Upgrading PowerMac G4 processor, would like input, ideas, thoughts...

I upgraded my sawtooth with a 1.3ghz OWC Mercury upgrade over two years ago. It only took a few minutes to switch things out, and it's run great since. A huge improvement over the stock processor. The transition was seamless, no issues whatsoever.

I had a Sonnet 1GHz card in my Sawtooth G4, and it was a vast improvement over the stock 400.

Beat the pants off a dual-450 Gigabit G4.

Sorry it took so long to reply...

Without trying to make silly comparisons to the newest models available, are you fully pleased with the performance change? As I am sure that there's a major difference in speed, but for your specific needs, do you have complaints? Anything that I should be aware of?

Thanks!!!!!

Do you like the Sonnet brand? If you were to upgrade now, is there a vendor that you would recommend now, or is Sonnet still your choice? What are the "pros and cons", so to speak?

Abd thanks for taking the time to share!

I haven't had any complaints at all... I do lots of video work (final cut pro) and photo work (photoshop CS2). It screams right along... no problems.

Not exactly what you are asking, but i have replaced the 333MHz G3 in my Beige G3 Mini-Tower with a 1GHz G4 Sonnet upgrade. It gives a noticeable improvement in performance, making the machine much snappier. As well, instillation was a breeze, taking under 10 minutes.

They carry their own brand of processor upgrades, and the prices are much better than comparable Sonnets and NewerTech upgrades. I just installed a 1.5GHz processor in a 773MHz QuickSilver and it was dead easy. No drivers to install or anything; just the hardware.

Link

Dumb question I'm sure, but is there a marked speed/performance difference between 1.0 and 1.4 GHZ processor in the G4? Only looking at the dollar and cents and what I'd be getting for the money.

Thanks again!!!

In the six months or so I owned that Mac I had no problems. It wasn't as fast as the dual G5 I use at work, of course, but it ran Garage Band and anything else I threw at it with a comfortable speed.

I don't have any experience outside of that particular Sonnet upgrade, so I can't make any comparisons.

The cost of upgrading the Sawtooth to faster processors starts creeping towards the price of a used Mac Mini, so you might want to keep that in mind when looking beyond the 1 GHz upgrade.

I hadn't really even thought of the price comparison that you made in reference to the Mac Mini... good point. It's not that I'm cheap, but the process of deciding on what to do, my needs versus cost/price never seems to get any easier; want as much bang for the buck as possible. Thus far, I was thinking that I am running two harddrives in the G4 and with the Mini, my options then are perhaps an external drive? Thoughts?

Thoughts on used processors or am I better off just purchasing a new one?

Thanks for the input!!