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Is G4 CPU upgrade worth it?
Hi
I have this old G4 400 MHZ (AGP graphic, 100MHZ bus, i think), and I was wondering if upgrading the CPU would be worth it. This machine takes a long time encoding M2v from FCP, and I want to boost it up a bit 😉
The 3 company that makes CPU Upgrades that I saw Were offering similar speed/price ratio…. from them, i can have a 1.2 GHZ for 250$or 1.4 GHZ upgrade for 300$
These are the 3 companies:
Encore/ST G4 from Sonnet
OWC Mercury Extreme G4 Upgrades
fast mac
If It’S worth it, does somebody who already bought these upgrades can suggest me one of these brand more than another ?
And , starting from a 400, will i see a really big diffrence between the 1.2 and the 1.4 , is the 50$ worth the diffrence, or should i stick with the 1.2?
Thanks for the tips
Alex
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4 Replies
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that’s a BIG can of worms, and something I did quite a bit of reading about here:
https://www.macgurus.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=ef0300267ee90d1e17d1800841dad339&f=5
that’s a wealth of knowledge, and it’ll help you decide what’s right for you, and for your particular system – there are lots of factors to consider, such as L3 cache, bus speed, etc.
best of luck,
Kris -
Hi,
Its a bad idea.
First if you compare the cost of the upgrade vs selling your existing machine and upgrading (particularly f you factor in the resale value of the machine) its not really that cost effective. A DP533 (that has FCP render benchmarks similar to a DP800) will probably offer similar render performance on applications that use dual processors and your total outlay will be about the same.
Second you run the chance of incompatibility. Even if it works perfectly if you every have any problems you are going to have to consider if the CPU upgrade is the culprit.
Best Wishes,
Mitch
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About a year ago I upgraded from the the 400 to a sonnet 1ghz. At that time it was a 250 dollar upgrade and it gave my computer a few years of extra life as the 400 won’t support many of today’s software upgrades. It was more than worth it to me and cut my compression times in half, not to mention being able to take advantage of realtime preview in FCP.
If you get the upgrade and decide in a year to get a new computer you’ll now have a less outdated backup system. I’ve never had any compatiblity issues either. I just popped it in the machine and it worked and continues to work. Your computer my be able to handle a dual proccesor as well, but not all 400 models can. You may want to look into that as well.
I don’t think you can go wrong unless you can afford to get a g5.
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[Jeremy Doyle] “Your computer my be able to handle a dual proccesor as well, but not all 400 models can”
I’ve made the compatibility checkup, and it’s possible, but i’m not sure if i want to spend that much for a cpu upgrade, considering also my bus speed…
Thanks for all your replys, I’ve heard what i wanted… I knew the gain wouldn’t be like if i was running a last generation G4 1.25GHZ, plus the sonnet is the brand i was more interested in…
If it cuts my compression time, I am a buyer… plus i can’t afford a new G5, and i financially dont see the point for an old G4, even if the bus speed is faster… prefer saving for a real machine when the time will come.
I’ll keep in touch by this post to give feedback about performance as soon as i will buy the new cpu…
So i’ll reply in maybe two weeks or less
Thanks
Alex
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