on 03/09/2001 21:00, (G-List) at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> machines and have a better MoBo and cases. If you want to go all out for
> a power machine you could get an AGP Sawtooth 450 refurb, which would be
> over $1500 (compared to $800-1000 for a good Yos.), you could, but
> before you do ask yourself (long and hard) 'Why do I want AltiVec
> acceleration and do I need it?' and 'Is it worth the extra cash?'
Excellent advice re. the Yosemite, which is a superb machine (esp. the Rev.2
logic board). I'd only add that your hypothetical refurb/used prices may be
a bit off for the Sawtooth, though obviously everyone's mileage may vary re.
what deals you can find. Consider that the brand new G4/733 has a list price
of $1699, IIRC, though most resellers are offering nice add-ons and special
deals (even here in overpriced Italy, where the 733 and 17" Cinema Display
and extra RAM is selling for around $2650, plus tax, and depending on the
current exchange rate). The new 733 may indeed be "crippled", as they say,
due to the lack of L2 cache (or was that L3?), but I'd bet it's still faster
than a G4/450 Sawtooth - to say nothing of the fact that it's new. And can
anyone add details on its specs? What video card does it ship with? Do you
have the option to get it with a Radeon card? And being new - with the
faster system bus, extra PCI slot, and other various tweaks, IIRC - it would
also be eminently upgradeable. In short, if you do need a G4 for Altivec
apps, you might want to look into a new 733; and given its price point, the
older used G4's must surely being coming down fast in price (i.e., a LOT
less than $1500 for a G4/450). We may be approaching the point where prices
on new Macs pushes down into the area formerly occupied by used G4's (or
even G3's), making it a joy to buy new, though a headache for anyone trying
to sell his "old" Mac (though I may have to go ahead and do it, then put the
cash in the bank and pile up the interest ;-) until next year, when some
amazing new G4 or G5 and Cinema Display will force themselves upon me...)
Chris H
P.S. Re. G4 upgrades, did anyone get one of the $269 G4/450 Powerlogix cards
from Smalldog recently? I see they've run out of them (@#*!). They've
received very good reports in general at www.xlr8yourmac.com (Upgrades
Database). I'm disappointed, to say the least, that I couldn't get an order
thru in time (on holiday, and they wouldn't hold the order, as I'd asked, to
make sure I'd be at home when it arrived). Anyone got an alternative source
for the cards at similar prices?
P.P.S. For anyone interested, user feedback at xlr8yourmac on the OWC
processor upgrades has been pretty good; the processors seem to be more
overclockable than other brands, so I've been thinking of getting the G4/400
Zif at $249 - even OWC themselves say it's stable at 450 on B&W and 466 on
Beige G3's, while the G4/500 Zifs have a lot less leeway on overclocking.
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