Upgrading a QS DP 800 to a SP 1.4????

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hello fellow mac lovers and users , i would be grateful if anybody could offer their opinion if its a "good move" to replace my DP800 cpu with a new Giga design / or OWC Mercury Extreme 1.4gHz G4 single proc.



Currently my machine is set up with the following specs.



DP800 G4

1.5Gigs of RAM

2x80 Gig Seagate Barracuda IV HDs(1st HD OS10.2.6 ..2nd HD OS 9.2.2 )

External 120Gig LaCie FW HD (OS 9.2.2 )

Mac Edition ATI Radeon 8500 vido card with 64MB VRAM.

17" Apple LCD.





I intend to get a G5 in about 18-24 months time..but i am going to keep my G4 as there is software ( games ) that i want to hold onto as they do not play in OSX due to some RAVE APIs being missing / broken for them ( Games are Combat Mission )



I am in OS 9 most of the time and afaik i dont get any great benifit from the second cpu whne using PS5 tomake new textures for the game or while playing it.



OWC are offering a $250 rebate against a DP800 G4 which will ease the pain of the $580-599 cost of the upgrade cards.



Advice or opinions would be gratefully accepted



Best



Måkor

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    Four words:



    Definitely NOT worth it
  • Reply 2 of 4
    709709 Posts: 2,016member
    If you're just running OS9, I'll wager that the additional $350 would be a good (ie:faster) move. BUT, imho not a smart one.



    My humble advice for your hard earned cash would be to upgrade to PS7 and be done with it for now. In 18-24 time PS 9 will already be old hat, and you'll see no difference in the resale of a stock DP800 vs a 1.4 SP upgrade. Software investments are good. Hardware investments are sketchy right now.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    drboardrboar Posts: 477member
    In my experience a 30-50% is just notisable a 100% speed gain is useful and way more than that is needed for a true leap.

    A 1.2 GHz G4 will be a bit faster than your 800 but if you feel that the 800 is to slow then the 1200 is not that far ahead either. A 1.6 to 2.0 G4 would be better (if they were aviable)



    I am thinking about a 1.2 GHz upgrade myself but then I am at 400 MHz not 800... On one hand I think about how much speed I gain for 400 dollars and have that as my main computer a year more or so. On the other hand I think about what I can by extra for the G5 if I save those 400 dollars for that With the recent price drop by Powerlogix I hope for a minor price drop for GigaDesigns as well
  • Reply 4 of 4
    makormakor Posts: 3member
    Thanks lads for clearing my head up



    I am going to splash for PS 7 instead ( which will be more use to me long term ) and then save for the G5 when i need it. I just got to try learn not to look at all the kool mac stuff with my eyes wide open and suffer the subsequent MacCravings



    Thanks



    best



    Makor
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