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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=888
PowerLogix says it''s twice as nice with dual 1 GHz CPU upgrades
By Michael Flaminio, Insanely Great Mac
September 4th 2002
PowerLogix Wednesday announced dual G4 CPU upgrades based on the latest Apollo
PPC-7455 G4 processors.
New dual G4 CPU upgrades from PowerLogix offers multiprocessor upgrade paths for
Apple''s 100 and 133 MHz bus G4 computers. The upgrades are available from 800 MHz and
1 GHz, with faster processor promised down the road.
The G4 upgrades use SDR cache, rather than DDR cache found on the recently released
PowerMac system from Apple. PowerLogix upgrades ship with 2 MB of L3 SDR cache per
CPU, where Apple''s systems use 1 or 2 MB of DDR cache. PowerLogix has made the case
that there is little to no benefit from a DDR cache. As a result, PowerLogix is opting
for SDR cache as a cost saving measure. It''s unknown if the cache speed will effect
performance as CPU speeds increase, however.
The PowerForce Dual G4 is available in two lines, a 100 and 133 series, which
corresponds to the computer''s system bus speed. The PowerForce Series 100 is
compatible with PowerMac G4 AGP, Gigabit Ethernet and G4 Cube computers. Note that
there are some restrictions on specific PowerMac and Cube models -- See PowerLogix''s
Web site for more information.
The PowerForce Series 133 is available for PowerMac G4 Digital Audio, QuickSilver and
QuickSilver 2002 models.
The PowerForce Dual G4 upgrades are expected to be available in 2-3 weeks. The
upgrades have an estimated street price of $799 and $1199 for 800 MHz and 1 GHz
upgrades. Prices are the same for both Series 100 and Series 133 products.
Analysis:
When considering the purchase of high-end CPU upgrades, some thought is required.
Often if an older system can be sold, the balance of purchasing a new system is close
to the price of the CPU upgrade. Apple''s new Mirror Door PowerMacs, offer the
addition of a faster system bus and DDR memory, which obviously can not be added to
older systems through upgrades.
The interesting wrinkle is that to date, no one has been able to demonstrate any real
benefits from the new architecture in Apple''s new system, specifically DDR memory. In
some short tests performed over here, there''s no significant performance gain at all,
which seem to match the results of others. Without any realized benefits from the new
architecture, there''s little advantage to picking one upgrade path over the other.
The question now should come down to individual situations of what''s gained for how
much.
Post your comments at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=888
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Copyright (c) 2002 Insanely Great Mac. All rights reserved. This article
may not be republished in part or whole without explicit written
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