|
The SpeedZone: iMac Upgrades And OS 9 - A Performance Report - Under OS 9 the Harmoni upgrades turned in from just a shade under double, to two and a quarter times the performance of a stock G3/233 MHz iMac, when working on processor intensive tasks
Post subject: New Mac or upgrade - In the three years since I purchased my 350Mhz G4 AGP PowerMac, I've added an 80GB drive along side the original 10GB drive, an ATI Radeon 8500 video card, a Pioneer DVR-104 DVD burner, and nearly a gig of RAM. I had been planning on purchasing a new Mac within the next few months, but now I'm thinking that I might try installing the Giga Designs (http://www.gigadesigns.com) G4 upgrade card that was announced at MacWorld last week instead. Does anyone out there have an experiences or stories about installing processor upgrade cards? What would be the drawbacks versus buying a new Mac? Your opinions are greatly appreciated!
PowerLogix Announces Single, Dual 1.4 GHz G4 Upgrades - The new PowerForce G4 is compatible with AGP-equipped Power Macs up to the Quicksilver 2002 model, and G4 Cube upgrades
Guide to CPU Upgrades for Power Mac G4 - Moving to a faster CPU is as easy as removing the current one and inserting a new one in the zero insertion force (ZIF) socket
Upgrades for the Tray-Loading iMac - Once you have enough memory and a fast hard drive, you can really unleash your iMac with a processor upgrade. The Sonnet upgrades include a FireWire port, which can be a real plus for connecting to digital video camcorders or fast external drives. The PowerLogix iForce G4/500 is the only G4 upgrade currently made for the tray-loading iMac
iForce SL boosts slot-loading iMac performance - Mac CPU upgrade maker PowerLogix Inc. has announced the iForce SL, a new CPU upgrade aimed at some second-generation "slot-loading" iMacs. The iForce SL incorporates a 900MHz processor and 512K of Level 2 Cache running at 900MHz as well
PowerLogix Takes Fruity iMacs to 900MHz - Your Tangerine iMac running at 900MHz? Surely not?
PowerLogix has released its iForce SL, a CPU upgrade for second-generation iMacs. The card features IBM's 750FX processor with 512K of L2 cache running at full processor speed
900 MHz Pismo - Better Than Son of Pismo? - Powerlogix’ release of their new, Blue Chip 900 MHz CPU upgrade for the Pismo G3 PowerBooks last week got me to thinking. The 14 in. iBook, also upgraded to 900 MHz of couple of weeks ago, has been referred to as “Son of Pismo,” but can old dad still give the youngster are run for its money with a CPU transplant, and is the latter an economically sensible option? In my opinion, it depends
GigaDesigns 1.25GHz - Il vostro G4 acquistato qualche anno fa incomincia a non soddisfare le vostre esigenze? Vorreste prenderne uno nuovo ma i prezzi dell'Apple Store vi fanno paura? Bene, da un pò di tempo sono tornati di moda gli aggiornamenti delle CPU che ad un prezzo relativamente basso renderanno nuovamente competitivo il vostro "vecchio" Mac
1200 Megahertz Madness - Many Mac users thought they would never see the day when they could turn their three year old Power Mac G4s back into the speed demons they once were, and at a fraction of the cost of buying a new Power Mac. Giga Designs ,PowerLogix , and Sonnet have stepped up to meet the growing demand by offering fast G4 processor upgrades at competitive price points. The fastest single processor upgrades that have been announced by the three companies clock in at 1.2 gigahertz and have recently begun shipping to customers
Determining dual processor compatibility with PowerMac G4 'AGP Graphics' - Download and run this utility . It will report the ASIC revision of the Uni-N and whether your machine is dual processor compatible. Note: Macs that have the proper UniNorth chip revision but have no chance of ever accepting a dual processor (such as Titanium PowerBooks) will be shown as "Your Mac supports Dual Processor Upgrade." Therefore please use this utility only on PowerMac G4s
Two 1GHz upgrades for supercharging older Power Mac G4s - Overall, either card is easy to recommend thanks to their clear performance gains. We give the slight edge to the Sonnet Encore/ST because of the lack of a software installation, but it's an extremely close race
Q. How can I upgrade my G3 iMac? - While there's no feasible way to get the older iMacs to have the new styling and LCD features of the current iMac, there are still plenty of ways to get the pep back into these not-so-useless older iMacs.
Today, we'll talk about some of the options you have to supercharge your iMac
Updating an Older Power Mac or iMac for Under $500 - I am not a technogeek. I don't rush out and buy every new product or upgrade that comes along. My Mac is a tool to accomplish my work. To have it in a constant state of upgrade flux is, to me, unsettling and ultimately counterproductive. I generally only upgrade when it is necessary (i.e., to run a new program that my current Mac won't run) or when I come across a deal that would make it foolish not to upgrade.
