[lars-man]

Hi,

im thinking about getting a Sonnet G4 CPU Upgrade with 1,2 GHz for my old Gigabit Ethernet G4 with 400 MHz and 960MB RAM and an old OEM Radeon video card. I'm still not really convinced whether I should get such an upgrade and if it will satisfy my needs. On the other hand I could get a new computer (most likely a new 15" PowerBook) but that would mean that I have two computers at the same time - and I can't hardly use them at the same time ;-)

Most of the time I spent with Eclipse and compiling software from source. So some extra power was really helpful. But I'm not sure whether a 1,2 GHz G4 ist enough for these tasks. An 1,4 GHz CPU Upgrade or higher is no option for me because I think they are still too expensive.

Despite these facts, does anybody know if Sonnet ships their latest CPU upgrade with a pre-assembled heat sink and fan? Because the first versions of their 1,2 GHz upgrade came without a heat sink and one had to reuse the old one. But somehow I believe now even the 1,2 GHz ship with a heat sink and even a fan (I know that the 1,7 GHz do so, but what about the 1,2 GHz?). Since the first versions did not have their own fan, is it possible to remove the fan (or just disconnect it from power) because they seem to be very small and small fans are often very noisy.

Kind regards,
Lars

[lars-man]

No opinions?

Kind regards,
Lars

[yikes600]

My opinion is Sonnet sells overpriced and un-tweakable upgrades.

[bossep]

Originally posted by lars-man:
Hi,

im thinking about getting a Sonnet G4 CPU Upgrade with 1,2 GHz for my old Gigabit Ethernet G4 with 400 MHz and 960MB RAM and an old OEM Radeon video card. I'm still not really convinced whether I should get such an upgrade and if it will satisfy my needs. On the other hand I could get a new computer (most likely a new 15" PowerBook) but that would mean that I have two computers at the same time - and I can't hardly use them at the same time ;-)

Most of the time I spent with Eclipse and compiling software from source. So some extra power was really helpful. But I'm not sure whether a 1,2 GHz G4 ist enough for these tasks. An 1,4 GHz CPU Upgrade or higher is no option for me because I think they are still too expensive.

Despite these facts, does anybody know if Sonnet ships their latest CPU upgrade with a pre-assembled heat sink and fan? Because the first versions of their 1,2 GHz upgrade came without a heat sink and one had to reuse the old one. But somehow I believe now even the 1,2 GHz ship with a heat sink and even a fan (I know that the 1,7 GHz do so, but what about the 1,2 GHz?). Since the first versions did not have their own fan, is it possible to remove the fan (or just disconnect it from power) because they seem to be very small and small fans are often very noisy.

Kind regards,
Lars

All upgrades are now sold with heatsink and fan. Have no experience of my own, but planning to buy 1.2 or 1.4GHz soon.

[bbales]

I have the same computer and last year upgraded the processor to 933 MZ. I got my processor from Other World Computing; I believe it was Sonnet Encore, but I'm not in front of that computer, so can't tell you for sure. Of course, the price was reduced about 2 weeks after I did this...

I did just check the web site and what I got last year isn't even showing up as available anymore.

I will say installation was very easy and the upgrade has worked flawlessly. I did this a year ago, as I said, with the intention of getting at least one more year out of the machine. It's working great and while, yes, it's not close to what's availalbe now, it's a good computer and basically still meets my needs. My plan is to start looking into a new desktop after the expo next January. By then, my machine will be 5 years old.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by yikes600:
My opinion is Sonnet sells overpriced and un-tweakable upgrades.

Well, in terms of Cube upgrades, there are a LOT of stories of dead PowerLogix upgrades that still have not been replaced under warranty (even though they've been with PowerLogix for a year now), and stories of GigaDesigns upgrades that have to be underclocked to achieve stability.

I know exactly where you're coming from, but in the end decided to get the Sonnet, purely because of reputation. And my CPU indeed Just Works at the advertised 1.7 GHz speed. No tweaking required.

I did have a fair bit of fan noise though. So indeed, I did tweak the fan, but to run it at a much slower speed, making it effectively silent. However, even at this much lower speed, the Cube is 100% stable, even when run at full tilt. The air coming out of the Cube is only warm. In fact for a while I even ran the CPU upgrade fanless, doing benchmark after benchmark, and again it was 100% stable. However, the air out the top was noticeably warmer, and running a 1.7 GHz CPU fanless makes me nervous.