Originally posted by barkmonster
If you read the specs on the motorola site you'll see that the G4, even the latest Apollo chip only has a 133Mhz FSB (front side bus), the fsb determines the type of RAM the CPU can use, DDR is 266Mhz so it won't work (please someone who understands this better, correct me if I'm wrong).
now when you concider that the largest cache on the G4 chips hasn't gone any higher than 250Mhz ever (the 533Mhz G4 is an exception but lets ignore that, it was mid range not high end). DDR ram could be used instead of the optional L3 cache, it'd save apple production costs for not having to add the extra cost of the cache and we'd all be happy.
look at the largest cache on the high end G4s since the G4's introduction:
500Mhz G4, 1Mb Cache at 250Mhz (2:1 ratio)
733Mhz G4, 1Mb Cache at 244Mhz (3:1 ratio)
1Ghz G4, 2Mb Cache at 250Mhz (4:1 ratio)
If apple get rid of the Level 3 cache and motorola increase the Level 2 cache to 512K and add 266Mhz DDR ram support, the G4s will scream compared to current models even if the clock speeds only increase to a maximum of 1.2Ghz on the high end and 1Ghz on the entry level by summer.
Just look how lame a G4 without the 2Mb cache compares to one with the cache and you'll see how the larger cache is just as much of a bottleneck as the slow memory. I use my mac for audio and unless I can get a good deal on the mid range mac near the end of the year, I'm gonna have to look at what End Of Life deals are around at the time and try and get the current 933Mhz model just so I know it performs well enough for my needs while remaining cheap enough for me to afford one.
