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Resolved G5 GPU & SSD Upgrade (Was: Best(?) PPC Bench Test)

Hack5190

Hack5190

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 21, 2015
531
311
(UTC-05:00) Cuba
Ordered a SSD and new (to me) video card. Before installing them in the G5 I'd like to run a bench test for comparison. A quick google turned up a few options with Xbench the current choice.

Comments, suggestions?
 
I would also recommend geek bench...and strongly recommend to forget about xbench for GPU-testing.

Cinebench could be added for a "kind of real life"-testing. CPU (single and multiple) as well as GPU.

For a more detailed GPU-testing OpenGL Extensions Viewer should be the best choice.
 
For the disk test you could pick a folder with a bunch of stuff in it (Music folder?) and duplicate it--time how long it takes. For video, openmark or a video game would tell you something about GPU performance. For example, Halo has a benchmark mode.

geekbench is just for CPU, which shouldn't change with your upgrades, but it's not very good. You can run it 5 times and get a bunch of different numbers. Like a thermometer that reads different every time you look at it. nbench is much better for CPU testing imo.

Good luck with the upgrades and let us know how it goes!
 
Here is a another quick CPU benchmark that came with an older version of apple's developer tools. It's calibrated to a G4, but it at least gives repeatable results.
 

Attachments

  • Skidmarks GT.app.zip
    220.5 KB · Views: 208
OpenMark crashes when running the test. A message "format not supported" appears on my screen (27" TV) after starting the test.

Xbench returns different #'s each time it's run.
Can't locate a PPC version of the OpenGL Extensions Viewer.
Going to try geek bench 2.2.7

Again, thanks for all the help and advice - much appreciated!
 
Hack5190 said:
Can't locate a PPC version of the OpenGL Extensions Viewer.
Click to expand...
Oops! Yes, it seems to be gone! And sadly the have no archive site at vr-tech for the older versions.
The latest for PPC i know about is 3.37. As the different versions use to return slightly different results, a frequently used "reference" is/has been 3.0. If you really want it and can not find it, maybe we can find a solution. ;)
 
flyproductions said:
Oops! Yes, it seems to be gone! And sadly the have no archive site at vr-tech for the older versions.
The latest for PPC i know about is 3.37. As the different versions use to return slightly different results, a frequently used "reference" is/has been 3.0. If you really want it and can not find it, maybe we can find a solution. ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the version info - I found it here (mac.brothersoft.com/opengl-extensions-viewer-download.html)
 
Just replaced the Nvidia GeForce FX5200 with a ATI Radeon 9650. Here are the test results from OpenGL Extensions Viewer v3.37

Nvidia GeForce FX5200
1.1 - 962
1.2 - 962
1.3 - 943
1.4 - 648
1.5 - 653
2.0 - 142
2.1 - 77

ATI Radeon 9650
1.1 - 1082
1.2 - 1083
1.3 - 1018
1.4 - 787
1.5 - 787
2.0 - 659
2.1 - 542

ATI Radeon 9650 (overclocked +10% Memory & Processor)
1.1 - 1190
1.2 - 1188
1.3 - 1121
1.4 - 865
1.5 - 866
2.0 - 724
2.1 - 597
 
To estimate the value of the results, it would be nice to know the resolution you used, as this dramatically influences the output. But even without that, the direct comparison with the 5200 impressively shows the advantage of the 9650 over the GeForce at the newer OpenGL Versions.

Anyway, i would strongly recommend, not to overclock the card. As the ATIs are hot runners in general, this particular card is only passively cooled with a very (IMHO too!) small heatsink on it.
 
Hack5190 said:
Here is a screen shot of the ATI 100% results.
Click to expand...
Ooops! 800 x 600 @ 60Hz! This is small...

...so here is what you get out of a 7800GTX at this resolution. o_O ;)

gl_bench.jpg
 
If you intend to upgrade this part, a flashed 7800GS AGP seems to be the best choice for you. And the best among them is the Gainward Bliss. These one comes somehow close to the GTX results. But shouldn't be that easy to get these days...
 
For now the ATI Radeon 9650 is my video upgrade. The G5 is connected to a 27" TV that sit's in my office and at 1280 x 768 60Hz steams training and security information all day. TenFourFox for HTML5, Webkit w/Flash v19.0.0.226 and VLC for local files.

However last week I stopped by the local computer recycler looking for any G5 items and was told they had just scrapped 50 units the previous week :(. We exchanged business cards and now I have a reminder on my calendar to call every Friday. It may take some time but odds are my next video card upgrade will be by luck rather than planned.
 
OWC SSD arrived today and the benchmark results are impressive! Below are the HD test results for the stock and SSD drives . . .

Code: 
Results    51.11   
    System Info       
        Xbench Version        1.3
        System Version        10.5.8 (9L31a)
        Physical RAM        8192 MB
        Model        PowerMac7,2
        Processor        PowerPC 970x2 @ 1.80 GHz
            L1 Cache        64K (instruction), 32K (data)
            L2 Cache        512K @ 1.80 GHz
            Bus Frequency        900 MHz
        Video Card        ATY,RV351
        Drive Type        ST3160811AS ST3160811AS
    Disk Test    51.11   
        Sequential    112.14   
            Uncached Write    114.12    70.07 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    111.34    62.99 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    96.69    28.30 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    131.87    66.28 MB/sec [256K blocks]
        Random    33.10   
            Uncached Write    11.27    1.19 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    72.60    23.24 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    91.05    0.65 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    135.54    25.15 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Code: 
Results    240.22   
    System Info       
        Xbench Version        1.3
        System Version        10.5.8 (9L31a)
        Physical RAM        8192 MB
        Model        PowerMac7,2
        Processor        PowerPC 970x2 @ 1.80 GHz
            L1 Cache        64K (instruction), 32K (data)
            L2 Cache        512K @ 1.80 GHz
            Bus Frequency        900 MHz
        Video Card        ATY,RV351
        Drive Type        OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD
    Disk Test    240.22   
        Sequential    155.27   
            Uncached Write    202.26    124.19 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    196.56    111.21 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    96.41    28.21 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    186.67    93.82 MB/sec [256K blocks]
        Random    530.41   
            Uncached Write    352.36    37.30 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    372.05    119.11 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    2301.07    16.31 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    632.53    117.37 MB/sec [256K blocks]
 
That should breathe new life into your machine! Thanks for sharing your results.
 
Today I picked up a NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra for my G5. Ran OpenGL Extensions Viewer v3.37 test after giving it a cleaning (wow was it dirty). The results are roughly double the Radeon 9650 card it replaced. Here are the results:

Nvidia GeForce 6800
1.1 - 2284
1.2 - 2262
1.3 - 2228
1.4 - 1976
1.5 - 2168
2.0 - 1809
2.1 - 1756

Happy to report that OpenMark now runs and it returned 11751, just slightly above whats listed in the OpenMark results thread.
 
Last edited:
Hack5190 said:
OpenMark crashes when running the test. A message "format not supported" appears on my screen (27" TV) after starting the test.

Xbench returns different #'s each time it's run.
Can't locate a PPC version of the OpenGL Extensions Viewer.
Going to try geek bench 2.2.7

Again, thanks for all the help and advice - much appreciated!
Click to expand...


Here's the only DL link I could find.
http://www.clubic.com/telecharger-fiche79780-opengl-extensions-viewer.html

French site and scroll to the bottom for version 2.32
 
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