suggestions for a fast machine to run StatView 5.0.1

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bengi's picture
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suggestions for a fast machine to run StatView 5.0.1

StatView is a statistical software that only runs on Mac OS 8.6 to 9.2.2. SheepShaver is not a viable solution for a professional use (I have datasets with several thousands of rows). StatView is the perfect stat software for me and I know it so well that I do not feel like learning a new thing such as "R" for recents macOSs. I own several classic Macs and among them the fastest one, according to MacBench, is the PowerMac 7600 upgraded to G4 1000 MHz (PM7600 with Crescendo G4). However in real use I've found that the iBook G3 14" 900 MHz is way faster: time to import a tab delimited text file with approx 70.000 rows was 1 hr for the iBook and more than 4 for the upgraded PowerMac 7600. Similar results for other upgraded Macs, such as the G3 desktop with G4 at 700 MHz, or the B&W with G4 at 450 MHz, all slower than the iBook G3. So now the question, will a G4 tower at 1.25 GHz (the very last revision of the MDD which runs OS9) or a TiBook at 1000 MHz be significantly faster than the iBook G3 at 900 MHz? Of course Altivec is not needed nor makes any difference to StatView.

Tom Owad's picture
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The 7600 has a 40 MHz bus

The 7600 has a 40 MHz bus whereas that iBook has a 100 MHz bus. I'm guessing that's the biggest factor in the speed difference you're seeing, unless the issue is actually loading the file from disk.

Without Altivec, the G3 and G4 are very close in speed. I would expect the 1.25 GHz G4 to be your best bet. 167 MHz bus in that, too.

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another issue

Indeed I need processing power, so the PM G4 1.25 might be the Mac of choice but I am now facing another issue. I have datasets with an average of 70000 (seventy thousands) rows and with the G3 the thing is doable.

Now I am trying to import a CSV dataset with 300000 (three hundred thousands) rows and even reserving to StatView 800 megabytes of RAM the system says "not enough memory".

Since SheepShaver cannot go beyond 1GB and the way it manages memory is not that consistent I tried with a G5 dual processor and Mac OS Tiger with 8 GB RAM. In classic I managed to give to StatView up to 7 GB (i.e. 7 millions kb) but I got the same message of not enough memory.

StatView can in theory manage 2^32 rows, ie 4,294,967,296 rows, but I guess that I am pushing it to its limits. Will keep you posted.

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Since you said StatView is a

Since you said StatView is a OS9 application, it can't benefit from the additional memory capacity of the G5.

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Actually in OS X Tiger it's

Actually in OS X Tiger it's possible to increase the memory allocation of classic applications via the info palette as in Mac OS 9.

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So I installed Statview on a PM G4 dual…

Performance wise it is now ok, but unfortunately SW still stalls when trying to use the powerful "Formula..." tool.

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