On Thursday, January 30, 2003 1:04 PM, Robyn Lyons opined: <SNIP> > Some apps do require a G3, speed issues mostly. A G3 really isn't very different from a 603, IIRC the core of the G3 is heavily based on the 603 chip. A 604 is a glorified G3 with better floating point and the AltiVec extensions. A G4 is clock for clock the same speed as a G3, unless you run AltiVec apps, then it is waaaayyy ahead.
<SNIP> > My S900 likes a ritual sacrifice of a stuffed animal once every moon. It stays really happy if we dance around a fire in loincloths till two in morning as well. <SNIP> Watch out for your watch. Feel the evil.......... -Robyn Hi Robyn, I assume you meant that a 604 is a glorified 603. However, that isn't really the case. The architecture is somewhat different. The 603 was designed for low power applications while the 604 was designed for performance and not efficiency of power utilization. By extension the G3 is roughly based on the 603 and the G4 on the 604. AltiVec is a Motorola instruction set that IBM did not embrace, probably for good reason. BTAIM, the G4 is a more robust processor than a G3. That Macs before OS X generally did not take advantage of the difference is not the fault of the chip. The next generation IBM processor will support AltiVec and even better MP support at the die level. I do agree that the common wisdom is that for applications (MacOS 9) that don't use AltiVec, you don't lose anything by utilizing a G3. Jaguar changes that (On Apple Iron, not as significantly on old hardware like our S900s.), particularly with the multi-processor Desktop Mac line. I, like Howie, am waiting for the dance video. -- SuperMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | Service & Replacement Parts [EMAIL PROTECTED] | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> SuperMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/supermacs/list.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/supermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
