On Friday, February 7, 2003, at 11:33 AM, George H-S wrote:
> My computer is used mainly for web browsing, email, word processing and
> digital photography
My exact scenaro. In addition , I use Apple Works (for data base) ,
Quicken for budgets, Photoshop Elements 2 for processing pix from my
digital camera ( Minolta Dimage 3.1 pixels) via iPhoto downloads.
I do NOT do "games". I do not need video "speed".
I bought the Radion 7000 only for its capability to drive two monitors.
This freed up a PCI slot for other things
BTW. The Radion 7000 is configured for DVD playback
> How much trouble did you have setting it
None at all. I upgraded from a power mac 7600 ( and from a performa
6300 ,and from a SEll) and have been working macs since 1986, Been thru
it all!
The main reason is that I NEVER buy an upgrade component until I see
two independent reviews from actual users with the same OS and
hardware. I go to XLR8yrmac , MacWorld and MacHints forums; and best of
all , post for recommendations from guys on this list. As a result, all
my hardware upgrades were plug-n-play. Even ignored the CUDA reset
after the ZIF upgrade !!!
> and how has it made a difference in perceived performance?
Upgrading the CPU from the stock G3 350Mhz/512MB to the G4 500Mhz/1MB
really speeded up working with Photoshop Elements and the IE5 browser.
I belive the increase in Backside cache is the big driver
I can not say if there is a difference between G3 & G4 upgrade for my
use scenario.
I went for the G4 since it was only $50 more than the G3
First of all, I decided that this B&W is it.
I see no need to pay out big bucks for a new G4 for what I do! NO
games , video processing or large batch data base processing stuff.
I do not need a Mercedes to drive to the supermarket. My Mercury wagon
does the same job at half the price.
But I do agree, no "who is that" heads turn when I drive down the road
; even the dogs ignore me.
I personally apply this same "be the first on the block logic" to
upgrading to the new Apple G4 stuff.
My opinion only
So here was my order of importance for upgrading my stock B&W V1 MOBO
1.Maxed out the RAM to 1024 MB. You never can have enough RAM in a Mac,
especially with OSX & graphics
2. CPU ZIFfrom G3 350/512MB Back Side Cache to G4 500/1MB. Max it
out-get the feel of having a "cheap" G4.
2a. Changed the heat sink to the larger V2 version, Added a fan on
top, blowing upwards into the main fan. CPU now runs between 35C to 40C
with a 21C ambient. Before, it was running 45C to 50C!
3. Radion 7000
3a For two monitor operation
4. IDE Controller ; PCI SIG Ultra ATA 133/100 . Capable of driving two
each Master-Slave sets of hard drives; for future expansion.
4a. Connected my IBM 40GB GXP to the SIG. Use as a single
partitioned , primary boot up drive . I do NOT use classic. OS9.2 is a
distant memory! Upgraded ( lots of $ involved here) all my Application
software to be OSX compatible.
4b. Kept the stock , 5400 RPM,12GB HD connected to the MOBO and
use it as my internal, bootable , just-in-case, backup volume.
5. PCI Adaptec 4300 FW Driver. The built-in FW module is a Apple "dog".
I could not backup large files using the external OWC Oxford 911 FW
enclosure -would always hang up and corrupt and had to reformat the
HD. Could never recover the data with DiskWarrior. Many other posts
with similar FW problems on the B&W . This PCI card has solved the
problem.
Also drives my external, LaCie FW Burner w/o problems-no coasters(so
far)
Thats it
BTW. Get upgraded to the Safari browser as soon as you can. It blows
away IE5.2. It would appear that Apple has finally come to realize what
Microsoft figured out a long time ago. The fastest web browser is one
that is configured into the operating system and not configured as a
third party application
I will bet that with future OSX upgrades, Safari will be 100% p/o the
operating system.
As a test. I have a second Windows 98 ,HP Vectra / 250MZ CPU machine /
IE5. (which I never use-was for my wife , who refuses to use
it-computers are not nor ever will be , her cup of tea-prefers to use
the telephone instead of e-mail and USPS mail for pictures)
Compared to the 500MHz B&W / OSX /IE5.2, its lightning fast-switching
between web sites and links with the blink of an eye, using identical
sites at the same time of day, thru my cable modem ISP ( Comcast.net)
But now with Safari, there is essentially no difference in browser
speed between the two machines
Apple has finally come thru for web surfing nuts-in my case, 90% of my
on-line time.
Albert
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