What is a "Sonnet Crescendo?"

[poiihy]

I've seen lots of these "Sonnet Crescendo" PCI-like cards for PPC Macs out there but I cannot find anything about them. Are these like CPU upgrade cards that work like GPU PCI cards?

 

[128keaton]

I've seen lots of these "Sonnet Crescendo" PCI-like cards for PPC Macs out there but I cannot find anything about them. Are these like CPU upgrade cards that work like GPU PCI cards?

I think its a co processor.

 

[Intell]

They are CPU upgrades for PCI PowerMacs. They often appear on eBay in both G3 and G4 versions. The fastest one is a 1Ghz G4.

 

[128keaton]

They are CPU upgrades for PCI PowerMacs. They often appear on eBay in both G3 and G4 versions. The fastest one is a 1Ghz G4.

Really? Wow. Just for kicks, could I slide it in a G5? What would happen?

 

[Intell]

It won't fit in a G5. They don't have the proper CPU socket for that upgrade card.

 

[poiihy]

They are CPU upgrades for PCI PowerMacs. They often appear on eBay in both G3 and G4 versions. The fastest one is a 1Ghz G4.

So it completely replaces the built-in processor? And it requires a special socket you say?
Why would you need to put in one of these when you can replace the on-board processor itself?

 

[weckart]

Something like this would be as fast as G4 upgrades go

 

[poiihy]

What's the difference between a Sonnet Crescendo and a Sonnet Encore? Are there other kinds too?

 

[weckart]

What's the difference between a Sonnet Crescendo and a Sonnet Encore? Are there other kinds too?

Different daughterboards to fit in different Macs.

 

[catzilla]

I have a G3 upgrade that fits into the L2 cache slot of a Supermac C600. They made a ton of different models, sadly most probably went to the trash bin with their host computers.

 

[Intell]

Sonnet Crescendo's completely replace the PowerPC 603/604 found in PCI PowerMacs. They are similar to the ZIF CPUs and socketed G3/G4 found in later PowerMacs. Think of it like this: the Sonnet Crescendo is like a Pentium II. The ZIF based G3 and early G4 are like the Pentium I, and the socketed later G4 and G5 would be like a Pentium III. Not in terms of speed and technology, but in terms of how they connected to the board. Just as with Intell CPUs were you could get an adapter board to put a Pentium 3 into a Pentium 2 board, you can get an adapter board to fit a later ZIF based CPU into a PCI PowerMac's 603/604 CPU slot.

 

[bunnspecial]

Sonnet Crescendo's completely replace the PowerPC 603/604 found in PCI PowerMacs. They are similar to the ZIF CPUs and socketed G3/G4 found in later PowerMacs. Think of it like this: the Sonnet Crescendo is like a Pentium II. The ZIF based G3 and early G4 are like the Pentium I, and the socketed later G4 and G5 would be like a Pentium III. Not in terms of speed and technology, but in terms of how they connected to the board. Just as with Intell CPUs were you could get an adapter board to put a Pentium 3 into a Pentium 2 board, you can get an adapter board to fit a later ZIF based CPU into a PCI PowerMac's 603/604 CPU slot.

Not to sidetrack too much, but some PIII Xeons were on a card like the PIIs.

I have a late 90s tower with a pair of 450mhz PIIIs in this configuration. I also have another(matched) pair of identically specced PIIIs that came out of a virtually identical computer.

 

[Intell]

Xeons are not standard Pentium CPUs. They're server grade CPUs. Thus, they do not fit into the analogy I provided.

 

[cocacolakid]

Wasn't there one other company that made G4 upgrade CPU's like that? Or maybe I'm just mixing up the different Sonnet lines.

 

[Intell]

There were a few companies that made PCI PowerMac CPU upgrades. Some of them included: Daystar, Powerlogix, Metabox, Newer Technology, Phase 5, and XLR8.

 

[cocacolakid]

There were a few companies that made PCI PowerMac CPU upgrades. Some of them included: Daystar, Powerlogix, Metabox, Newer Technology, Phase 5, and XLR8.

Thanks. Newer Technology and XLR8 sound familiar. I think XLR8 still has a website.

I'm pretty sure I saw some of those other brands pop up on eBay occasionally. I had toyed with the idea of upgrading my G4 GE but never did. It has Tiger on it and whatever brand I was looking at a few years ago, probably Sonnet, required a bios update and that had to be done in OS 9 if I recall. My brain is foggier than ever.

 

[Intell]

Note that I only listed companies that made CPU upgrades for PCI PowerMacs. That does not mean that they made upgrades for ZIF and newer PowerMacs such as the Gigabit Ethernet PowerMac G4. Some of the later CPUs such as the G4 7447 and 7448 do need a firmware update in order to boot.

 

[cocacolakid]

Note that I only listed companies that made CPU upgrades for PCI PowerMacs. That does not mean that they made upgrades for ZIF and newer PowerMacs such as the Gigabit Ethernet PowerMac G4. Some of the later CPUs such as the G4 7447 and 7448 do need a firmware update in order to boot.

Yeah, it was quite a few years ago I was looking at upgrading it. And as I said, my mind is foggy, both from just old age and from taking care of my Dad who has dementia. Too much going on in my head these days to remember much accurately anymore.

 

[weckart]

Thanks. Newer Technology and XLR8 sound familiar. I think XLR8 still has a website.

Daystar took over XLR8 in 2003 and subsumed the name for its cpu upgrades. Here's an article for one it produced for the Alu Powerbook G4. Probably not one for keeping on your lap in use.

http://www.macworld.com/article/1049409/daystar.html

Can't remember seeing one of these pitch up on eBay but presumably they do from time to time in the US.

 

[catzilla]

Daystar took over XLR8 in 2003 and subsumed the name for its cpu upgrades. Here's an article for one it produced for the Alu Powerbook G4. Probably not one for keeping on your lap in use.

http://www.macworld.com/article/1049409/daystar.html

Can't remember seeing one of these pitch up on eBay but presumably they do from time to time in the US.

Very cool, I never knew about that. Thanks for the info.