[G4] Re: Quicksilver Upgrade

[Al Poulin]

On Nov 9, 2007, at 8:38 AM, g4-request at listserver.themacintoshguy.com  
wrote:

First, the original poster said:

> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 22:04:33 -0600
> From: "Richard Northouse" <rnorthouse at wi.rr.com>
>
> I have a Quicksilver 2001 ( 733Mhz, 1.25 Gbyte, several drives). I am
> thinking that I want to run Leopard but need to pick up the CPU speed.
>
> I have looked at several sites for these upgrades. However they offer
> different sized cache and memories. I am really confused.
>
> Please help me out;

SNIP, THEN:

> Message: 7
> Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2007 05:24:12 +0000
> From: nagable at comcast.net

>  Please help me out;
>>
>> a) Does Leopard use a dual processor?? I don't mean will the various  
>> apps
>> take advantage of the dual, does Leopard itself use it? i.e. will my  
>> system
>> run better with a dual?
>
> It will run much, much faster.
>
>> b) What size L2 and L3 cache do I want?
>
> That depends on what comes with your new processor.  I don't think it  
> makes much difference.
>
>> c) Vendor  -- Sonnet, OMC, etc  Which vendor?  What is the best  
>> upgrade ?
>
> I have a Sonnet dual 1.8 GHz in my Quicksilver 2002.  i'm very happy,  
> but it cost $600.00 from macsales.com.
>
>> d) Do I need to upgrade my video from what came with my Quicksilver?  
>> And if
>> I do, what is the best?
>
> I didn't.
>
> Nate

I have the same QS 733, same memory, and two drives.  I've decided to  
leave it alone and to get Leopard on a new machine.

Also, the Leopard installer, as I understand it, checks some Apple data  
buried in the machine which identifies the original CPU in that  
machine.  Even with an upgraded CPU, the installer will balk at the  
data about the original CPU and refuse to install.   Perhaps folks have  
found a hack or two around this impediment.  You'd have to find out and  
use it.

Assuming you see a clear path ahead, you need to upgrade the video to  
get best advantage of Leopard.  The specific technologies are called  
Quartz Extreme and Core Image.  There is a lot of info about them on  
the web, and they matter for some people, depending on what kinds of  
things they do with their machines, like graphics intensive things and  
games.  There was a long thread with your kinds of questions on another  
list last month, "Prep-ping for Leopard."  You can see it in the list  
archives at:
http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list/browse_thread/thread/ 
def1ad85fafed422?hl=en

I am sending the original poster my own archived copy.

After calculating the costs of upgrading an old G4 whose parts have  
gone beyond half their lives, and considering that there is no way for  
it to match the performance of the new Intel Macs, I wonder what  
factors end up playing in a favorable decision for the upgrade.  If you  
have a decent monitor that you want to keep, consider the new Mac Mini  
models.  Also, the iMac replaces most old monitors very nicely.

Al Poulin