>>> on 11/16/02 2:41 PM, Michael S. Macdonald at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >>> >>>> Further upgrading to a G4/800 doesn't really make as much sense as biting >>>> the bullet and going to the Apple G4 when you make the jump to OSX. >>>> >>>> If you were running a PowerTowerPro, my advice might be different, only >>>> because the PTP has some expansion features lacking in the PowerCenter and >>>> G4 that offset the slower bus speed. >>> >>> Michael, >>> >>> Please elaborate on this final point. Are you referring simply to the >>> availability of the six PCI slots in the PTP, allowing a wide variety of >>> peripherals (USB cards, firewire cards, etc.) to be installed? Or are there >>> methods for actually overcoming the bus speed issue?
David wrote: >Is the bus speed on a PTP that much better than that of the PC that I >might still be able to upgrade, or even use my present upgrades on a >PTP if I located a PTPro? I know that they're around and are usually >pretty cheap (It's my starving artist syndrome acting up again!) and >I'm really looking for an inexpensive way to get the benefits of an >Altivec system for the Photoshop stuff I do. But I'm also using an old >Nikon LS1000 scanner on a SCSI drive to service what's left of my film shoots. >If there's really no other way to do what I want, I guess my 6 year old >machine will be relegated to the email/internet server for our >house. At least that way I'd still have a reason to peek in here every >once in a while! In fact, the PowerCenter is capable of higher bus speed than the PTP. The bus speed of all PowerComputing machines was variable, and set by the CPU daughtercard. The PowerCenter (PowerCurve, PowerTower, PowerCenterPro) are derivatives of the Apple 7200 'Catalyst' mobo, and are capable of 60 mHz bus speeds. This speed was fully utilized in the PowerTower and PowerCenterPro series with the 'high clock' series 604e cpu's. eg. the 180 mHz 604e cpu used in the PowerTowerPro ran at 51.7 mHz whereas the 180 604e cpu in the PowerTower and PowerCenterPro ran at 60 mHz. The PowerWaves and PowerTowerPro top out at around 51-53 mHz, and used memory interleaving (unavailable in the 'catalyst' based units) to offset the slower bus speed. Some 3rd Party manufacturers had variable speed CPU's available to 'tweak' the most speed from any machine..eg back in 1996 or 1997 PowerLogix sold a �$1000 604e cpu with neato knobs that allowed control of the bus speed, ratio and cpu speed. (recently this type of card was mentioned on the list) Chuck wrote: " Please elaborate on this final point. Are you referring simply to the availability of the six PCI slots in the PTP, allowing a wide variety of peripherals (USB cards, firewire cards, etc.) to be installed? Or are there methods for actually overcoming the bus speed issue? " I refer to both the 6 PCI slots, the 8 ram slots and the 7 device slots with high output power supply found in the PTP. With the demise of the 'Tsunami' motherboard after the Apple 9600 was replaced by the newer G3 towers 'Yikes' and'Sawtooth' mobo's, the maximum # of PCI slots is now 3. The 6 PCI slots allow addition of USB cards, fast SCSI cards, 2 or more monitor cards, Firewire cards, IDE device cards, Pentium computer cards, video cards, voodoo cards...in other words a huge selection of cards to keep the PTP operating at a decent level of usefulness for a few more years at least. The 8 ram slots in the PW and PTP allow the addition or retention of smaller dimm modules (eg. 16 mb) than may be worthwhile in the 4 slot 'catalyst' boards, as ram prices drop. Eg. With 4 slots and cheap ram, 4 x 64 mb dimms may relegate existing 16 mb or 32 mb modules to your desk drawer. While I have a lot of respect for my PowerCenterPro, it was a bit of a cram when I put added my CD writer, Syquest 135 removable and 2nd HD. My PTP otoh, had room for all that and more without being 'crammed' to the gills. Consider that the PTP was a $5000 machine when it first debuted v the $2500 cost of the PowerCenter. Nowadays, there is at most a $100 difference between the two, and so it only makes sense to get a PTP and transfer over any of the devices or components (PCI cards, ram, HD's) to get some head room while making use of the abundance of peripherals coming available as people upgrade to the newest computers and dump their old stuff cheap. Unless your computer is for playing the latest games or is critical to your workplace insofar as extracting the absolute fastest speed from any operation, there is plenty of life left in the PowerComputing products. There is no method I know of for expanding, or increasing. the bus speed af any machine beyond it's originally rated top speed...again... � 60 mHz for 'Catalyst' based mobo's and � 53 mHz on 'Tsunami' based mobo's. Cheers...Michael -- Power Computing is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 123Inkjets.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/123inkjets.html> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Power Computing list info: <http://lowendmac.com/power/list.html> --> 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]> List archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powercomputing%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
