[brucejy]

I have a QS867 and I want to upgrade the processor. I have read the other posts and many statements seem to indicate that only some apps benefit from dual processors. My choices are the same single proc @ 1.467 Ghz vs dual @ 1.267 or 1.333 Ghz. Does OS X make use of all processing power, or do apps need to be tuned to take advantage of the extra processor? I run a bunch of standard office stuff, and then I use VPC 7 to run a proprietary java-based electronic medical record program. I need to have VPC 7 to be "snappy." Does VPC take advantage of dual processors?

Thanks in advance.

[Mafia]

i think it does.

[Lateralus]

Don't look at the cost of the upgrade alone when guaging whether or not to get a dual. Look at the total cost of the entire system. If you do that, you'll see that in total, spending the extra money for a dual upgrade over a single upgrade will probably only cost you around 15%.

Yes, get a dual.

[jcadam]

In the days of yore when everyone was using OS9, the 2nd processor in a dual system sat idle most of the time. Until you fired up photoshop......

OS X actually gives the 2nd CPU something to do all of the time (You ALWAYS have more than one thread running, even if your just running the OS).

[OreoCookie]

How much do you have to spend for each?

[jamerican]

I'm thinking of doing the exact same thing - replacing my 867mhz processor with a dual 1.2ghz processor. OWC will also take my old processor and give me $95 for it. The Gigadesigns Dual 1.2ghz costs about $570 so my net cost would be $485. Has anyone on this forum ever done this upgrade before and, if so, what are the pitfalls/benefits in doing so?

[brucejy]

What is your opinion of the Sonnet 1.267 dual vs the Gigadesigns 1.267 dual? Have you read anything in any forum about their relative reliability?

[P]

Originally posted by brucejy:
I need to have VPC 7 to be "snappy." Does VPC take advantage of dual processors?

In fullscreen mode it does, in windowed mode it doesn't. You still gain from a dual though, as all other tasks (from the OS and other programs) can be offloaded to the other CPU.

[OreoCookie]

Originally posted by jamerican:
I'm thinking of doing the exact same thing - replacing my 867mhz processor with a dual 1.2ghz processor. OWC will also take my old processor and give me $95 for it. The Gigadesigns Dual 1.2ghz costs about $570 so my net cost would be $485. Has anyone on this forum ever done this upgrade before and, if so, what are the pitfalls/benefits in doing so?

$570 for an upgrade? I'd rather save the money for a new machine ...

[candykane]

hmm i'm a dealer in cpu upgrades and i say dont waste your money.
if you have a 733 get a 1 ghz @ 1,2 ghz its fast and cheap . and it feels like 2 times as fast.
the 200 extra bucs for the 1,4@1,5 is a waste. you hardly notice it and do you know the mayouraty run unstable arive as doa or run verry hot!

if you thinking about a dual dont get a dual sell your old systeem and with the money for the upgrade you can get a new mac!
or get a dual g4 1,25 GHz MDD unit its fast but do this only if you need to run mac os 9 in al other cases get a g5!

why ?
Don't turn your mac in to a xmus tree it might just light up!
how old is your mac? how old do you think she will become with out a defect that will cost money?
apple parts are expencive. and hard to get
faster ide controlers and sata are in the new mac's
they have warenty
And i'm building a apple g5 xserve out of surlpus i have a mainboad and a 1,8 ghz processor for just 625 dollar of ebay i only need a riser card, a psu and ram and i'll be firreing up my g5 for less than a 1000 dollar! now thats an upgrade lol

[lenox]

Dual all the way! I have a dual 867mhz mdd at home and I've never seen that thing 'wait' for much of anything!