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will a faster processor boost internet speed on my G4??

P

parmaniac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 24, 2009
6
0
hey y'all. New to the Mac world here,and really diggin my G4,which I got for free.But I need help with a frustrating situation. Here's the specs: Powermac Gigabit Ethernet dual 500 mHz G4,40 GB primary and 160 GB slave HDs,2 GB RAM,and a fresh install of Tiger with almost nothing downloaded,basically,a brand new machine. The issue: both firefox and Safari are sludgy on internet speed--watching Youtube videos,using Facebook,etc. It's not an ish with my router or modem--my older PC's blaze. it's really frustrating,and I've maxed out the RAM,so I want to know if an upgrade to a 1.8 or 2.0 processor will alleviate this problem once and for all,or if I have a boat anchor. Honestly,I don't do hardcore computing,just burn DVDs,a little photoshop,and play on the internet. There's no reason it should be so damn sluggish watchibng streaming video or simply writing on someone's 'wall' on Facebook. PLEASE ADVISE. much appreesh.
tony
clevoripper@yahoo.com
 
just want web pages such as Youtube,etc to load as fast as they do on my PC. Trying to determine whether I should get a video card or processor upgrade...thanks!
 
parmaniac said:
just want web pages such as Youtube,etc to load as fast as they do on my PC. Trying to determine whether I should get a video card or processor upgrade...thanks!
Click to expand...

Its 100% your CPU which is holding you back. Flash video's (and flash in general) is very CPU intensive. While a 2.0ghz upgrade will certainly allow you to view webpages smoothly, its questionable whether its worth the price of the upgrade in such an old machine. You might be better off saving your cash and getting a mini instead which will easily be 4x faster than even the 2.0ghz G4 upgrade.
 
CubeHacker said:
Its 100% your CPU which is holding you back. Flash video's (and flash in general) is very CPU intensive. While a 2.0ghz upgrade will certainly allow you to view webpages smoothly, its questionable whether its worth the price of the upgrade in such an old machine. You might be better off saving your cash and getting a mini instead which will easily be 4x faster than even the 2.0ghz G4 upgrade.
Click to expand...

Correct. Even modern Macs have trouble with flash videos, so it may not be worth the upgrade if that's your intended use for the machine.

However, if flash isn't really that important, the upgrade should be a nice speed boost. :)
 
How much more do you plan to spend?

When comparing an expensive upgrade to this machine to that of a refurb Mini between $425-475 or a current generation machine for slightly more -- upgrading that machine for the same price won't really increase the speed of internet switching as much as switching to Intel does.
 
god d@#$ it. I was hoping to dump a couple hundy into it and have a sweet mac for the first time in my life but i can see it's turning into a High Mass. Are those minis upgradable on memory and hard drives? can I run windows on those?
and hey,thanks for your advice.
 
parmaniac said:
god d@#$ it. I was hoping to dump a couple hundy into it and have a sweet mac for the first time in my life but i can see it's turning into a High Mass. Are those minis upgradable on memory and hard drives? can I run windows on those?
and hey,thanks for your advice.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes and yes. The mini is a great machine. :) Didn't have a problem with mine the whole time I had it.
 
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