Possibility of 970 upgrade to MDD?

[Panther]

I was wondering how likely it is that you could get a 970 proc upgrade board for an existing G4-based PowerMac along the lines of the PowerLogix modules you can get today...

I thought I read somewhere that the 970 was 64 bit... is that right? Would that make it an impossibility, or are the proc modules kind of self contained (where you could get the computing power, but have it appear 32 bit as far as the mboard was concerned)

Sorry if this is a real newb sounding question... I'm a software guy, not a hardware guy, and I'm a bit worried that my $3000 investment is going to be oh so obsolete in a couple of months.

As a follow up question, if such as 970 module was possible, would it likely need more power than the G4? The reason I ask is because I remember reading that the new quieter power supplies had a lower power rating, and wondered if that might leave me with not enough juice to drive the 970 module.
________
P4|\|7h3r

 

[RBMaraman]

If I had to give you an answer now, I'd say that upgrading exsiting G4's to the 970 will be impossible.

Most likely, the 970 is going to involve a complete change in the structure of Apple's current models. Most people seem to believe that the 970's structures are going to be radically different, meaning that upgrades will be near impossible.

970 upgrade cards could happen, but I highly doubt they will. Maybe after the 970 Apple's have been out for 1.5 to 2 years. You never know. I tend to believe upgrade cards for the 970 will not happen.

 

[Panther]

I guess if nothing else, the OS might make certain assumptions about what other hardware was in place at the point if found it was running on a 970... something you can do when you own the hw and the OS

 

[caveman_uk]

Re: Possibility of 970 upgrade to MDD?

Originally posted by Panther

Sorry if this is a real newb sounding question... I'm a software guy, not a hardware guy, and I'm a bit worried that my $3000 investment is going to be oh so obsolete in a couple of months.

You could view it another way. It may not be the latest and greatest but at least the G4 MDD stuff is stable and well debugged by now. The 970 stuff will be brand-new, most-likely expensive and not as well debugged.