G4 Sawtooth Processor and Video Card upgrades

Question

Hi there,
I'm heading for a major upgrade on my G4 Sawtooth 500Hz, starting with processor and Video card, not to mention maxing out the RAM slots.
My main applications are Final Cut, After Effects and Photoshop.
I wish I had more money for a dual processor (or even a G5 – sigh!) so I'm looking at the Sonnet Encore/ST G4/1.4GHz Processor versus the PowerLogix G4/1.4GHz 7455A PowerForce55. I've done the benchmark tests at OWC's site and I'm inclined to Sonnet. Anyone have an opinion between these 2, or even if there's another one I should be also considering?
Should I make the effort and go for a dual processor? because of the clear benefits on rendering time (specially for After Effects)?
Video Cards:
These I think I need more help. Going thru these threads I learned that I should consider the power supply (overheating problems) and that "AGP G4's have either a 208w or a 237w Power supply (PSU)" - I have no idea what I got.
On another thread I read: "as far as I'm aware, there are only two video cards currently available retail that support Tiger's core image/video, the Radeon 9600 and 9800. Unfortunately the 9600 requires a x4 AGP slot, so that just leaves the 9800. It's a powerful card but consequently is fairly expensive and can be noisy due to it's fan."
What is a x4 AGP slot? Do Sawtooths have this?
I'll be upgrading to Tiger soon. Does this mean I can't go for the ATI Radeon 9200?
I'd prefer AGP than PCI cards. What are my real options considering power consumption, OS and performance?
Important: I’d like the video card to run 2 monitors, LCD and/or CRT.
Further upgrades would be SATA controller card and one or two internal SATA drives replacing the ones I got.
Last but not least:
Instead of all this fuss, should I 'just' get the MacMini 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo????? and later on get a G5 (or whatever it will be called...)?
PowerMac G4 "Sawtooth" (AGP) 500Mhz, ATI Rage 128Pro, 512MB RAM   Mac OS X (10.3.9)   Internal ATA drives [25GB - 80GB] / External 160GB

Answer 1

Hi
Video Cards:
These I think I need more help. Going thru these
threads I learned that I should consider the power
supply (overheating problems) and that "AGP G4's
have either a 208w or a 237w Power supply (PSU)"
- I have no idea what I got.
On another thread I read: "as far as I'm aware,
there are only two video cards currently available
retail that support Tiger's core image/video, the
Radeon 9600 and 9800. Unfortunately the 9600 requires
a x4 AGP slot, so that just leaves the 9800. It's a
powerful card but consequently is fairly expensive
and can be noisy due to it's fan."
What is a x4 AGP slot? Do Sawtooths have
this?
I'll be upgrading to Tiger soon. Does this mean I
can't go for the ATI Radeon 9200?
I'd prefer AGP than PCI cards. What are my real
options considering power consumption, OS and
performance?
Important: I’d like the video card to run 2
monitors, LCD and/or CRT.
I think I may have written what you've quoted. You probably already know, but you don't actually need a Core Image compatible card to use Tiger. As far as I'm aware, few applications currently make use of Core Image and fewer still actually require it (Apple's Aperture and Motion being possible exceptions).
As PB PM mentions, you have a x2 AGP slot and unfortunately there's little middle ground in terms of graphics cards available. The main options are the Radeon 9800 at one end (powerful but relatively expensive, power hungry, hot running and noisy) or perhaps the Radeon 9000 at the other. It's no longer available retail but they appear on eBay occasionally. It's an AGP card, was available in 64MB and 128MB versions and can support two monitors. One slight downside is that it has an ADC connector (alongside the VGA connector), which the Sawtooth logic board doesn't support, but I believe you can still connect an ADC to DVI adapter cable to connect a DVI monitor. It doesn't support Core Image either.