How much faster?

steve666 · February 15, 2002 5:28PM

I'm a pauper looking for a replacement for my trusty PM 8100. I mainly just go on the internet but I would like to speed up the web and be able to play some 3D games.

I was wondering about the difference between say a 733 mhz G4 tower and a 450 mhz G4 tower in terms of internet use mainly (through the 56k modem, not cable). Would the faster processor, bus speed, and better video card make much of a difference as to browsing the web and screen redraw for web pages? I might be able to buy a 450 mhz G4 on ebay for $990-$999. The 733 mhz can be found some places for $1299. The thing I like about the 450 is the DVD player which I would like and a built in zip drive on some models appeals to me because I have many zip disks. Now, I would be willing to trade the zip and DVD for a big increase in speed for the 733 vs 450. I really don't need a CD burner so that not a big issue with me.

Thanks for any input-I can't afford a new G4 and I already have a 17 in monitor............................

serrano · February 15, 2002 5:35PM

[quote]Originally posted by steve666:

I'm a pauper looking for a replacement for my trusty PM 8100. I mainly just go on the internet but I would like to speed up the web and be able to play some 3D games.

I was wondering about the difference between say a 733 mhz G4 tower and a 450 mhz G4 tower in terms of internet use mainly (through the 56k modem, not cable). Would the faster processor, bus speed, and better video card make much of a difference as to browsing the web and screen redraw for web pages? I might be able to buy a 450 mhz G4 on ebay for $990-$999. The 733 mhz can be found some places for $1299. The thing I like about the 450 is the DVD player which I would like and a built in zip drive on some models appeals to me because I have many zip disks. Now, I would be willing to trade the zip and DVD for a big increase in speed for the 733 vs 450. I really don't need a CD burner so that not a big issue with me.

Thanks for any input-I can't afford a new G4 and I already have a 17 in monitor............................<hr></blockquote>

if you're only going to be playing *some* 3d games then the 450 will fair okay, however the boost you will see with the 733 is immense, especially if it has a faster graphics card... if you really can't afford it then it's not really an option, right? but if you can i think you will be much happier with the 733, if you're keeping computers as long as that 8100 (like me), then get the best that you can afford at the time. what *afford* means differs from person to person, of course

you're going to want to try <a href="http://www.xlr8yourmac.com"; target="_blank">xlr8yourmac.com</a> for some serious benchmarks

[ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: janitor ]

eman · February 15, 2002 10:34PM

For the internet the 450 would be fine. For the games I'd go for the 733. Tough decision.

steve666 · February 16, 2002 5:04PM

It is a tough decision, especially since for some reason i really want the DVD player more than the CDRW. I passed up on a 450 G4 with built in zip and DVD because I wasn't sure if I should increase my bid past $900.

Now I see some 733's for $1299 but no zip and no DVD, but its faster with a better video card.

Geez, I really can drive myself nuts sometimes!..........

matsu · February 16, 2002 5:15PM

I think you ned to wean yourself off of zip discs. transfer you zip discs to cdr. Get the fastest machine you can afford. In this case the 733, you can swap out the CDrw for a DVD and put the CDrw in a firewire case if you really want to watch movies on your mac.

eman · February 16, 2002 6:45PM

Nevermind. I didn't see it was already suggested.

[ 02-16-2002: Message edited by: EmAn ]

macaddict · February 16, 2002 6:56PM

By all means get the 733. You can swap out the CDRW drive for a cheap DVD drive very easily, a good 16X DVD drive is about $60. Or, if you want to be über-g33ky, hack a second drive bay in there. It shouldn't be hard now that Apple has moved the HS over to the back so it doesn't get in the way anymore...just switch out the drive cage. Some drilling might be required though.

But the 733 will be a huge boost. AGP 4X vs. 2X, 133MHz bus vs. 100MHz, another PCI slot, and an additional 283MHz. For anything less than $500 it's a no brainer, really. The difference in games will be enormous, especially with a GeForce 2MX, Radeon, or above. Going above a 32MB card in the 450 is useless as it will over saturate the bandwidth of the puny 2X AGP bus.

neomac · February 16, 2002 8:06PM

Don't forget, for $1299 you can get the base model LCD iMac.

steve666 · February 16, 2002 9:24PM

thanks guys. lots of info. I think I'm going to see if i can find a 733 with the combo DVD rader/CDRW burner. May be hard to find sonce it was a BTO option only but I'll give it a shot...........

powerdoc · February 17, 2002 4:38AM

[quote]Originally posted by steve666:

thanks guys. lots of info. I think I'm going to see if i can find a 733 with the combo DVD rader/CDRW burner. May be hard to find sonce it was a BTO option only but I'll give it a shot...........<hr></blockquote>

and with the 733 you can put in the future a geforce 4 titanium graphic card : it will rock

steve666 · February 17, 2002 6:03PM

was the 733 the first with 4x AGP or was the 533?......

bauman · February 17, 2002 7:17PM

Go to <a href="http://www.apple-history.com/"; target="_blank">http://www.apple-history.com/</a>; they should have that there.

