best sawtooth processor upgrade for my money
Yeah, we're talkin preferably less than $300, maybe a little over
so far, i'm thinking between the
PowerLogix PowerForce47 G4/1.6GHz with 512K 1:1 L2 Cache - $270
and
OWC Mercury Extreme G4@1.2GHz with 2MB L3 Cache - $250
OR
Sonnet Encore/ST G4/1.2GHz Processor Upgrade W/ 2MB L3 Cache - $250
first off, what difference, if any, is there between the two 1.2ghz models..and how does the 1.6 compare considering it's got less cache? also, all of these the best deals to be had or is there some other site selling something else for a better deal within my price range (these prices are from OWC). Thanks a bunch!
so far, i'm thinking between the
PowerLogix PowerForce47 G4/1.6GHz with 512K 1:1 L2 Cache - $270
and
OWC Mercury Extreme G4@1.2GHz with 2MB L3 Cache - $250
OR
Sonnet Encore/ST G4/1.2GHz Processor Upgrade W/ 2MB L3 Cache - $250
first off, what difference, if any, is there between the two 1.2ghz models..and how does the 1.6 compare considering it's got less cache? also, all of these the best deals to be had or is there some other site selling something else for a better deal within my price range (these prices are from OWC). Thanks a bunch!
Comments
Buying a mini ($499-$699)
Pros: 1.42GHz G4, faster bus, airport extreme, bluetooth, reasonable price, virtually silent operation, small footprint.
Cons: Radeon 9200, slow & small hard drive, slow & difficult-to-upgrade DVD drive, limitation of 1GB RAM, no PCI slots.
Upgrade the Sawtooth ($299-$1150):
Pros: faster processor than the mini (1.4GHz G4 w/2MB L3 $299), airport extreme (via PCI, $80), bluetooth (via USB, $50), faster graphics card than the mini ($200), more RAM than the mini ($240), faster hard drive ($80-$200), & faster DVD drive ($50-$80).
Cons: Slower bus, high price to upgrade all these things.
Buying a iMac $1299-$1799:
Pros: Better than both the mini or the Sawtooth in every way except for the lack of PCI
Cons: Expensive and your current monitor will be wasted (unless you use the monitor spanning hack), spotty reliability record.
Prices are approximate. I'd personally upgrade the sawtooth. BTW, the 1.4GHz G4 upgrade is faster than the 1.42GHz in the mini because the upgrade has 2MB of L3 cache while the mini doesn't have any L3 cache.
guess i'm gonna wait a week or two anyway to see if the upgraded mini rumor is true...that'd probably trump my sawtooth