[G4] Questions on upgrading a dual G4/450 Gigabit Ethernet

[Petter Adsen]

Hi,

I've been using this machine (see subject) as my main workstation for 
several years now, but I've found it's really about time to do somthing 
to increase performance. First of all, I'm aware that I could probably 
get a newer Intel Mac for what it will cost me to upgrade this G4, but 
for various reasons I'd prefer keeping this machine as long as it still 
functions.

First of all, I really need a CPU upgrade. Exchanging the 450MHz CPUs 
for something like 2X1,5GHz G4's should be adequate for my needs, maybe 
I could get away with less, but this machine will probably not see yet 
another CPU upgrade, so I'd like to get the fastest CPU's I can afford.

Has anyone got any recommendations on what I should be looking at? 
Hassle-free installation, compatibility and good performance are my 
priorities, of course in addition to price. What would you recommend as 
a good, stable CPU-upgrade for this machine? If what I had in mind is 
unreasonably expensive, what would you suggest as a good alternative 
that would still give me a significant boost in CPU power at a good price?

Second: I gather this machine is limited to 128GB drives. As I'd really 
like to put in either 2x 250GB drives or 1x500GB drive, would I need a 
new controller? If so, is there a controller that would work without too 
much hassle and give good performance? Should I investigate S-ATA? 
Extreme disk performance is not really a priority, lots of disk space 
with reasonable performance is what I'm after.

Third; I'd like to upgrade my sub-par graphics-adapter to something 
halfway decent. I don't use the machine for games (a lot), but getting 
SimCity 4 and a couple of other newish games run at decent speeds would 
be nice. I'd also like to get support for Quartz Extreme. But the 
hottest-of-the-hot I do not need. (If Google Earth would run at a decent 
speed, that would get me a lot closer to what I actually need). What are 
my options?

Finally: What Gbit ethernet controllers out there would work fine in 
this machine? I really need another Gbit interface, but while several 
cards claim to work in this machine, has anybody got any experience with 
a card that doesn't just work, but yields good performance with a 
minimum of hassle?

(Anyhing I haven't thought of to boost performance would of course also 
be very welcome suggestions.)

Oh, I *have* done some research, I'm not asking here because I'm too 
lazy to search around for myself, but I've found several alternatives 
that would seem to fit my needs, and I'd be much conforted getting some 
advice from people who have actually tried some of these options and 
some feedback on their experiences with them.

Any feedback at all would be most welcome, I have a fair amount of 
experience with hardware, but coming from a Sun/HP PA-RISC/SGI 
background this type of Mac hardware is not something I have alot of 
experience with, and would appreciate any advice you could give me.

Info on what to stay away from, and what is well-known to function well 
is especially welcome.

(Of course, if anyone has spare parts that would suit my needs they 
would be willing to part with for a reasonable price, please contact me 
also :)

A major problem that I can see is running out of PCI-slots. I also need 
a good-quality sound-card, and I'm currently considering Delta 1010LT, 
Delta 66 or Delta 44 from M-Audio, and while they have other 
FireWire/USB offerings, all these that I've mentioned are PCI.

Sorry for the long post, but I felt it was necessary to include as much 
information as I could think of. If I've left anything relevant out, 
please do not hesitate to ask me to clarify.

I just love this machine so much that I really don't want to part with 
it to get something new unless absolutely necessary.

Thanks in advance,

Petter Adsem

-- 
<petter.adsen at gmail.com>  --- "Parity is for farmers" - Seymour Cray