Are processor upgrades worth it

im using logic 6.3 on os9.1. it runs great, very stable and i have enuf FX and virtuals to work with. im getting deeper mixing and am nearing the max point for my 500 dual processor. im seeking feedback about would it really help my situation to upgrade my processor within my os 9.1 or possible 9.2 limits (self emposed limits.. i dont want to take THIS machine to OSX). i was told a faster processor wouldnt increase my same bus speed so it wouldnt make much difference. what do u guys think. upgrade or not? ....and if so do u have recommendations on which upgrades would be the best for me.

I have upgraded processors in 2 macs in the past and both times I have been happy with the improvement, but with your machine being what it is, I would really consider upgrading to a better secondhand mac unless the upgrade is dirt cheap. Check out what you can find in your area and you may be surprised how cheaply you can upgrade your machine to double or more your current limits. I upgraded the processor in my G3 350 for a G3 450 in 2002, and late last year I bought a secondhand DP 1.25 for about 3 times the cost of the original upgrade chip.
Cheers
Evan

Similar Messages

Processor Upgrade: Worth It?

I've a QS 933 at home and a 733 at work. I use mostly Adobe apps (Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator) as well as QuarkXpress. These were o.k. in OS 9 but in X (.4x) It's too slow for comfort.
I don't want to purchase a new desktop at this point, I'll probably wait to see how the Mactel towers are before any major hardware purchase.
Will upgrading the processor(s) in my current units give a noticeable increase in the above mentioned apps -- e.g., from 933 to, say, a 1.6 ghz card -- or would the difference be negligible?
What are the major pitfalls to going to a third party card?
TIA.
Quicksilver 933, PB 15" 1.67 Superdrive Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi
I think it's worth considering upgrading the processor in the QS 733 at least, and perhaps swapping the computers over if you need the more powerful one at home.
Whilst they're not major pitfalls at all, some third party processor cards (primarily 7447 based ones) do require a firmware update, which depending on the upgrade manufacturer may have to be performed via OS 9. Also most come with their own heatsink and fan(s), either in addition to or in place of the existing processor fan, which may increase the noise level slightly. Finally there's also a small amount of risk involved in swapping the cards over, for example, if the screw driver slips when removing the heat sink clips or the card isn't lifted straight up, you could potentially end up damaging the logic board.
I recently upgraded the processor in my QS and rather than going for a third party card managed to get a dual 1GHz card pulled from another QS. Like your's mine was the base model (733/800MHz without level 3 cache) and the extra processor speed, level 3 cache and second processor have all contributed to a very noticeable speed increase.
Even if you do eventually get an Intel based Mac, it may be that you need to initially continue using your PowerPC ones for certain applications, either because they're not available as a universal binary or because of the expense of buying newer versions.
I hope this helps.

Equium P200-1ED and processor upgrade

Hi
I have installed an 64GB SSD and installed Windows 7 with user and program data folders on an SD card installed as USB drive through the Expresscard slot. I have also put in 4GB of RAM
It is still slow browsing the web even through wired Ethernet. So I am considering upgrading the processors as the bottle neck appears to be definitely on the processor which is an Intel Dual T2310 @1.46 GHz.
So the question is what is the next possible processor upgrade?
Thanks

On the question of processor upgrade:
I have already upgraded the BIOS and the Intel Chip set driver.
The problem is that this model is discontinued and I can't find much information on it.
I got this old Lap Top for free, I have got an 64GB SSD for 25, 64GB SD and express-card adaptor 30 and the 2X2GB RAM for 19.00. So if a new processor can make it fast enough then it will be worth another $20-$40 expense considering that I saw a used one advertised on Amazon for 245.00.
I know that it can support T3700 with L4 cache. Considering that a 2.GH can be bought for around $20.00. I though I might as well see if it can support something even faster how much that is.
How ever I get the the your point but I just don't know what is slowing this machine down.
When I change tab or reload a form it takes time before I can see the response to the keyboard input.
I have checked the page faults but I don't see anything there.
I wonder if I change to no paging, now that I have and SSD in there. So, any ideas would be welcome.
I doubt the network connection is a problem because I have fast broadband and I have tested it wired and wireless and as I said, I have a desktop running the same OS with 64BG SSD and 4GB RAM and it is a hell of a lot faster but that one has a quad Intel processor. The only other difference is that on the desktop the user folders are not moved to another drive but that is because I don't have and SD slot on the other one and surely SD is a lot faster than HHD.
So, what else could be holding it back? Feed backs would be appreciated.

