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mus0r

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 27, 2005
229
0
I was just looking at the prices of the upgrades. As I mentioned in a previous thread I bought a B&W G3 on eBay to use as a media center.

My problem now, is that I can't decide what upgrade to go with. I'm not spending more than about $200; more than that would be silly. I'm torn between OWC's G4 500 or the PowerLogix G3 1GHz.

I suppose it comes down to AltiVec, but I have no idea what apps I use take advantage of it. Anyone know a resource to find out?
 

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,602
1,760
Lard
I'm quite happy with my PowerLogix 800 MHz G3 upgrade.

I considered that the number of applications using AltiVec were minimal and that every application would benefit from the extra processor speed and that the heat would remain reasonable with the faster processor.

I think you'll find the 1 GHz upgrade to be good as well.
 

mus0r

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 27, 2005
229
0
Do you think it's ok for games? Seems few are optimized for OS X, let alone for AltiVec. I have a 1GHz Powerbook, which is enough to play Halo and UT; would the 1GHz G3 be basically the same on non-AltiVec tasks?
 

chv400

macrumors 6502
Dec 16, 2003
268
0
Houston, TX
Altivec is really only untilized in apple's AV apps. The G4 is significantly faster at encodeing and decoding video. Also for iChat unless you have an iSight you wont be able to take advantage of the Video confrencing features. Importing Audio into iTunes is also optimized for the G4 all the codecs except for the Lossless codec. My 600 mhz G4 imports Audio at around 8x while my 400 mhz G3 imports at around 3x (AAC@256kbs). This doesnt mean that a 500mhz G4 will be faster than a 1ghz G3.

XLRA you mac has a review on this comparing it to a 500mhz G4
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G3CARDS/PL_1GHz_G3_vs_g4_500.html
 

Sweetfeld28

macrumors 65816
Feb 10, 2003
1,489
29
Buckeye Country, O-H
personally if your going to be using apps like photoshop, or any video editing app. like mentioned above, you would of course have better performance with the G4. However if you are going to be doing normal tasks on it like browsing the internet, just checking you email, or burning/ripping music, the G3 should do you fine.

But if it was me i would go with the G4, just because of the fact that it can handle way more instructions, than the G3 ever could.

What kind of stuff are you planning to do with the B&W once its upgraded? I guess i am tring to ask what do you mean when you say you are going to use it as a "media center"?
 

mus0r

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 27, 2005
229
0
First off, I did read that article. Thanks, though.

As for the "media center" I was planning on using it to play my iTunes library through my stereo, play DVDs, record my VHS taps to DVD (I'll do the editing on my G5), and maybe do a Tivo-esque PVR deal. If the upgrades allow, I will also do some gaming.

The problem is that, due to money constraints, my options are a 500/600 MHz G4 or a 1GHz G3. People keep saying that the only difference between (or the main difference, anyway) between the G3 and G4 is that the G3 has no AltiVec. They also rant that only Apple apps utilize it, anyway. Which is why I lean towards the G3 for my use. Even without AltiVec, the benchmarks/reviews still say the 1GHz G3 will out-perform the 500 MHz G4 in most tasks.
 

chv400

macrumors 6502
Dec 16, 2003
268
0
Houston, TX
mus0r said:
First off, I did read that article. Thanks, though.

As for the "media center" I was planning on using it to play my iTunes library through my stereo, play DVDs, record my VHS taps to DVD (I'll do the editing on my G5), and maybe do a Tivo-esque PVR deal. If the upgrades allow, I will also do some gaming.

The problem is that, due to money constraints, my options are a 500/600 MHz G4 or a 1GHz G3. People keep saying that the only difference between (or the main difference, anyway) between the G3 and G4 is that the G3 has no AltiVec. They also rant that only Apple apps utilize it, anyway. Which is why I lean towards the G3 for my use. Even without AltiVec, the benchmarks/reviews still say the 1GHz G3 will out-perform the 500 MHz G4 in most tasks.

What kind of Device were you planning on using to get the video off the VHS into the computer?
 

mus0r

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 27, 2005
229
0
chv400 said:
What kind of Device were you planning on using to get the video off the VHS into the computer?

