[G4] Any thoughts on the Sonnet Encore ST/G4 800mz / 1GH upgrades

[Jflakne at aol.com]

I upgraded my Sawtooth G4/400 to a Sonnet 1000mz a couple of weeks ago, 
and am delighted with the increased performance. 

I have 960 MB of RAM and the original graphics card. (I don't play games, 
so I haven't seen the need to upgrade the graphics card. Maybe someone 
could tell me if it is worthwhile for ordinary home use. I do use 
Photoshop Essentials 2.0, for example.)

Although I have used it as much as I have OS 9.2.2, I've been very 
disappointed with OS X because it is so slow. It makes me feel like I'm 
using my 6100 again. Since upgrading to the new Sonnet, this feeling is 
gone. It lets me enjoy the benefits of OS X without a constant reminder 
of its limitations. I now use it as my primary OS, switching back only 
when I want to use Emailer or otherwise employ my modem to place phone 
calls, which can't be done under classic.

Subjectively, the machine "feels" twice as fast as before. Standardized 
tests are not perfect, but they provide an indication of the improvement 
that bears out the "feel". Here are a couple (both using OS 10.2.2):

Speed Run Total     400Mz = 228   1000Mz = 420
AltiVec Fractal    400Mz = 1289 megaflops    1000Mz 3496 megaflops 

I have no way of determining how much the bus affects performance. No 
doubt it does, but probably not enough that you would be consciously 
aware of it during day to day work. Speed Run publishes results from 
Apple 1000Mz machines which are comparable to the results I got, for 
whatever that is worth.

By the way, I've found a number of user reports on these upgrades on 
xlr8yourmac, and used them to help make my decision on the upgrade.

The only downside for me is that the card I got was Revision B, which 
does not cure the wake from sleep problem under 9.2. There is a revision 
D, which allegedly does, but you can't tell which is inside until you 
open the package. Sonnet has promised to send me an updated card, though.

>I just wanted to do some research into people with experience on
>upgrading their 400mz G4 Sawtooth (Only 100mz system bus) with either
>of these Sonnet upgrades (800mz or 1000mz).  I was wondering how much
>does the slower system bus reduce the speed of the upgrade.  Just for
>background, I've got 1.5GB of RAM running 10.2.3 and a Radeon 8500 Mac
>Edition (Retail version) as my major system changes.
>
>I've check w/ xlr8yourmac, but Mike's detailed reports don't yet
>include this upgrade.
>
>Also, since we're on this line, are there major differences between the
>Radeon 8500 and the Radeon 9000?
>
>Thanks!!!!
>
>Dave.


John