my g4

neverownedapc said:

just break down and buy one with a dual powerpc g5 processor as they are somewhat dirt cheap for ones with my needs?

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That one. A G5 won't come close to fitting in a G4 case.

You just spent a buttload of money on the CPU upgrade, it would make no sense at all to get rid of it now.

My G5 was 700 bucks, but I got lucky and nicely talked the guy down from 1200. If you wanna double check how much one is worth http://mac2sell.net is a good place.

You would definitely see a performance gain over that g4, but is t worth it considering what you use the machine for? "If it ain't broke - don't fix it." A new used g5 might not be nearly as stable as that g4 for you. Hang on to it for another year or so and get a used intel mac to replace it - if I were you that is.

I was in your position a few months ago. I had a G4 1.2, which I bought from a friend. It came with the CPU upgrade already - so I was lucky. I maxed out the Ram at 2GB - which made an immediate difference to the performance.

For my needs at the time, I was more than happy. I am an artist doing my own promo materials and creating my own website. The file size from my point and shoot digital camera are small - with immediate plans to get the Nikon D40 (also small files). Putting all this into CS2 is great.

However, I noticed that when I started to push the boundaries - attempting to create poster size images of my art in Phototshop - the system was definitely overwhelmed and slowed to a crawl. And this was with no layers - the final image coming out at 300 megs. Currently, for the odd time I would have to go this big - I could live with it. Staying with the G4 would still be okay.

It's looking to the future of where I wanted to be in 5 years and how much I would need to spend to be there. I knew I would want the potential to go bigger and have the option of having a 30 inch lcd. I went with a dual 2.0 G5 - with 6GB of Ram, and a card that could handle the 30 inch - all for $1000 on Craig's list. Also, staying with the current software (CS2/Painter/others) was a major consideration to keep the overall costs down. I thought for what I could spend and what I could live with - this made the most sense to me. Now, the G5 is noticeably faster and can handle these larger files well.

I also made a conscious decision to stay with Tiger, and know that soon, Apple will drop support for the IBM ppc chip. I'm making a gamble and taking a stand with this based on what I see my future needs will be.

What are your current needs? How long can you live with what you have?

I'd offer this: You've already made a large outlay to upgrade the CPU. Max out your Ram to 2GB - which will be cheap.
See how you feel.

Then, save up for your next system so you don't get yourself in trouble by having to borrow if you don't have
the cash now. This way you'll be on the Intel chip - which is the future anyways.

I still think my G4 is great (which I am keeping as a back-up). I love my new used G5.

But, the future is another matter.

Mike

neverownedapc said:

i did the upgrade years ago. and it only cost me about $200 at the time, i think.

and toronto mike, i feel you on what i do and use it for being the main reason for what i buy, and right now it comes down as wanting to be able to do the same on my mbp.

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That's a good deal then for a 1.4. But either way, whether you meant transplanting a G5 machine into your G4 case, or trying to place G5 parts in your G4, it won't work..... you'd probably have to be an engineer to fit all the G5 in the G4.... it's not like transplanting a G4 into a G3 case *at all*, and there are no parts in the G5 (save HDDs, etc, things that won't speed up your computer) that are compatible.

It's sort of too bad they never made any G5 upgrades, but then, it was IBM not Motorola. Oh well.

Even if you could fit all the G5 parts, chances are you wouldn't have nearly enough cooling and it would burn out. The G4 case is mostly enclosed; the G5 case is like the Mac Pro case--the front and back are both perforated steel, and there are numerous fans (7 or 8) specifically placed.

I run a G4 and a G5 at work (see my sign for specs, mostly up to date). The G4 definitely lags when doing CS2 work, but can run it, and in most other areas the two compete pretty well with each other. I suggest pimping your G4 out the best you can, you can get it running pretty well (my suggestion--if it's a Sawtooth, go with the dual 1.3 or lower, the L3 cache really helps with the slower bus speeds, and DEFINITELY max out the RAM; an OSX software RAID can improve performance as well, even if it's really small but used for cache for apps that need it, a better graphics card or a flashed PC card can improve display performance and take strain off the processor and RAM, stuff like that)...

EDIT: You COULD buy an Intel Mac Mini and stuff the guts into it, that might work.