~bauman

[ 02-17-2002: Message edited by: bauman ]

corvette · February 17, 2002 7:17PM

[quote]Originally posted by steve666:

was the 733 the first with 4x AGP or was the 533?......<hr></blockquote>

The 466 was the first g4 with 4x AGP

mcq · February 17, 2002 10:17PM

[quote]Originally posted by steve666:

thanks guys. lots of info. I think I'm going to see if i can find a 733 with the combo DVD rader/CDRW burner. May be hard to find sonce it was a BTO option only but I'll give it a shot...........<hr></blockquote>

I'm not sure if you're a student or not, but if you're a student you could do an education BTO on the 733 Mhz... base price is $1250, downgrade memory to 128 MB, upgrade to DVD/CDRW from CDRW, price is $1299.

bauman · February 18, 2002 12:22PM

Yeah, I tried that, too. However, the combo drives are currently only being used for the iMacs. They are listed as out of stock until March, but of course they have the combo drives . . . they're shipping with the new iMacs.

~bauman

powerdoc · February 18, 2002 12:40PM

[quote]Originally posted by corvette:



The 466 was the first g4 with 4x AGP<hr></blockquote>

yes the first generation was the 466 and 533 mhz shipping in january 2001 (i buy my g4 533 at this time) then come later with the same mobo the 667 and 733 with the superdrive who shipped in march 2001.

all this computer have 133 mhz bus and therefore AGP 4 x. Six month after there where the quicksilver line, but there wasn't big difference for the mobo : there might be little differences anyway (there is too version of the B&W G3 mobo : one who can make works two ide drive and the others who can only make work one IDE drive : unfortunately my G3 can only make work one IDE and i have to buy a SCSI drive with a PCI card that cost me many money) . I hope there isn't some little nasty bugs that prevent the first generation AGP 4 x mac to run the geforce 4 titanium (in his paper Apple is just talking about the quicksilver line, not the first generation of AGP 4 x)

steve666 · February 18, 2002 6:18PM

OK, so how about a 466 or 533 since they have the faster bus? Would the 733 be much faster? Sorry, hope I'm not driving you guys nuts.

I'm not a student so that rules out edu prices. Were the DVD drives last seen on the 450-500 mhz G4's? Looking on ebay it sure seems so. I'll check that Apple history link provided-thank you for that.

I don't know why I'm so bent on getting a DVD drive. Maybe I should just forget about that aspect of it. Man oh man I wish I were rich

..............

powerdoc · February 19, 2002 12:05PM

[quote]Originally posted by steve666:

OK, so how about a 466 or 533 since they have the faster bus? Would the 733 be much faster? Sorry, hope I'm not driving you guys nuts.

..............<hr></blockquote>

Well it depends on what sort of software, you use, if you are a photoshop user, or a velocity engine software based user, the 733 is definitevely faster, if you use non altivec optimized stuff, the 533 is nearly as fast. That's what i read on XLR8 mac. The explication is simple 733 : 7 stage pipeline, 533 : 4 stage pipeline.

corvette · February 19, 2002 12:56PM

The 533 Digital Audio is faster than the 733 QS in some tests because of the full cache that the 533 has.

If I were you, I would look on ebay for the g4 466 instead of a 450. It has the updated mobo with 133mhz everything.

[ 02-19-2002: Message edited by: corvette ]

steve666 · February 19, 2002 5:40PM

I was almost going to buy a G4 400mhz, figuring if i could get one for $700 or so it would serve me well for a few years till I got more moolah. Well, its already over $800 now! It has a 7200 rpm 40 GB hard drive in it, DVD and zip drive. The auction is over in 5 minutes so I'm going to pass on it.

Why are these used G4s going for so much money? Theres a 733 with combo drive thats over $1500 already! I'll wait till a 466 comes up, I just wish they still had the DVD drive. Is there any place other than PowerMax and Shreve systems that sell used Macs?.........................................

steve666 · February 22, 2002 5:31PM

Well. after watching ebay for weeks it appears there is a huge market for older G4s. I actually prefer the older models because I don't like the CD doors on the quicksilver(no place to eject disk), no input for digital LCD without an adapter, louder, no microphone input, no DVD, no zip(don't laugh-I love my zip drive).

I just won a G4 400 mhz with 384 mb ram, 20 Gb hard drive, DVD, Zip, AGP, all in its original box for $810. I think I did well considering all the ones I previously bid on went for over $900.

This will keep me happy for a few years at least. I didn't want the new iMac and didn't have $1600 to spend on a new tower. Can't wait to try it!...........

How much faster?

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