>I'm not going to buy a Sonnet card, but if I had one and it was doing the >job, I wouldn't pull out any of my nose hairs over the rating on the label. >And I would hope that Sonnet is batch testing their overclocked chips >themselves, and maybe giving the customer a break either in pricing or >service. I haven't heard anything bad about Sonnet failing to honor their >warranty. Is there anything bad to hear?
I guess people's bag with Sonnet is that they were less-than-honest, and therefore it is more a matter of principle than anything else. I haven't heard any substantial complaints about any of the upgrade brands except for NewerTECH, and even those complaints were sometimes sketchy. I think the proper way to handle buying a G3/G4 upgrade is to consider several things. First, if the machine is just a secondary machine or if you have another production-level machine around just-in-case, then your best bet is probably to get the cheapest upgrade you can find at the level of speed you desire. Currently, I believe Powerlogix has the corner on the Mhz-per-dollar battle. If the machine is your primary machine, taking chances may be too risky. In that case, I don't think you can go wrong with XLR8. They cost a little more, but I have yet to hear a single complaint about their engineering. They also have great warranties and technical support. The second thing to consider is whether or not this will be most likely the last CPU upgrade for your machine. If you anticipate buying new PowerMacs (or new-er PowerMacs) in the next year or so, then again you should probably go for the bargain chips. If there is a significant chance you will upgrade again, once again I think XLR8 can't be beat. The Carrier ZIF provides you with plenty of future upgrade options, particularly if you plan on upgrading more than one machine. The best thing about the Carrier ZIF is that it accepts hand-me-downs from newer PowerMacs that you or your family/friends may be upgrading. I am still sitting the fence on which one to buy for my 7500. The $95 Powerlogix 400Mhz with 512 cache is awfully tempting, and would still provide a very significant speed jump to my 604e 200Mhz with no cache. Nevertheless, several of my friends have indicated that they might give me (for free) their old G4 processor(s) when they upgrade their 400/450 Mhz G4 towers. For that reason, I am also strongly considering the 400Mhz/1MB Carrier Zif for almost twice more than the Powerlogix. I want to upgrade my 4400 too if it can be done cheaply enough, since the computer has no value to anyone. Sonnet is the only option for that. -- --Chris PM 7500/604e 200Mhz 4 gig SCSI 256 megs OS 8.6 (This machine rocks!) -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