An example of this last scenario is the purchase of my wife's PowerBook G4
Tempo Trio - So should you buy these upgrades and keep your trusty Mac another year? That's between you and your God--and possibly your accountant. The Encore-Trio combo will make your G4 much faster, and even make it feel like a new Mac--almost. But let's face it, there's nothing like the real thing--if you can afford it
Sonnet CPU Upgrade Kits for Mac - Hardware upgrades are always a good way to extend the life of your current investments. Additional RAM is the single best upgrade you can give any computer, but a CPU upgrade comes a close second. The Sonnet HARMONi G3 upgrade brings the performance of a Rev. x iMac near to par with the most recent G3-based iMacs. For the money, that's a pretty good deal
Introducing the G4 Pismo: NuPower Upgrade Review - In retrospect, I'd definitely do it again but probably not with Newer. With the large wait time, I think I'd go with Powerlogix . To all Pismo owners who want to extend their machines' life, don't want to worry about paint flaking off, and frying their legs, get this upgrade! $300 is a very reasonable price for the performance boost
PowerLogix "PowerForce" 800 MHz G3 ZIF Review - On the whole, I think this upgrade is a reasonable value for the money. Not earth-shattering, and it just feels like it's somewhat high-priced for a single chip on a board. Particularly when I could buy a 1 GHz PC for not much more money. But it's made enough of a difference in machine performance for me to consider it worthwhile. The machine feels like it did back in the days of OS 9 - what a leap forward!
Review: Sonnet Encore/ST G4 1GHz and Tempo ATA133 Host Adapter - A quick benchmark with Xbench revealed a score of 55.28 before the upgrade and 96.87 after which is pretty respectable considering that my completely tricked out dual GHz Quicksilver with GeForce Ti video card scored 111.65 on Xbench
1.2 GHz PowerForce G4 Series 100 in a Cube - the 1.2 GHz PowerLogix PowerForce Series 100 G4 CPU upgrade makes our Cube very fast. It's cool to have the fastest single CPU Mac on the planet, even if for just a little while.
Is the Lombard Worth Upgrading? - My concern is whether a G4 upgrade for my Lombard (such as Sonnet or Newer Technology) will be safe for the computer. Will it run hot? Will the processor upgrade be compatible with Mac OS X? I also would like to use video software like Avid DV Express or Final Cut Pro 3 which require a G4 processor
IMG Reviews CPU Upgrades from Giga Designs, Sonnet - As long as Apple's Power Macs had been stuck at 500 megahertz, the CPU upgrade market was stagnant for even longer. Back in late 1999, Motorola hit a brick wall with the PowerPC 7410 processor (aka G4), which interrupted the product cycles of Apple and CPU upgrade companies. Finally, three CPU upgrade companies hit the 1 gigahertz plateau: Giga Designs ,Sonnet , and PowerLogix . Today, IMG takes an in-depth look at CPU upgrades from Giga Designs and Sonnet
Wallstreet 800MHz Upgrades from PowerLogix - owerLogix wrote me today to say that 800MHz G3 upgrades are planned for Wallstreet PowerBooks in the next couple of months. Their current BlueChip G4 WS is a PowerPC 7410 (G4) running at 500MHz
Upgrade the Lombard and Pismo PowerBooks - In the pages of Macworld you learned how to upgrade the RAM and hard drive in the original PowerBook G3 Series (Wall Street) and PowerBook G4 (Titanium). Welcome to the online adjunct to that article, in which we reveal how to upgrade these same components in the other two members of the PowerBook G3 Series family: the Lombard and Pismo models
PowerLogix Downclocking Upgrade Cards? - Using a magnifying glass, and presumably some tweezers, MacBidouille may have established that some PowerLogix upgrade cards are using downclocked processors
Cider Press - Add FireWire To Your Original iMac - A Review Of The Sonnet Harmoni .... Oh And You Get A Processor Upgrade Thrown In - These upgrades are very reasonably priced, especially given the fact that you get FireWire on top of the processor upgrade. At $300 we think the 500 MHz card will be plenty powerful for most people. However if you are doing intensive processing type work the higher clocked card may appeal to you
800 MHz PowerForce G4 Series 100 in a Cube - the 800 MHz model appears to be the best value CPU upgrade. If you do not play 3D games competitively, the original Cube ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card appears to be adequate despite it not meeting the 32 MB video RAM requirement for Quartz Extreme. Finally, heat does not appear to be a consideration. Our 800 MHz Super Cube is working perfectly but we can't wait to try out the dual 800 MHz upgrade coming soon from PowerLogix
Think Twice About Upgrades - I am a graphic artist, and I have and have had a lot of older Macs with various upgrades. These include 6100, 7100, 8500, 7300, 7600, and beige G3s. The processor upgrades have all been from Sonnet or PowerLogix. I have been very happy with all of the upgrades I have, but I have some reservations about expensive upgrades (over $200 or twice the worth of the Mac) on older Macs
Buyer's Guide: From 400 to 800 MHz - Sonnet's G4 Upgrade Cards For The "PCI" Macs - The Mac upgrade market has taken a serious beating in the past couple of years. The list of defunct upgrade manufacturers continues to grow. Companies like Vimage, MacTell and XLR8 are all gone. Newer Technology went out of business, but recently announced that they would resurface under new management. PowerLogix is still in business, but their distribution is limited. None of the store we track list any products from PowerLogix.