G4 Processor Upgrades - Anyone experienced them?

Okay so you can get upgrades from OCW, Sonnet and Powerlogix to change your G4 400 sawtooth to a 2.0Ghz beast, but how effective are they? Is it worth forking the £200 ($350)+ amount of cash, or is it more worthwhile to buy a a new G5?

sorry guy this is the forum for Expanding the Power Mac G4 (MDD) and (FW 800)
for MDD there are not any std processor upgrades sold on market (other than ebay or other sites selling modules pulled from other MDD).
if u want real speed buying a PMG5 is better because you will get faster ram, faster bus, faster video, etc...

Ventilation and dual processor upgrades

Hi to all,
I recently decided to change the ventilation on my powermac G4 dual 1ghz MDD. I'm getting tired of its noisiness.
Doing a little research i fell on some dual processor upgrades and thought i could do both.
Has anybody tried Gigadesigns processor upgrades?
<www.gigadesigns.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=4>
If so, are you happy with it? is it worth it? Does it help for the noise?
I use my G4 for intensive editing(FCP,studio pro, After effects) and would enjoy a G5. But while i'm waiting for that to be possible, would it be worth patching up the G4?
Thank you very much for your feedback..
tee.

sorry dude. the MDD G4's cannot, technically, use any upgrade processors...
unless you found someone willing to sell you their dual 1.42GHz G4 dual module. or your could whip out your soldering gun do a little OC'ing.
for cooling though--->
there is a nifty cooling solution you can implement if your MDD is out of warranty. Verax, its out of Germany. they have some nice cooling setups for MDD. One is for the giant 120mm system fan, the other listed below is for
the dual CPUs.
here is a link-->
http://www.verax.de/verax.php?template=catalog_entry&entryid=44
I've read about these Verax coolers once before back when I first got my G4 MDD, because many of the MDD mdoels were noisy as heck, and dubbed the
"Windtunnel Mac."
On a side note, i even read about people encasing their G4 MDD inside of noise proof boxes and such.

Upgrading my G4 MDD dual 867 with Gigadesigns dual 1.33 upgrade; worth it?

I am updgrading my PowerMac G4 dual 867 and doing most of the usual; ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB AGP video card, more internal hard drives, still debating on SCSI hard drive; then maxing out memory at 2GB (missing anything else to upgrade?)
I am also considering on upgrading the processor to Gigadesigns dual 1.33 processor upgrade (btw, is this the only processor upgrade available for me?). First, is it worth it? Second, will this force me to change out my PC 2100 DDR SDRAM memory modules? Any other foreseen problems with upgrading to the dual 1.33 processor?
I am hoping to get a response from someone who has actually upgraded their MDD dual 867 with Gigadesigns processor and see what they have to say about it.

MDD upgrades were complex, challenging, and there are 6 different configurations and versions of MDDs out there. And the supply of 7455Bs may be a limiting factor.
If you need OS 9 or don't want a G5 (2.0's for $1699 making it affordable "upgrade") and $499 seems acceptable, and your applications will benefit, AND you don't need more than 2GB RAM (which is limiting also)...
The 9800 Radeon adds more heat and noise and $249 to costs, and the fan is loud but also can fail (poor designed product?).
yes for SATA 10K Raptor over SCSI! Less heat, fast, SATA cables are easy to use and don't cost $100 for good stuff.
But you want to spend how much? $1000 - 1200? a pair of Raptors or something? Seriously, get a G5 from Apple Specials. Your MDD can offset the cost later too.

SCSI card for a G5 or processor upgrade for a G4?

