so i have this DA machine 533. and i see all these wonderful upgrades. but was wondering if it is really worth it? what i want is the 1.25 or 1.4 g4 up grade cards. but at 400 to 500 dollars should i not just put that into a save pile and wait for a g5? i guess parts of me also doesnot want to get rid of my G4 machine.
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worth upgrading?
- Thread starter bokdol
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What do you need to do with the computer. That should tell you if you have enough power.
Just because you can upgrade doesn't mean you should upgrade.
Just because you can upgrade doesn't mean you should upgrade.
I went from a 733 to a 1.4 and saw a lot more performance, if you want to get another 2 years out of your machine give it a 1.4( you can buy mine if you want). you will still have a machine that will outperform a new powermac G4 or any new Imac or powerbook. I bought mine 7 months ago as a way to get more out of my computer without jumping on the rev A g5 bandwagon. Reason i might sell it it( owc 1.4) in case you are wondering my wife is getting me a new G5 when Iam ready, some time this year i guess.
well i do a lot of photo shop work.... i am playing with some 3d but most of my focus is photo shop. i dont think a graphics card up date is needed. i have a 7000 series ati card. 2 hard drives and about 700 meg's of ram. the only thing i was wondering if i should put more money into the machine or not?
if it's a owc 1.4 and not clocked up?.... how much do you want it for?
if it's a owc 1.4 and not clocked up?.... how much do you want it for?
I would say upgrade and a better video card and 256 more memory and he will add 2-3 years to the machine for 1/3 the cost of a lowest G5. Get a 1.25 or better G4, geforce4mx($70) or ati9000($160) and 256 ram($80) for under $600 he can be rocking, or if he went with another machine he is looking at $1799 new for a 1.6 G5. A 1.4 G4 isnt going to be much slower from the benches i have seen. so if you want to keep it put another $600 bucks in it and you will be happy. If you want a G5 i wouldnt be looking at a single G5 machine i would be looking at one of the duals. The dual G5s are real performers the singles are not that terrific from the benches i have seen.
Actually I've seen tests that show upgrading a DA is worth it. In my case dropping a Sonnet 1GHz upgrade actually makes the machine FASTER then a 1GHz MDD. Why? The upgrades come with 2MB DDR L3 Cache and Apple shipped the MDD with 1MB no DDR cache. Also it's interesting that the G4 chip can only communicate at about 1.2 GB/sec. This makes the DDR ram in the MDD machines useless because DDR runs at about 2GB data transfer. Which the chip can't do. This is why Apple went to IBM for the G5 chip because Motorola was dropping the ball on their part. I say go for it. I'm upgrading my DA. I don't do enough to need a G5 yet.
Later,
A.J.
Later,
A.J.
Oh yeah it's also worth upgrading your hard drive. You may not need the space but the new desktop drives are getting faster. I put a Hitachi in my DA and WOW the difference is amasimg. Desktop drives use built in algorithims to predict what needs to be loaded so it dumps it to the drives cache. The is BAD for server setups but for up desktop users it makes all the difference. The Hitachi is amasingly fast. Model: HDS722580VLAT20
Currently the top desktop drive on storage review.
http://www.storagereview.com
Don't overlook that old drive.
A.J.
Currently the top desktop drive on storage review.
http://www.storagereview.com
Don't overlook that old drive.
A.J.
If you work with a lot of layers or large high res images then you're computer is probably feeling rather slow. Workable, but slow.
My opinion is that if you use your computer to make a living you should either upgrade it or buy a new one because time = money. If you're a hobbiest then just deal with the slow speed. The added time it takes to do a Gaussian Blur on your machine isn't going to hurt you. You can start saving for a new Mac but you don't need one today.
That card is ~4 years old. Save your dollers and buy a PM G5. use this as a server or something. However don't waste your money upgrading it.
what you gotta look at is the market value of your current machine, and then just do the math to see if its worth the upgrade.
checking 'completed' auctions on ebay for singla processor 533mhz DA's... average price is about $650US add the $500 to make it a 1.4ghz G4 and that puts you still $200 less than the current G4 1.25ghz available at the apple.com store.
pretty damn good if you ask me.
faster and cheaper, how about that?
also consider if you were to upgrade to a G5 you would be getting a mere $650 for your DA to put towards the G5... and as many people already stated, for the price, might as well get a dual processor.
apple.com currently has a 1.8ghz dual G5 with all the bells and whistles refurbished for $1999... so $1350 for damn near top of the line? or $500 for something that will most likely get the job done for years to come anyway?
i say upgrade the DA G4 and spend the rest on booze and women.
checking 'completed' auctions on ebay for singla processor 533mhz DA's... average price is about $650US add the $500 to make it a 1.4ghz G4 and that puts you still $200 less than the current G4 1.25ghz available at the apple.com store.
pretty damn good if you ask me.
faster and cheaper, how about that?
also consider if you were to upgrade to a G5 you would be getting a mere $650 for your DA to put towards the G5... and as many people already stated, for the price, might as well get a dual processor.
apple.com currently has a 1.8ghz dual G5 with all the bells and whistles refurbished for $1999... so $1350 for damn near top of the line? or $500 for something that will most likely get the job done for years to come anyway?
i say upgrade the DA G4 and spend the rest on booze and women.
The video card is not a factor in anything but gaming. In Photoshop, Safari, Mail, iTunes, Sherlock, Dreamweaver, DVD Player, etc the video card won't make a difference. That's all the reason I think he needs not to upgrade that.
waste your money? upgrades are far from a waste of money. its like having a new system yet saving 1000 or more over a new one so how is that a waste?
also, in your post you were responding about the radeon 7000 being 4 years old? I bought mine new at a store less than a year ago. ati still makes them.
a lot of the people that come here seem to bash upgrading. I guess you guys have the money to back up your power hungry needs. I have upgraded pretty much everything that can be upgraded in my system and saved loads over a new system. far from a waste. even a used G4 tower is over 1000.
just remember that for many people an upgrade is far more practical so don't just try and steer people away from it because thats not good advice. besides, most people with new systems have a lot more system than they really need and could have saved a lot.
how much speed do you guys need? seriously...
I'm going to respond because I usually lean toward the anti-upgrade side. "How much speed do you need?" is the perfect question to ask. Most people I see asking about processor upgrades don't need the speed. They realize one day that their Mac is 3 years old and is suddenly old. They ignore the fact that they only use it to check email and surf the web. In that case, spending a lot of money to upgrade the processor makes no sense at all because you don't need very much power to do that.
Everybody needs money. If you need the speed more than you need the money then go for it. If you need the money but opt for the speed "just because" then you have bigger problems than a slow computer.
thanks for everybodys advice..( although i like this advice the best...)
i think i will upgrade. as i dont need a g5. and i love my DA machine. i would rather not go through the time it would take to back everything up and then sell my machine then buy a new one. if i upgrade i will still be up till the up grade comes in. but both arguments have been very helpfull. but also want to keep my DA machine.
thanks again for all your help......
I upgraded mine because I needed more speed but not a whole lot more and also because I had some money to invest, not a lot or none, but some... get it?
my tower is at least 50-60% faster now. before all my upgrades to it my xbench scores were around 30-32 and now they are pushing 55-56. still not a smoking fast system by any means but fast enough to run osx quite snappy to where it almost feels like 9 did and photoshop runs FAR better now than it did on the G3/350.