iMac Slot-Loading G4 Upgrade

[MoparShaha]

I've got a bit of a dilema. I have an iMac DV SE with a 400 Mhz G3 processor with 768 Mb RAM, and want to upgrade it. Two companies offer replacement processors, PowerLogix (http://www.powerlogix.com/products2/iforcesl/index.html) and Technowarehouse (http://www.technowarehousellc.com/g4upforslloi.html). I can get a 900 Mhz G3 with 900 Mhz L2 cache for $330, or a 500 Mhz G4 with 1 MB of backside cache. I do some Photoshop/Illustrator work, run Jaguar, but mostly use my machine for web/chat. I plan on keeping it for maybe another year, then upgrading to a second generation PowerPC 970 PM. I just need a speed boost till then. Any comments would be welcome, as I'm having a tough time deciding whether the altivec is worth the 400 Mhz difference between the two processors.

 

[ibookin']

I don't believe those benchmarks listed on the G4 upgrade site, as Photoshop 6 should run better in OS 9 than in OS X. It is NOT an OS X application, and therefore would have to run in Classic in OS 10.1, resulting in worse performance.

For your situation, I'm not sure what I'd recommend. It really depends on the applications you're running, but for most things a 900MHz G3 will be faster than a 500MHz G4. If you do a lot of work in programs that are AltiVec enhanced, get the G4, but otherwise get the G3.

Suspect benchmarks chart: Anyone else smell something fishy?