Hi all
Actually, this is a question that concerns the G5 and the G4 forum, but I decided to post it here first.
So, I have this old G4/400 PCI with an Adaptec 2930 SCSI card that I use for scanning slides with an Artix 4000t sclide scanner; this works fine, but the G4 is rather slow when it comes to using some features of the scanning software, such as removing scratches.
I've been thinking about buying a SCSI card for my G5 (Dual 1.8) for some time now, but I'm not sure what card I should go for; I'm not even sure if there are still cards for such an "old" device as the slide scanner (about 3 to 4 years old, no Ultrawide or something like that). And then there's the problem of the drivers for the card - how long will they be available, especially now that Apple is switching to Intel...?
The other possibility would be to buy a processor upgrade for the G4. I've seen some at OWC, and they seem to be less expensive than a SCSI card. The drawback of this solution is of course that I'll have to keep the G4 standing on my desk... on the other hand, I do know that the scanner will work perfectly with the G4.
The G5, on the other hand... it will be faster and easier, since I won't have to transfer the files for storage and editing, I could free some space on my desk,... but will it work? The G5 is running 10.4, I'm not sure if my current scanner driver is compatible... and what when 10.5 comes out...?
So I'm looking for a second, third, fourth... opinion:
What would you do? Get a SCSI card for the G5 or a processor upgrade for the G4? What SCSI card would you recommend?
TIA,
Tina

I've done some research on G5 and SCSI and scanners, and obviously, what I remembered was correct... making it work seems at least tricky, and maybe expensive too (if you've got to buy new scanning software and and..).
So I guess that's decided: No SCSI on the G5. Leaves the question, should I buy a processor upgrade card for the G4? Getting some dual G4 on eBay might be an option, but then, that would be another computer in my already crammed office, and I just can't throw the G4 away, it's one of the very first models...
I came by the idea of a processor upgrade because I just played around with an old Mac SE, which has an 68030 accelerator card installed, and this seems to work fine. Anyone has any experience with G3 /G4 upgrades (good or bad)?
Smokerz: Why would you not recommend an upgrade? Any bad experiences?
Tina

Processor upgrade is this possible

I have a broken 1.8ghz G5 which according to the apple repair centre has a faulty processor, (not happy only 18 months old and only used about once a week).
They are wanting £340+vat to fix this, but i can get hold of a second hand 2.0ghz processor for about £160 would this processor work with my mac? and is it easy to install, i work as a pc engineer so i'm ok with the taking pc's to bits.

There is some discussion of this subject which you can read if you enter say, "processor upgrade" (without the quotes) in the search box at top right of this forum
http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?objID=c108&search=Go&q=processor+upgrad e

Why is it that the new macbook pro processor upgrade option only offers up to 2.8 Ghz with Intel Dual Core i7, when back in Sep 12 I bought a 2.9 Ghz Intel Dual Core i7 Macbook, is the new one tuned to go much faster anyway?

Why is it that the new Macbook Pro processor upgrade option only offers up to 2.8 Ghz boosting to 3.3 Ghz with Intel Dual Core i7, when back in Sep 12 I bought a 2.9 Ghz boosting to 3.6 Ghz Intel Dual Core i7 Macbook, is the new one tuned somehow to go much faster anyway, or will the new one be slower in fact? Or does the solid state drive compensate for the lack of increased processor capacity?

The CPU's come from different Intel 'families'. The older ones are 'Ivy Bridge' and the newer ones are 'Haswell'. Numbers alone will not determine the efficiency of CPU.
Ciao.

Memory vs. Processor upgrade? Processor upgrade requires OS 9?

I have a Power Mac G4 QS with a 733 MHz processor and 640 MB of RAM. I plan to use it mainly for video editing, and was thinking about upgrading the processor or RAM or perhaps both. My first question is, should I should upgrade just one (processor OR memory) or both?
My second question requires a bit of explaining. I've already installed all of the software I will be using before realizing that this computer didn't have a version of OS 9 installed (I'm running 10.3.8, I think; I'm actually not on that computer at the moment, so I can't check). I've read that in order to perform a processor upgrade, you have to run a firmware upgrade that only works in OS 9.2.2, so I was wondering, how add OS 9 on to the computer without messing up my OS and/or wiping out all of the software I've already installed?
(Yes, I'm a Mac newbie, at least as far as installation goes.)
Power Mac G4 Quicksilver 733 Mac OS X (10.3.8) 640 MB RAM, 40 GB HD

