CPU Upgrade G4 (AGP Graphics)

I recently acquired a G4 (AGP Graphics) with a 350Mhz CPU (and 1 GB RAM).
I see an inexpensive upgrade to a Apple G4 Processor XPC7400 550* mhz (about
$40.00). It appears that this computer could be upgraded to a much faster
CPU still, but that's not in my price range right now.
I'm not all that familiar with the MAC and was wondering how significant
the performance improvement is likely to be with this upgrade. Is it
worthwhile?
Thanks.

In article <0k3cl.25$>, "GTS" <>
wrote:

> I recently acquired a G4 (AGP Graphics) with a 350Mhz CPU (and 1 GB RAM).
> I see an inexpensive upgrade to a Apple G4 Processor XPC7400 550* mhz (about
> $40.00). It appears that this computer could be upgraded to a much faster
> CPU still, but that's not in my price range right now.
> I'm not all that familiar with the MAC and was wondering how significant
> the performance improvement is likely to be with this upgrade. Is it
> worthwhile?
> Thanks.

You'll notice a speedy improvement with most processor upgrades for a
while. Then it will become the norm and you won't see it any more.

Be careful of the Powerlogix upgrades that use the 7448 CPUs. I bought
one of those and it ran, but would go into CPU la-la land with certain
things like QuickTime. It only bumped my CPU from 1GHz to 1.8GHz which
wasn't a lot. But I wasted the $700 for it.

It's your call on if you can't fork out $40 for a CPU upgrade. That's
pretty good and only the cost of a nice dinner (for 1 if you go out, for
2 if you cook). Better save your money for the electric or phone bill
instead.

--
DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...
[I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically by ignored]

"Steve Hix" <> wrote in message
news:sehix-...
> In article <0k3cl.25$>, "GTS" <>
> wrote:
>
>> I recently acquired a G4 (AGP Graphics) with a 350Mhz CPU (and 1 GB RAM).
>> I see an inexpensive upgrade to a Apple G4 Processor XPC7400 550* mhz
>> (about
>> $40.00). It appears that this computer could be upgraded to a much
>> faster
>> CPU still, but that's not in my price range right now.
>> I'm not all that familiar with the MAC and was wondering how
>> significant
>> the performance improvement is likely to be with this upgrade. Is it
>> worthwhile?
>> Thanks.
>
> There are several CPU upgrade sources, we've had the best luck with
> Sonnet upgrades. We're running Tiger on several in a lab at work,
> upgrading to Leopard has so far been not worth the bother.
>
> We also found that graphics output was a major bottleneck; upgrade the
> AGP graphics card to the fastest one you can find, and be surprised.
> Again, we had good luck with ATI.
>
> Before anything else, max out the machines DIMM memory. It's really
> cheap these days, and helps a lot.

Thanks! I took a look at Sonnet and saved it for future reference.

"Michael Vilain" <> wrote in message
news:vilain-...
> In article <0k3cl.25$>, "GTS" <>
> wrote:
>
>> I recently acquired a G4 (AGP Graphics) with a 350Mhz CPU (and 1 GB RAM).
>> I see an inexpensive upgrade to a Apple G4 Processor XPC7400 550* mhz
>> (about
>> $40.00). It appears that this computer could be upgraded to a much
>> faster
>> CPU still, but that's not in my price range right now.
>> I'm not all that familiar with the MAC and was wondering how
>> significant
>> the performance improvement is likely to be with this upgrade. Is it
>> worthwhile?
>> Thanks.
>
> You'll notice a speedy improvement with most processor upgrades for a
> while. Then it will become the norm and you won't see it any more.
>
> Be careful of the Powerlogix upgrades that use the 7448 CPUs. I bought
> one of those and it ran, but would go into CPU la-la land with certain
> things like QuickTime. It only bumped my CPU from 1GHz to 1.8GHz which
> wasn't a lot. But I wasted the $700 for it.
>
> It's your call on if you can't fork out $40 for a CPU upgrade. That's
> pretty good and only the cost of a nice dinner (for 1 if you go out, for
> 2 if you cook). Better save your money for the electric or phone bill
> instead.
>
> --
> DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...
> [I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically by
> ignored]
>
>
Thanks.
The upgrade I'm looking at is a used "Genuine Apple G4 Processor XPC7400"
at
http://stn2.headgap.com/resale/FMPro...accelagp&-find
It looks like a good deal.

