[X4U] [OT] Processor Upgrades

[Adrian Stubbs]

Thinking about upgrading my Sawtooth 450 G4.  It really seems worth 
getting an upgrade but I wondered what your opinions would be.  
Apparently mine is compatible with Mutli-processors but the price and 
the lower clock speed of these Dual Processor cards makes me wonder if 
a) it will be slower and b) it will be more expensive.

I was tempted in the 400$ range and see:

PowerLogix PowerForce47 G4/2.0GHz with 512K 1:1 L2 Cache Per Processor   
       $399
PowerLogix PowerForce47 Dual G4/1.2GHz with 512K 1:1 L2 Cache Per 
Processor   $419


Seems to me, I would be better off with a Single processor with this 
comparison.

What mhz Dual Processor would work out faster than that 2.0 Gig upgrade. 
( I would imagine too that not all apps are going to make use of 
Multi-processors but I really don't know)

Also, should I think of spending less and getting a graphic card upgrade 
as I'm stuck with the ATI Rage 128 Pro.

I'm not a gamer but maybe cos my machine is to slow :) ... just a 
surfer, connect to work,  listen to music, mess with iMovie/iPhoto 
etc.... would be nice to run Virtual PC at a reasonable rate too but I 
don't think that is possible on a 2.5 Gig G5.  My wife dabbles with 
Adobe Apps.

Any links to up-to-date comparisions of alternative upgrade strategies 
would be appreciated too.

Lastly, I'm on 10.2.8.  Any speed increases worth noting with Panther/Tiger?

Thanks
-Adrian