Hi,
CPU's:
This processor is available, it does NOT need a manufacturers Firmware installed. It is also a dual processor and will work very well for video processing. This is a bargain, very fast too.
http://www.yourmacstore.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=548
This dual processor needs manufacturer's Firmware installed but does NOT need Mac OS 9.2 for the install. It starts the Mac from a Disk and installs the Firmware for it, simple - just follow directions.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/MAXG48D1700/
•••Only Sonnet upgrades still require you to boot into Mac OS 9.2.2 for the Firmware install.
Memory:
The prices are down right now, you can get a stick of 512MB RAM for $59, see this:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/133SD512328/
The above are some places to look at CPU's and memory. The first CPU and two sticks of 512MB RAM for a total of less than $600 will make your QS quite fast.
That seems a good deal to me, if you like the computer you currently have.
The new computer is always an option.
Regards,
Dave
no comp...

4GB Upgrade - Worth it?

I have been hunting the net for benchmarks comparing the Santa Rosa MB's with 2GB vs. 4GB. Can't find anything worth a crap. Does anyone know where I can find such data??? Is the 4GB upgrade worth it? I am a moderate user doing a little bit of heavy audio and video editing for fun - nothing crazy though, strictly with iLife08 software. I was just thinking with ram being so low right now it may be the best time to jump on it, especially after the Leopard jump.

I don't think you'll find benchmarks for that. If you use less than 2gb ram then the benchmarks will be identical. I you use more than 2gb then 4gb will be faster because ram is faster than a hard drive for imputting and outputting data. It's completely dependent on how much ram you use.
the only way to tell if you need ram is to use activity monitor (applications/utilities) - or istat menus (you can download it from islayer.com I think) and then look at ram usage. In particular look at the number of pages ins/pages out. If the pages out are more than about 10% of the pages in, then you are running out of ram and the computer is using the hard drive as extra ram. If less than 10% then you're not using up all the ram.
More ram doesn't speed up a computer, it just allows it to do more work simultaneously.
Ram is really cheap though. Crucial.com had a 2gb chip for $99 which is very good.
Good luck

Powermac 7300/166 processor upgrade

Thanks to help elsewhere on this forum my 7300/166, with all its limitations of speed and 128mb memory, is back in business, and I'd like to upgrade the processor if it could be done without spending too much money. Advice, as specific as possible and suitable for a novice, would be appreciated about what to look for, bearing in mind that I'd most likely be searching on e-bay.

You'd be looking for a G3 or G4 processor upgrade card for the "PCI Mac" (7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9500, and 9600) series. Sonnet, PowerLogix, and NewerTech are some of the manufacturers' names that you'll come across. The processor card plugs into the slot, just as the 7300/166 card does. Some of the cards are physically shorter and have a metal strip mounted along the top edge of the card, so that the card stabilizer on the underside of the hinged plastic panel contacts the card. I'd look for a Sonnet card, but that's just my preference. You can also buy what's called a ZIF carrier card, which resembles a processor card, but has a ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) socket for installation of a G3 or G4 "ZIF type" processor. ZIF processors are the same type used in the beige G3 series, B&W G3 series, and G4 PCI Graphics model. The carrier card provides the flexibility to install (and later change/upgrade) a ZIF processor/speed of your preference.
The one limiting factor when using a G3/G4 processor in an older PCI Mac is the 50 MHz (max) system bus speed. Some users have overclocked this a little, but stability issues can result if you push it too much. You'll definitely notice a speed/performance difference with a G3 or G4 processor, compared to a 604e/166 MHz processor. As I've written before, a G3/G4-upgraded Power Mac will never be the equal of a G3 or G4 Mac with the same processor. Even though the original purchasers paid a lot of $$ for these upgrade cards 3-5 years ago, they have depreciated quickly and often go for very little at eBay.

