[G4] To upgrade or to replace

[John Niven]

Mark,

There has been a long history of 3rd party CPU
upgrades for Apples.
I'm sure that they do give a boost, but the useabilty
of a computer depends on many factors. Since you've
already got a good quantity of RAM, try Tiger if you
haven't yet. I think it's faster. And a modest video
card upgrade so that Quartz Extreme is supported (I
run a NVIDIA GeForce4 MX in my 350MHz G4). If you
don't game, I don't think you need more video. You can
get some flashed PC cards from eBay cheeply. A modern
disk drive helps alot also.

What do you use for a screen? Why not spend some cash
on a nice big LCD? That's the bit you look at, and you
can re-use it when next you upgrade. Personally I have
always found that more screen area = better enjoyment.
Two screens is even better :-)

But I don't see the point of supercharging the engine
with a 100MHz bus. Plus most productivity apps do not
benefit from dual CPU's. So if you want to go faster,
I think you might be happier with a faster single CPU
in a more modern PowerMac. Let someone else cut their
teeth on your old one.

Hope that helps, John

--- Mark Sexton <marksexton at mac.com> wrote:

> I am using a Gig ethernet dual 450 machine with 1GIG
> of RAM and a  
> superdrive.  When playing video, such as youtube or
> even videos from  
> iTunes, my frames skip and it's overall a pretty
> disappointing  
> experience.  I have the opportunity to upgrade this
> machine.  I am  
> looking for the processor upgrade at the PowerLogix
> PowerForce Series  
> 100 DUAL G4-7455/1.0GHz and runs around $280, and
> for video, an ATI  
> Radeon 9800 w/ 256MB which runs $250, both prices
> are new units.   
> Once I look at the cost to upgrade the machine to a
> moderately useful  
> setup, I feel I could get a similar setup with the
> purchase of a used  
> machine purchased on ebay.  I could then turn around
> and sell my old  
> unit for about $300.  My computer isn't used for
> anything  
> particularly processor intensive other than editing
> photos in  
> iPhoto.  I am just looking for some opinions on
> where I get the best  
> bang for my buck, and whether a machine replacement
> isn't just as  
> beneficial as a couple of new parts.  Obviously, I
> would love to buy  
> something in a used G5 machine, but do I need that
> much processor for  
> my menial tasks.
> 
> Thanks for any and all advice.
> 
> Mark>
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