Upgrade the old mac or buy a new one?

nak-1 · 04-25-2004, 07:22 AM

Hi,

I currently have an old dual G4 450 and am thinking about what to get next.

Having looked around there are several companies that offer upgrade boards for my machine that will replace the processors with two 1.2Ghz ones.

Would it be worth doing this or saving for a while and buying a new G5?

Has anyone had any experience of processor upgrades with a mac? (Good and Bad)

Your thoughts would be most welcome,

Thanks

Qiranworms · 04-25-2004, 02:51 PM

Personally, I would go with the new machine. Instead of just getting processors clocked twice as fast, you get ones clocked four times the speed, much more RAM capacity, 64-bit processing, Panther, the new iLife, and a lot more. That's my opinion on the matter. The way I look at it, eventually you'll want to upgrade to G5 CPUs anyway...and you might as well not regret having spent money on the G4 upgrade.

By the way, we are expecting a G5 revision soon...I would wait a few months. 3 GHz was promised for this summer....

g5orbust · 04-25-2004, 11:51 PM

You can still get old powermacs from Apple on the CHEAP.

Dual 1.25GHz w/ 2MB L3 Cache per processor
256MB DDR333 SDRAM (PC2700) -1 DIMM
80GB Ultra ATA drive
Optical 1 - Combo Drive (DVD/CD-RW)
Optical 2 - None
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro dual-display w/64MB DDR
56K internal modem
Apple Pro Keyboard - U.S. English
Mac OS - U.S. English

$1599.00

Go to www.apple.com, then go to store and go to the bottom and look for "Powermac G4" in that center table. Thats where youll find them

Qiranworms · 04-26-2004, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by g5orbust
You can still get old powermacs from Apple on the CHEAP.

The thing is, he's not looking to buy a new Powermac G4, he's asking whether he should upgrade his, or get a new machine.

RyansTech · 04-27-2004, 04:22 PM

The G4 upgrades are great (I use them at work) however the only upgrade cards that are really worth the money are the pre-G4 upgrades to breath some new life into the old beige macs so for the price I would advise you to get a new mac. By the time you spend the 400-500 bucks on the upgrade card new towers will drop by about that much.

nak-1 · 04-28-2004, 11:05 AM

Thanks for your comments.

If I'm being really honest I want a nice shiny new mac......

mac_mogul · 04-28-2004, 07:38 PM

Upgrading Macs is for Hobbyists.

Buying new Macs is for Users.

Period.

g5orbust · 04-28-2004, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by qiranworms
The thing is, he's not looking to buy a new Powermac G4, he's asking whether he should upgrade his, or get a new machine.

well they sell the Sonnet Encore chip replacement set for 499$ for 1.4GHz single proc.

https://secure1.sonnettech.com/store...b04f664ef5e003

I suggest getting a whole new mac though. Parts seem to run better when theyre made to run together.

RyansTech · 04-29-2004, 09:24 AM

Quote:

posted by g5orbust
I suggest getting a whole new mac though. Parts seem to run better when theyre made to run together

I would just like to add to this, I agree but I also would like to say one of the G4's that I use at work all the time has a sonnet 800mhz chip in it and it has been running rock solid with no problems at all for at least 1.5-2 years. Great performance out of it too. But YES buying a mac with parts that are engineered to run together is always your best bet.

CrossMX · 05-01-2004, 04:20 PM

You know you will never be happy unless you have the best and to do that you know your going to want a G5. I personally would go for the G5 because I know even with the upgrade I would be thinking about the G5 after I did it a month later

04-25-2004, 07:22 AM	#1 (permalink)
nak-1 True Techie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 168	Upgrade the old mac or buy a new one? Hi, I currently have an old dual G4 450 and am thinking about what to get next. Having looked around there are several companies that offer upgrade boards for my machine that will replace the processors with two 1.2Ghz ones. Would it be worth doing this or saving for a while and buying a new G5? Has anyone had any experience of processor upgrades with a mac? (Good and Bad) Your thoughts would be most welcome, Thanks __________________ -------------------- Nak Is it just me, or does something smell suspicious about all this?

04-25-2004, 02:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
Qiranworms Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,637	Personally, I would go with the new machine. Instead of just getting processors clocked twice as fast, you get ones clocked four times the speed, much more RAM capacity, 64-bit processing, Panther, the new iLife, and a lot more. That's my opinion on the matter. The way I look at it, eventually you'll want to upgrade to G5 CPUs anyway...and you might as well not regret having spent money on the G4 upgrade. By the way, we are expecting a G5 revision soon...I would wait a few months. 3 GHz was promised for this summer.... __________________ -->Marc Error: Keyboard not attached. Please press F1 to continue. -------OS----------Gentoo Linux------- ------Browser-----Mozilla Firefox----- \|\|\|Official Forum Rules\|\|\|

04-25-2004, 11:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
g5orbust Ultra Techie Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 818	You can still get old powermacs from Apple on the CHEAP. Dual 1.25GHz w/ 2MB L3 Cache per processor 256MB DDR333 SDRAM (PC2700) -1 DIMM 80GB Ultra ATA drive Optical 1 - Combo Drive (DVD/CD-RW) Optical 2 - None ATI Radeon 9000 Pro dual-display w/64MB DDR 56K internal modem Apple Pro Keyboard - U.S. English Mac OS - U.S. English $1599.00 Go to www.apple.com, then go to store and go to the bottom and look for "Powermac G4" in that center table. Thats where youll find them __________________ Apple, Mac OS , and Power PC

04-28-2004, 11:05 AM	#6 (permalink)
nak-1 True Techie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 168	Thanks for your comments. If I'm being really honest I want a nice shiny new mac...... __________________ -------------------- Nak Is it just me, or does something smell suspicious about all this?

04-28-2004, 07:38 PM	#7 (permalink)
mac_mogul Monster Techie Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,292	Upgrading Macs is for Hobbyists. Buying new Macs is for Users. Period. __________________ Image Contests "Who are you?" "Me? I'm the living embodiment of all that is evil in the computer world." "You're Bill Gates?" iBook G4 1.2ghz PowerPC G4 // 1.25gb PC2700 DDR // ATI RADEON Mobility 9200 32mb DDR // 60gb Ultra ATA/100 Hitachi HDD // Matshita 24x CD-RW/DVD Combo // M-Audio Sonica Theater 7.1 USB Sound Card // Logitech X-530 5.1 Surround

04-27-2004, 04:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
RyansTech True Techie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 120	The G4 upgrades are great (I use them at work) however the only upgrade cards that are really worth the money are the pre-G4 upgrades to breath some new life into the old beige macs so for the price I would advise you to get a new mac. By the time you spend the 400-500 bucks on the upgrade card new towers will drop by about that much.

05-01-2004, 04:20 PM	#10 (permalink)
CrossMX Junior Techie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 64	You know you will never be happy unless you have the best and to do that you know your going to want a G5. I personally would go for the G5 because I know even with the upgrade I would be thinking about the G5 after I did it a month later __________________ Heatware = Cross \"I see you have the ring and I see that your Schwartz is as big as mine.\" -- Dark Helmet, Spaceballs I stayed up one night playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and 4 people died.

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