Processor upgrades

i have had a single 1ghz mdd firewire 800 for about a year. i had great plans for this machine but it is basically a print server for my g4 imac in the living room. recently i purchased a 400 mhz sawtooth to replace the mdd. Is downgrading from a mdd a good idea? i plan on selling one of the powermacs. if i decide to upgrade again which is easier/cheaper to upgrade? there are a lot more processor upgrades for g4 models earlier than the mdd and i am not sure why. i purchased the mdd for around $400. i purchased the sawtooth for $10.

eighth-1der wrote:
My LW 16/600 will work with the Wintels if hooked via parallel or via ethernet reversed pair cable (single cable with one reversed pair). But if I hook the LW to a hub or to the router the only units that can see it are the Macs. I just turn on sharing on the Mac and make a printer profile in the Windoze control panel that routes to my mac (\\xxx.xxx.x.xxx\<mac name>\<OSX printer profile>). I imagine it has something to do with the protocols back in 1995 when the HP4 was being made as a LW.
But if you say that your HP5 will show up when hooked to a hub but not a router I may try that, isolate the Wintels and the LW on the hub and then hook the hub to the router. Is that essentially what you are describing? A reversed pair cable is a two unit closed loop hub, so the same effect as I described before will apply, right? But current setting of letting OSX discover the LW and letting the Wintels use the Mac to print is no real drag, just a few watts of power for an otherwise unused computer.
My HP LJ5MP worked with the PhoneNet/EtherMac connection to its AppleTalk port back when I just used the old 10BaseT hub for my LAN and internet connection (before modern router and switches). However, the new switch technology doesn't recognize the EtherMac output, which is the AppleTalk input. I found that when I put the hub in between the EtherMac and the new switch, the switch recognized the hub, which recognized the EtherMac and everything worked on my LAN. With this setup, both my Mac and my PC notebook on my LAN could see and use the HP LJ5MP.
Alternatively, I later bought a D-Link parallel port print server for the HP LJ. It works quite well on my LAN and is a little bit faster than the AppleTalk/EtherMac/hub setup. I currently have both connections to the HP LJ 5MP hooked to my LAN. I do it for redundancy, as the two different connections function independently of each other, so if there is a problem with one, the other usually works. This is important to me as the HP LJ is my primary printer for all my computers.
Carl B.

Sonnet processors- Encore/MDX Duet processor upgrade card

Just wondering how Sonnet processors (specifically the Sonnet Encore/MDX Duet processor upgrade card for the G4 MDD macs) function with Logic Pro.
If anyone is using these particular cards in conjunciton with Logic Pro 7 on the lastest mac OS X, I'd really like to know how they perform? (these are specifically upgrade cards for the G4 MDD edition macs).
I'm looking to upgrade my 867 MgHz dual-pro. G4 MDD with one of these Sonnet cards.
Any feed back would be appreciated.
Thanks people.

thanks for your input,
I've checked out that site. It's where i originally read about the Sonnet line of upgrade cards .
Great site for tweaking and learning some good **** about your mac systems.
cheers.

Anyone using one of these processor upgrades?

Is anyone using this processor upgrade from Other World Computing?Its this one:
Motorola/Freescale PowerPC G4/7447A Processor running at 1.6GHz
# 512K of 1:1 L2 Cache @ 1.6GHz
# 100MHz or 133MHz bus operation
# Bus Ratio of up to 16:1
I have just recieved a Quicksilver 733(was supposed to be a dual 800,but it was defective),and I would like to max it out without spending nearly $400.00US for one of the 7448's.Is this worth $200.00US?Will I notice performance close to my dual 1.25 MDD?Or is this just a waste of money?Any info at all on this upgrade would be very appreciated,thanks!

Well,duh,I should have just looked at your sig japamac! I forgot you were running one of these,nice to know its reliable.Good to know it will keep up with my current computer as well.Thanks BDAqua as I actually wanted to know if it would at least be better than the dual 800 I didnt get.Dont mind spending the cash,just dont want it to get out of hand if its just a small increase in performance.This will be paired with a 9800pro and sata Hitachi 1TB upgrades,so this shouldnt be a slowpoke with Leopard.And of course I maxed the ram out.Again thanks for the info(and FAST!!)!

Are processor upgrades worth it

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