OT: safe CPU upgrade

[bickele]

Hi!

I have a G4 400 AGP(100MHz bus), 001, OS 9.2.2.
What's the most reliable single processor CPU upgrade card today? (somewhere around 1.4 GHz)

I've been searching the DUC and other forums and found a bunch of options: OWC Mercury Extreme, Powerlogix, Giga Design, Sonnet.
I'm leaning towards the OWC Mercury Extreme 1.4, but I'd like to hear some first hand info about success/failure...

The G4 is running 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. First priority is reliability!

Thanks for your help

b.

[mindnoise]

go to http://www.xlr8yourmac.com
There are plenty of user expieriences gathered, discussing all available G4 upgrades. And on ebay you can get factory new 1.2 GHz Upgrades from a dealer for less than $400, thats big bang for the buck.
Sonnet is always rock stable solid, they do Upgrades for Mac since the use of 68K cpus.
Gigadesign, just a short year in buisness, is good for tech freaks, with plenty of jumpers to tune or toast your Mac. Powerlogix is the only one with dual CPU upgrades, cool, but only two years guarantee.
OWC I don´t know, but I read of some problems with certain motherboards here in this forum lately,
do a search.
Personnally I get my Sonnet 1.2GHz upgrade for my G4/400AGP on Monday. Until then,
best

[bickele]

Thanks Mindnoise!

Reading the xlr8 your mac reviews, looks like the Giga Design 1GHz card is the one with consistently good results, even when overclocked to 1.2GHz.
Problems with Sonnet...
OWC and Giga Design come with heatsink and fan, this seems to be a bonus.

b.

[lamp]

I just spent two weeks with the OWC 1.4 and am going to return it.

It is really fast and more than doubled the dave c test track count.

Everything works fine in OS9/5.1.1 It has also been reliable.If I was going to stay in OS9, I would keep it.

But running in OSX with 10.2.6, PT 6.1 or 6.1.2 will not sync externally with Optical adat to my Focusrite 428. I get Clicks and Pops.

With my setup the 428 has to be the master.

It will sync to an O1V? I tried all jumper settings and two days of changing ProTools and memory ect.

I went to 6.1 to use Reason and rewire, but not using the 428 is not an option "great sounding conversion". So I will return the OWC.

Digi called back and said they were looking into it,but it is not a supported CPU so I won't hold my breath.

The OWC tech was of little help. I may try a Gigadesign 1.4 or look for a used dual QuickSilver.

Were those "Apple" Factory cpu's someone saw on E-bay?

Good luck.

[bickele]

Thanks lamp!

I sync the 001 to RME converters via lightpipe and want to keep options open for future OSX upgrade.
Looks like it's going to be Giga Design 1.4GHz...
Is this card supported by Digidesign?

b.

[mindnoise]

digi only affirms/supports only original Apple hardware officially.
This doesn´t mean the it PT won´t run but digi only makes testruns with hardware configurations as they ship from Apple originally.

[sean shannon]

I have had great results with a Powerlogix 1 GHz cpu upgrade, complete with it's own fan and heat sink. Lots o'plugs, no crashes, since like Feb now. Went from AGP 400 to 1GHz no prob. Highly recommended. Macmall.com

[guitaramundo]

i recently put a Sonnet 1.2 ghz in my G4 450. no problems so far.
when you do put one in take your time and make sure the heat sync is sitting nice and snug against the chip.
I hear about guys claiming they had theirs installed in minutes....same guys post a week later wondering why they fried it.
the sonnet is great but if you can get one with a custon heat sync as suggested above I'd highly recomend that.
good luck
J

[bickele]

Does anybody use Giga Design 1.4GHz on the DUC?
Does it work?

b.

[bickele]

posts get bumped down so fast!

Any more wise words?

b.