Well, since I'm hooking it up to the TV I bought the old All-In-Wonder os the video card, since it has S-Video in and out. However, I didn't expect that to be a great choice for conversion, so I bid on a Dazzle box (I don't remember which model) to convert it. If that fails, there are a few highly rated (though way more costly) cards/break-out boxes to do so. I just wanted to avoid spending another $200 or $300 right off the bat.
 

mus0r

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 27, 2005
229
0
Sweetfeld28 said:
its settled get the G3.


You saying that just to shut me up? LoL

No really, I'm trying *so* hard to find info pertinent to what I'm doing, and not having a lot of luck. :confused:
 

chv400

macrumors 6502
Dec 16, 2003
268
0
Houston, TX
I would say get the G3 since it is probably going to give you better performance than the G4 even in Altivec enhanced apps because well the G3 your looknig at is twice the clock speed and that makes a BIG difference. Even though many of apple's apps like iLife are having a hard time supporting the G3 chances are if a 1 ghz G3 cant handle it neither will a 500 mhz G4
but if a 500mhz G4 can do it chances are the 1 ghz G3 will.

"# A Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G3 (400MHz or faster), G4, or G5 processor
* 600MHz G3 or faster for GarageBand
* 733MHz G4 or faster for iDVD
* G4 or faster for iPhoto advanced editing and GarageBand software instruments"


If you feel confident among the inards of the computer you can always upgrade the CPU cooling in your B&W and do a nice over clock. There's also the added bonus of not feeling like you have to mod your B&W's case to have a Big G4 on the side instead of the big G3. (Thats been bugging me ever since I got the 500/600 G4 from OWC)

My reson for getting the G4 over the G3 was because of how much faster the G4 could encode mpeg-4 than the G3. I'd say to go G3 unless you plan on doing video encoding with it. For recording video the G3 should be fine.
 

Sweetfeld28

macrumors 65816
Feb 10, 2003
1,489
29
Buckeye Country, O-H
No. :D

i was just looking at some benchmarks comparing some CPU upgrades mostly the G3 1 (.1 Ghz) and a G4 550 Mhz chips. based on the benchmarks, and the fact that the G3 is a newer chip. so i came to the conclusion that the G3 would do a good job, based on what you told me you would be doing with it.

On the same note:

xlr8yourmac.com Benchmarks

Summary link:

There is no best choice - each processor fulfils a different need. I recommend each processor for the following:

Powerlogix G3 1GHz and 1.1GHz: The fastest. Very good overall performance and an excellent value. Feels like a brand new mac (or faster)- fluid UI.

Sonnet G4 1GHz and 800MHz: Continue to live the iLife. (G4 CPU required for iDVD.) Raw computing power. Boosted by an increasing number of applications. Good overall performance. I recommend the 1GHz over the 800MHz if you can afford it. (Also nice looking - a pretty purple color for those who care about such things)

OWC G4 500-600MHz: Very good deal. 100MHz bus + G4 is very beneficial in many situations. Boosted by an increasing number of applications. Can run all iLife apps. Overall good performance.
I've found OWC, Sonnet's, and Powerlogix's support to be very good, with Sonnet getting top marks in my mind.


Hope this helps.
 

RGunner

macrumors 6502a
Jul 3, 2002
706
95
Midnight Sun
Completely agree.

nice post Sweetfeld28, concur 100%

I would vote for the G3 1GHz, after personally having the XLR8 7410 @600.
 

mus0r

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 27, 2005
229
0
So...last question regarding the power of G3/G4...

Do you think I can PLay Halo and UT2k3 on it? I can play both on my 1GHz G4 without problems, and I doubt the games were optimized to use AltiVec (since everyone bitches about the Halo port, anyway). Whatcha think?
 

chv400

macrumors 6502
Dec 16, 2003
268
0
Houston, TX
mus0r said:
So...last question regarding the power of G3/G4...

Do you think I can PLay Halo and UT2k3 on it? I can play both on my 1GHz G4 without problems, and I doubt the games were optimized to use AltiVec (since everyone bitches about the Halo port, anyway). Whatcha think?

Here's another xlr8 review
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G3CARDS/G3_1.1GHz_vs_G4_1GHz_review/index4.html

THis one has bench marks on games.

I do know that Halo is playable on my machine although it is very bland
(no explosions or fire)
B&W 600mhz G4+768 RAM+ATI 9200 w/128vRAM

Sorry i didnt see your link I was in slight hurry and just posted the same link
 
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