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Asking about expected gaming performance

KawaiiAurora

KawaiiAurora

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 16, 2016
307
190
Europa
Hey,

I have a PowerMac G4 with the following specs:

  • 400MHz G4 (7400)
  • 576MB RAM
  • Radeon 9700 128MB
  • 10GB HDD
I come from a PC world so I don't know exactly what performance I should expect from my machine. Can anyone tell me roughly what I should be able to play? :) No one lives forever runs okay @ 640x480 at minimum settings, is that okay or should my Mac be able to run it at a better resolution?

Make that 1024x768 at max settings! same framerate if not better!

Thanks,
Aurora
 
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MagicBoy said:
Radeon 9700 in a G4 400MHz? The CPU will be a large bottleneck to the graphics card performance.
Click to expand...

Yeah, yeah, I know. I wasn't too keen on shelling out thrice the amount (got 4 cards for $44 including the R9700 so about $11 a piece) for a measly Geforce 4 MX tho. Just wondering, are there any CPU upgrades I can do without braking my wallet? ($50 max.. not less than 700MHz I guess; I guess I'm up to some messing around if it involves limited soldering, preferably not)
 
Agreed that the CPU will be the bottleneck-the 9700 will probably last well past 1ghz before it becomes an issue.

I'd hunt for something like a Sonnet 800mhz. The sub-1ghz upgrades tend to not bring big prices(especially not for AGP G4s). Apple cards will work, but you top out at 1ghz rated clock speed and they will run slower in your computer than their stated speed.

BTW, I have a Cube with an 800mhz Sonnet and a Geforce 3. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is perfectly playable with the settings turned most of the way up.
 
bunnspecial said:
Agreed that the CPU will be the bottleneck-the 9700 will probably last well past 1ghz before it becomes an issue.

I'd hunt for something like a Sonnet 800mhz. The sub-1ghz upgrades tend to not bring big prices(especially not for AGP G4s). Apple cards will work, but you top out at 1ghz rated clock speed and they will run slower in your computer than their stated speed.

BTW, I have a Cube with an 800mhz Sonnet and a Geforce 3. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is perfectly playable with the settings turned most of the way up.
Click to expand...

800MHz Sonnets on eBay go for like 90-200$ which is completely unreasonable as I can get myself a powerbook g4/ibook g4 for that money... Any ideas with stock Apple stuff? I know that bus speeds are different, some require a 12V rail.
 
A 933 from a Quicksilver will run at 700mhz in your computer, but will need +12V. I've never hunted for one, but I don't think they're super common. You will also need to get some extra cooling on it.

A dual 1ghz card from a Quicksilver is the fastest factory Apple card that will fit in your computer, but you would have to make sure it's compatible with your LoBo.
 
bunnspecial said:
A 933 from a Quicksilver will run at 700mhz in your computer, but will need +12V. I've never hunted for one, but I don't think they're super common. You will also need to get some extra cooling on it.

A dual 1ghz card from a Quicksilver is the fastest factory Apple card that will fit in your computer, but you would have to make sure it's compatible with your LoBo.
Click to expand...


My Mac can't take dual CPUs unfortunately :/ Might look into the 933MHz G4s some day. What do you mean by extra cooling?
 
MysticCow said:
It's more than likely the original hard drive.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's the original drive. IBM Deskstar with an apple logo on it. Feb 2000... I will get myself another IDE drive soon enough because I doubt it has much time before it croaks. (And the noise it does is unbearable)
 
If you don't have it already,
here's a game from 1999 - Quake 3 Area Mac PPC:
http://www.myabandonware.com/game/quake-iii-arena-3p0#download
Hopefully your internet connection (& HDD) can handle a 542.4 MB zip archive.
Took me about 25 - 30 mins to download.
I'm guessing your Sawtooth can handle this game.

This FPS game wakes up one's lagging brain in the morning. Single player against game's AI.
Multiplayer option is included. Just to show you what the game looks like,
here's a brief YouTube video of someone playing it on an eMac:

Double-clicking on the zip file extracts the Quake 3 folder.
Inside are five game versions including MacQuake3 for Mac OS 9. Play the game right from the folder.
In my Sawtooth with Tiger, I double-clicked on the version "Quake3 10.2 G4" since it was named with "G4" (all guesswork on my part).
Quake3_folder.jpg


After boot-up splash screen, game asks for CD Key, but just leave it blank and click on Accept.
Next check out SETUP menu for CONTROLS, SYSTEM & GAME OPTIONS menus.
Don't need to config custom PLAYER menu just yet to play right away.
CONTROLS menu for movement are the usual [WSAD] keys (forward, back, step L, step R)
with Mouse for main turning direction. [SPACER] = jump, [C] = crouch.
Left mouse button for fire weapon. Familiar things to you already no doubt.
SYSTEM menu for Graphics, Display, Sound, Network (Multiplayer).
GAME OPTIONS menu for finer visual details on/off.
The game may be smart enough to sense a computer's playing limitations with presets.

Click BACK for main menu, then clicking SINGLE PLAYER gets you to CHOOSE LEVEL menu.
Leave present options as they are & click FIGHT to choose easy to hardest game playing skill.
Click BACK then SKIRMISH to begin fight between you the Unknown Player and "Crash", your opponent.
If killed, left mouse button respawns.
After first SKIRMISH, more fight locations with looked available, making an extra click or so then NEXT button to get in a fight.

The DEMOS menu contains only one recorded gameplay to watch.
The CINEMATICS menu lists ten videos (cut-scene or promo?) but only ID LOGO & INTRO are archived.
When you finally quit/exit game, [ESC] key closes the final credits if I remember correctly.
 
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