"GTS" <> wrote in message
news:0k3cl.25$...
>I recently acquired a G4 (AGP Graphics) with a 350Mhz CPU (and 1 GB RAM). I
>see an inexpensive upgrade to a Apple G4 Processor XPC7400 550* mhz (about
>$40.00). It appears that this computer could be upgraded to a much faster
>CPU still, but that's not in my price range right now.
> I'm not all that familiar with the MAC and was wondering how significant
> the performance improvement is likely to be with this upgrade. Is it
> worthwhile?
> Thanks.

You would be ****ing money away, for very marginal gains. While it .might
look good percentage wise, its not that big of an improvement. Save your
money for something more important.

In article <0k3cl.25$>, "GTS" <>
wrote:

> I recently acquired a G4 (AGP Graphics) with a 350Mhz CPU (and 1 GB RAM).
> I see an inexpensive upgrade to a Apple G4 Processor XPC7400 550* mhz (about
> $40.00). It appears that this computer could be upgraded to a much faster
> CPU still, but that's not in my price range right now.
> I'm not all that familiar with the MAC and was wondering how significant
> the performance improvement is likely to be with this upgrade. Is it
> worthwhile?
> Thanks.

I upgraded from a 450 to a 1.2, and the improvement in youtube and QT is
noticeable. Pages and MAME do better also, most everything else works a
fluid as before, but then MacWrite Pro under classic, Eudora and
MT-Newswatcher are not processor hogs. iTunes only does marginally
better. The 450 was enough to drive iTunes on the music side, and video
through iTunes overlaods the cpu that way, so any videos I get I watch
through QT Player with iTunes closed down. I suppose a better video
card would improve the video performance, not sure if I want to bother
though. I am watching the used macIntel market for my next jump (but I
want a reliable classic emulator to support MacWrite Pro before I
consider that jump). I just think for where I am now, I would be better
to save for the newer machine than to upgrade the video card, although
if anyone can point me to a used video card that isn't very expensive
that will improve QT and YouTube, I might go that way for the short term.

As to the OP, a jump from 350 to 550 may not give the bump desired.
Patient watching of eBay and similar might get you the 1K or better
upgrade you seek for roughly $150 (I initially paid $152 for what was
supposed to be a 1.4 NIB, when the seller sent me a used 1.2 poorly
wrapped, I filed through PayPal and got $127 back, but that was a fluke
situation, I'll admit). That speed bump is much more worth it. Beyond
that, a jump to a $225-$275 Quicksilver or MDD would be a better jump,
as then you get a faster cpu, faster bus, faster graphics card, and
higher memory cap (and if you buy right, it may already be preloaded
with that extra ram).

jt

jt august wrote:

> I am watching the used macIntel market for my next jump (but I
> want a reliable classic emulator to support MacWrite Pro before I
> consider that jump).

Go to the Yahoo WordPerfect Mac group. The people there have done a
wonderful job of it.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM

In article <sehix->,
Steve Hix <> wrote:

> In our experience at work with several Sawtooths, upgrading the video
> card made a good deal more improvement than upgrading to 1GHz CPU.

Could you suggest some cards that would fit my needs (I am willing to
buy used)?

jt

In article <jollyroger->,
Jolly Roger <> wrote:

> In article <starsabre->,
> jt august <> wrote:
>
> > In article <sehix->,
> > Steve Hix <> wrote:
> >
> > > In our experience at work with several Sawtooths, upgrading the video
> > > card made a good deal more improvement than upgrading to 1GHz CPU.
> >
> > Could you suggest some cards that would fit my needs (I am willing to
> > buy used)?
>
> What version Mac OS X do you plan to run on this Mac?
>
> Just about any AGP ATI Radeon card - from a 7500 up - would dramatically
> improve system responsiveness in Mac OS X 10.4 and later, because much
> of the graphics processing is performed by compatible video cards. The
> stock video card in older PowerMac G4s is a ATI rage 128, which is not
> capable of such tasks.
>
> Be sure to get a Mac version card - you cannot use a PC version card in
> these machines.

Aye, Matey. Thanks for the info. I do have a first gen sawtooth
motherboard (won't allow dual processor).

jt

Steve Hix <> writes:

> There are several CPU upgrade sources, we've had the best luck with
> Sonnet upgrades.

I haven't tried any of the others, mainly because I did quite a bit
of reading before buying, but after some years I'm very happy with
Sonnet. They work well, and their support is first class (they
reply to email very quickly, and with good answers) too.

Billy Y..