I am not entirely sure what else I will need to make this machine fairely modern. I have been thinking of going with the Miglia Dvr pci card, and iLife software bundle to edit movies. My question is will the Dual 450mhz handle what I want to do with it, before I purchase anymore hardware? I have been thinking of going with the a sonnet dual processor upgrade. Any hardware suggestions would be appreciated.

You are right on target with the Miglia DVR PCI Card. It's thought well of.
iLife Software with iMovie and iDVD are great for the price of iLife.

Not sure what you want the Dual 450 to do for you. iMovie should be fine I guess, but you'll have to bump the ram up. Had you considered a newer PowerMac? Are you budgeted to be below a certain amount? A Dual 2.0 Ghz G5 would be great for you, and then you can move into Final Cut Express or even Pro in no time and gain more value out of the machine instead of putting it off and trying to use the Dual 450 you just bought.

I really think you'll be happier with the 2.3 even with 4 more ram slots than the dual 2.0 as well as having PCI X slots and a faster front end bus.

[Dudewheresmydell]

I wont deny the fact that I would be happier with a g5. I am just trying to build something to get me familiar with mac, and perform basic movie editing in reasonable time. I am not in a speed race. For the type of user I feel that a Powermac g5 is probably overkill. Although I dont formally have a budget, I am trying to stay under a 1000, as I can get a PC that is definatly capable of those duties for about that price.

[budster101]

You first have to give up on the comparison between PCs and Macs for the 'same price'. It's not that way at all. The Mac is perfect for Video production and Final Cut Express / Pro as well as Soundtrack prove this. You will pay for the priveledge of using the best. It's a fact of life.

Not to shut you down, but your system won't last long, and you will be dissapointed in the performance, and probably be turned off to the Mac Platform for all the wrong reasons.

If you think you can do it with the PC. I say, do it. do it. <Starsky and Hutch>

I don't care what system you get, but what software will you run on the PC? How much will "it" cost?

iMovie and iDVD come with the Powermac and are far better than anything for the PC market at 5 times the cost, maybe 10... then you are into Fincal Cut Express for $299, and then Final Cut Pro for $1,299 US

You can't overkill video editing cpu power by the way. More *is* better. A dual 450 won't do it.
Sorry.

Good luck though. Wish you had asked before buying it.

['"}{/quote}]

Check ebay again. There's plenty of dual G4 systems under $1000.

[lenox]

"]Check ebay again. There's plenty of dual G4 systems under $1000. [/QUOTE]


Including that dual 450 that he already has. That was only $150!

['"}{/quote}]

Again, he could sell it for more than $150 on ebay.

[Thade]

Agree with the majority 100%. A DP 450 with 1 GB RAM bla bla bla is an excellent value. I have a Dual 450 and I'm amazed at how useful it still is. There's no way I'd let it go for $150.00. PC100/133 is not cheap when compared to DDR. 1 GB is roughly $120.00 -$130.00.

http://dealram.com/prices/16/512MB.html

As a DVR, the machine may be fine after the HD/controller upgrade. After that, I'd go with a Sonnet 1.2. I think it's a decent value and rock solid stable. $234.00

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...1&loc=101&sp=1

I had one in my Gigabit Ethernet and it was a respectable all around machine. After that, maybe some more RAM and a decent video card. What more do ya need ? and all for well under $1000.00

If the goal is to learn Mac and have some fun building, this is perfect and in most respects, superior to a Mac Mini.

[Lateralus]

I'll disagree with everybody else.

Selling the Dual G4 would probably yield you around $300. Not a lot.
Purchasing a Dual 1.8GHz processor upgrade for $499, however, would allow you to have a system for around $700 that would be faster than any G4 on eBay in the $750-$1,250 range.

[lenox]

Originally Posted by '''}{/quote}

Again, he could sell it for more than $150 on ebay.

And then he'd have no computer, and not a lot of money to get another, even if he sold it for twice what he got it for. It's much better to work with what he's got, and upgrade the CPUs if needed.

ah...I know I'm replying to someone who's banned...but this particular someone always pops up again...hope they don't get mad that I circumvented their username trickery.

[Dudewheresmydell]

Hey thanks for all the responses, at this point I am just keeping the machine, I am going to purchase the sonnet cpu upgrade, and possibly a video card. I dont think that I will purchase a new G5, cause I keep reading about how apple is going to an Intel chip. I think that will lower the price on the G5s. Thats just my opinion.