Harmoni Review - The performance is flawless. The installation is daunting, but well-documented. The price warrants some serious consideration. Three or four hundred dollars goes a long way toward a new G4 iMac. And you're still stuck with a wimpy six-megabyte video card. It's a tough decision, but if an upgrade is what you're looking for, the HARMONi line is the perfect way to bring your vintage iMac into the twenty-first century
Dual-G4 upgrades announced - The new PowerForce Dual G4 Series 100 and Series 133 processor upgrades will begin shipping with speeds ranging from 800MHz to 1GHz, with faster models available later
Guide to Power Mac G4 Upgrades - The Power Mac G4 is already a powerful computer, but some are already three years old and in need of a speed boost. Although more memory and a faster hard drive can improve system performance, for serious work, replacing the old G4 with one or two newer, faster G4 processors is just the ticket
Speed is in the cards Are processor upgrades worth the money? - "New Macs are usually sexier than old Macs, even if the old one is faster," Jagitsch says. "Also, if you want or need the latest greatest Mac technology, regardless of price, [you may want a new machine]."
PowerLogix G4 Upgrade CPU and Mac OS X - There is nothing quite like an engine replacement to boost horsepower. The PowerLogix PowerForce G4 ZIF 550MHz upgrade CPU for Macintosh G3 towers is no exception. Combine it with Mac OS X, and you get a winning team
XLR8's fall is a Sonnet boon - Its closing may not surprise those following the Mac industry. XLR8, unlike the larger Sonnet and PowerLogix of Austin, Texas, hasn't kept up with speedy gigahertz processors. In recent years, the industry lost DayStar Digital and Newer Technology to bankruptcy (though Newer is preparing for a rebirth). And the computer industry overall is still hurting from sluggish sales. Even Sonnet, the largest Mac upgrader, saw sales fall last year
XLR8
re-thinking business strategy - Despite officially ceasing
operations late last week, a source close to XLR8, Inc. has
told MacMinute that the Mac upgrade and peripheral maker is
re-assessing its business model and may not go out of business
entirely
Readers Write
In: PowerBook Processor Upgrade Experiences - Prior to
Macworld Expo, we asked readers to send in their experiences
with the PowerBook upgrades available from NewerTech, PowerLogix
and Sonnet. Here's what we received
A
Renaissance of PowerBook Processor Upgrades - Both Newer
Technology and Sonnet announced new G4 processor upgrades,
Newer's for both The WallStreet and Lombard, and Sonnet's
for The WallStreet alone. Added to PowerLogix Blue Chip G4
upgrades for WallStreet and Lombard, that means there are
now three players offering G4 upgrades for the G3 Series 'Books,
including also PowerLogix's and Newer Technologies' G4 upgrades
for the Pismo PowerBook.
PRELIMINARY:
PowerBook Pismo Finally Gets A G4 Upgrade -- Is It Worth $299?
- At $299, this upgrade is a "no-brainer" for Pismo-philes
who want to extend the life of their "stealth-look-book."
But don't expect hardware accelerated 3D games to run faster.
You are stuck with a lame GPU (graphics processing unit) in
the Pismo withlimited video RAM. And some games are CPU bound
without AltiVec optimizations
Some
Thoughts On The New PowerBook Pismo G4 Processor Upgrades
- On the basis of what I know, which is thus far what I've
gleansed from press releases and Website information, these
two upgrade products seem remarkably similar. They both use
the Motorola 7410 G4 chip (possibly the same one that was
used in the rare 500 MHz version of the G4 Cube), and both
sell for a relatively modest $299.00
PowerLogix
offers 500MHz 'Pismo' PowerBook G3 upgrade - Mac CPU upgrade
maker PowerLogix today announced its BlueChip Pismo G4 500
processor upgrade, aimed at FireWire-equipped PowerBook G3s
(known to many by their development code-name, "Pismo."
