Purchasing an older G4: single vs. dual

[southtexas361]

I've been looking at purchasing an older G4. I've given myself a budget of about $100 give or take some. MDD is out of the question for this price but from what I've seen, but a Mystic, Digital Audio, or Quicksilver are in this price range, depending on the seller.

I've seen a few dual processor Mystic machines in my price range at 450-500 Mhz. I've also seen some Digital Audio and Quicksilver machines at around ~733Mhz going for similar prices. Which is the better buy here ?

 

[kellen]

The dual processor. I asked this as I had the same choice, someone linked to the results from some test and the dual 450 outdid the 700.

Also the dual 450 will take up to 2Gb of ram, while the quicksilvers are limited to 1.5 if I recall.

I am selling my dual 450.

 

[CubeHacker]

If you can find one, a Dual 533 would be decent. I wouldn't go lower than that. But a dual 800mhz would be optimal.

 

[kellen]

I just picked up a dual 1ghz for 50 bucks. Loaded with 2HD's and 2GB of ram.

Great shape, even included the receipt and all restore discs.

To my surprise I booted it up. Tiger OS X install disc inside.

 

[southtexas361]

So I should just skip the Mystic all together get a Digital Audio or Quicksilver, and it should definitely be dual processor ? The dual processor machines seem to be more rare but they do pop up every now and then.

 

[Hrududu]

There really isn't much difference between the Digital Audio and the Quicksilver aside from the faster processors and case. The system bus, RAM speed, and number of slots is the same on both machines. If the price difference is a lot, I'd just shoot for the DA if they run cheaper just because they look older. Of coarse the Gigabit Ethernet holds more RAM, but has a slower bus speed as well as everything else. I'd say shoot for the DA, but don't hold back on a QS if the price is right.

 

[AlexMaximus]

The Used Upgrade Route...

I've been looking at purchasing an older G4. I've given myself a budget of about $100 give or take some. MDD is out of the question for this price but from what I've seen, but a Mystic, Digital Audio, or Quicksilver are in this price range, depending on the seller.

I've seen a few dual processor Mystic machines in my price range at 450-500 Mhz. I've also seen some Digital Audio and Quicksilver machines at around ~733Mhz going for similar prices. Which is the better buy here ?

If you are lucky, you can find a Digital Audio machine with CPU upgrade in it already. A view month ago I got an old G4 with a 1,2 Gig Sonnet card and maxed out Ram for 122 for my dad. Perfect machine that runs Tiger really fast. Look out for those machines.
If you have more time, you can get an old G4 400 MHz just for a view bucks and go for a used CPU upgrade. That'll work as well....

In any way, its a solid machine I am very happy with!!

 

[dmw007]

Go for a dual G4 over a single G4. The dual G4 should be a good deal snappier performance wise.

 

[southtexas361]

Thanks everyone ! I will hold out for a dual processor machine.

One last question. What is a 17" Studio LCD worth used if I run across one ? I know I can get a nice 19" widescreen brand new for $129, sometimes cheaper when on sale.