Newer
Systems Technology and Other World Computing Introduce First-Ever
G4 Pismo Upgrade; Upgrade Available Exclusively Through
Other World Computing
PowerLogix
on the delays to 1 GHz G4 upgrades - With this hurdle
cleared, PowerLogix plans faster upgrades as they become available,
in addition to dual CPU upgrades. As faster processors come
down the road, the upgrade cycle will become more economical
for current PowerMac G4 owners, in addition to perhaps older
Macs with the prospects of getting these CPUs running as ZIF
upgrades
A
Tale of Two Pismo G4 Upgrades - IGM have been aware of
a PowerLogix Pismo G4 for some time. The timing here in interesting,
given Newer's re-emergence, and IGM were informed only weeks
ago of PowerLogix putting the Pismi G4 "on ice". We also understand
Mr. Rick Este, now CEO of Newer, is formerly of PowerLogix,
and we assume he would have been aware of the development
of a PowerLogix Pismo G4. Either way, it's good news for Pismo
owners
Mac
Upgrade Cards Hit 1 GHz Mark - "The cards we announced
had no real hurdles outside of the normal engineering challenges.
This isn't to say they were easy, but nothing extreme," Robert
Jagitsch, president of PowerLogix, told NewsFactor. "Of course,
it helps when you have engineers that actually designed the
PowerPC chip itself at Somerset."
We're baaaack! Newer
Technology lives again! - Newer Technology has new owners.
Watch for more information here in the upcoming weeks. We'll
have the downloads and Tech Support pages back online as well
as new product information
XLR8's
launches 550MHz 'Sawtooth' G4 upgrade program - XLR8,
the folks who specialize in Mac expansion products and upgrades,
is now accepting online orders from Power Mac G4 owners to
upgrade their G4 processor card to 550MHz. This program is
targeted to owners of "Sawtooth" Power Mac G4 systems
Aging
Mac Part 1: Processor - Samples of the 1GHz chips have
only just been provided by the manufacturers. We do not anticipate
long lead times on engineering new cards to run these faster
chips, but we are too soon in the process to guesstimate as
to when we might release such products
Adding
grunt to Mac G4s - the $1100 you'd have spent on the Sonnet
card is equivalent to 33 per cent of the new machine's street
price. Is it worth it? Only you can decide, with the assistance
of your bank manager, of course. (Is that his hand at your
throat?)
Upgrading
an Old G3 - Unless you've pretty much filled your hard
drive or have regular out of memory errors, I'd start with
a CPU upgrade
Another
Perspective On Processor Upgrades - Many of us have an
older Mac (mine is a Power Mac 7300 with a 200 MHz 604e CPU)
which we use for all our computing needs. These may include
word processing, graphics with the likes of Photoshop, PageMaker
and Illustrator, Internet (both work and recreation), and
various other things. While perhaps not "power users," we
find the Mac to be a very efficient work partner in its present
form. We may have neither the resources nor the need to think
about a new iMac, inexpensive and powerful as it may be
No
High-Speed Mac Processor Upgrades on the Way - Joy Hsu,
spokesperson for upgrade card manufacturer Sonnet Technologies,
told NewsFactor that technical issues are blocking the release
of upgrades that use faster chips. "There is a new design
to the G3 and G4 chips, and they don't present the same voltage
as before, so upgrade card manufacturers need to design new
boards that can operate properly with these new chips," Hsu
said.
Experience
Report: Upgrading a Lombard PowerBook with a G4 BlueChip Card
- After talking with PowerLogix tech support, I learned a
few facts you should be aware of when using the new card.
First, the technician said the fan would come on if you were
doing something intensive, but you shouldn't have to worry
about the temperatures I'm citing, unless you were just running
from the battery, because then the fan would drain your battery
faster. Otherwise, though, those temperatures are ok
Sonnet
Upgrade for Wallstreet Beats New iBook - I just received
my Sonnet Crescendo/WS in the mail today. It is a 500 MHz
CPU upgrade for Wallstreet PowerBooks (which have 233 to 300
MHz originally)
G4
Upgrade Cards Give a Speed Boost to Your Power Mac G3
- A G4 processor has a subprocessor called AltiVec (Apple
calls it the Velocity Engine), which can dramatically boost
performance--but only in applications designed to take advantage
of it (such as Adobe Photoshop and some other image-editing
programs, MP3 encoders, and video-editing packages). Not many
applications are optimized for AltiVec, but if you happen
to work with one of them every day, you'll want a G4. And
Mac OS X uses the Velocity Engine much more than Mac OS 9
does, so if you're planning to switch to OS X, a G4 upgrade
may be in order.
Crescendo/PB
G3 333/512K - Upgrade Won't Transform PowerBook 1400 into
a True G3 - When the system was up and running, the speed
difference was palpable. The entire system felt more responsive.
It didn't quite feel like I was using an iBook, but it didn't
feel like I was trapped in 1997, either. On one hand, I had
to use a PC card to connect to my Ethernet network; on the
other hand, an AirPort PC card would theoretically work with
the upgraded system, though I was unable to get my Orinoco
card to work.
|
