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500 G3 Upgrade Shoot-out |
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| Reviewed by: Michael Flaminio Review Date 12.20.99 Updated 12.27.99 |
Manufacturers: Newer Technology - $849 Sonnet Technologies - $700 XLR8 by Interex - $829 |
Amid all the hoopla over the new PowerPC G4 processor, G3 processors have lost a bit of the limelight. Even so, both Apple and various upgrade companies continue plans to ship both G4 and G3 products. Despite the hype, the G3 processor still has plenty, if not the most, bang for the buck. Insanely Great Mac reviewed three of the currently shipping 500 MHz G3 upgrades. We tested upgrades from Newer Technology, Sonnet and XLR8. All three upgrades are daughtercard-style upgrades, designed for older Power Mac systems.
Upgrade Decisions
Mac users face a number of choices for Mac upgrades. They can add a G3 processor, a G4 processor or purchase a new Mac. Apple's current lineup ends at 450 MHz for both G4 and G3-based Macs. Faster machines are down the road, but for now the speed limit is 450 MHz from Apple.
As it's been reported numerous times, G3 and G4 processors are fairly equal for most applications. Unless a program is equipped with AltiVec enhancements, a piece of software will not run much faster on a G4 processor than on an equal G3 processor. These enhanced applications can include Photoshop rendering and video compression. With these multimedia applications, any G4 Mac can easily outperform any G3-based Mac.
The Amazingly Upgradable Mac
These 500 MHz upgrades are designed for the older 7x/8x/9x00 Power Macs. Most of these Macs shipped with a 250 MHz 604 processor or slower. If the Mac hasn't been upgraded to a G3, or at least current G3 upgrade, there's a lot of new life to be found in these machines. For this reason, the upgrade companies are paying special attention to these Macs. On the other hand, if you purchased a Power Mac G3 system, you may still be able to double your Mac's performance. But with the older Power Macs, the speed increase is much more dramatic.
What makes the higher MHz possible is that the 500 MHz G3 can operate 10x the speed of the computer's bus. Other G3 upgrades were limited to 8x, which kept these machines at 400 MHz. So, if your computer can handle running its system bus at 50 MHz, you're business. I tested these upgrades on a Power Mac 8500 and each upgrade operated smoothly at the full 500 MHz.
We don't know what the future holds, but 500 MHz may be the fastest these computers can go. In other words, a 500 MHz G3 may be your last
upgrade for that old Mac. Depending
on your situation, this may be something to consider. For example, if you have a
400 MHz G3 upgrade, it may not be worth spending the money for what could be the
machine's last 100 MHz. On the other hand, if you have a 250 MHz G3 upgrade, it could
be comforting to know that a 500 MHz upgrade may be the final investment in that
particular machine.
The cards
All three cards performed very similarly. Each worked without any problems, either
during upgrading or operation. Each vendor has a their own software, which has been
under development for some time. Seemingly, the software is the only clear advantage
over the products, however I found each package to be quite complete. Some may have
more bells/whistles, but they're all fairly straight forward and perform the job
well.
While there aren't any glaring differences between upgrades, there are a few issues
that are worth noting. Between the three cards, XLR8 only offers hardware modification.
This is a good/bad, depending on who you are. Some people like to modify their cards,
while others simply want to install and forget. Typically, the hardware settings
allow the card to run faster than specified. Unfortunately in these Macs you can't
push the upgrades beyond the 10x bus limit. But with the XLR8 jumpers, a user can
slow the card down if needed. If their Mac's bus is unable to perform well at 50
MHz, as some may not, the user can slow the XLR8 card down to 466 MHz. To say the
least, it would be disappointing to run a 500 MHz upgrade at 466 MHz, but at least
for diagnosis, the option is available on the XLR8 card.
The XLR8 upgrade may also have another advantage. XLR8 uses their Carrier Card for the 500 MHz daughtercard upgrade. The solution includes a 500 MHz ZIF upgrade installed on a stock daughtercard. The ZIF upgrade can be removed to house virtually any other ZIF upgrade, including G4 processors. In the short run, this may make the upgrade more expensive, but offers some upgrade flexibility. Typically ZIF upgrades are less expensive than the daughtercard counterparts. If you wanted to upgrade to a G4 processor in the future, this could be advantageous Also, you could use the ZIF processor in/from other Power Mac G3 systems, letting you swap upgrades between machines.
I should also mention the issue of Speculative
Processing. I covered the issue plenty with G4 upgrades, and the problem also
exists with G3 upgrades. The difference however is that the issue is not as pronounced
with G3 upgrades. There is however a chance of data corruption if Speculative Processing
is enabled on these older Macs. Newer Technology is the only upgrade that offers
a hardware solution to the problem. XLR8 and Sonnet also handle the problem, but
with software. Each company is confident in the performance of their solutions and
I've found all solutions to work well. Depending on how you feel on the issue, this
may or may not be of concern, but this is another difference between the three upgrades.
The Sonnet upgrade is the most affordable of the three as the company recently reduced
prices on its upgrades.
The upgrade does not have the ability to the modify the processor's speed.
Also it, like XLR8 upgrade, handles Speculative Processing via software. The only
real disadvantage of the software fix for Speculative Processing is that if the software
enables it on these Macs, it could cause problems if the Mac continued to operate.
Tests
I ran three different tests on each upgrade. First was the MacBench CPU /FPU test,
second was a custom Photoshop 5.5 filter set and finally a QuickTime 4.0/Sorenson
Video 2.1 compression. All three tests should give an indication of both reference
and real-world performance. For reference, I've also included tests from IGM's earlier
350 MHz G4 upgrade review.
All review tests were performed on the same machine at the same settings. The G4
numbers are an average of 350 MHz G4 upgrades from Newer, PowerLogix, Sonnet and
XLR8. To best show the AltiVec speed of the G4, the Photoshop and QuickTime tests
utilize new Photoshop 5.5 filters and Sorenson Video 2.1.
Conclusion
I never like to give absolute recommendations on purchase decisions. Everyone has
a different situation and I prefer to give perspective rather than advice. In my
case, last summer, I upgraded my B/W G3 to a 450 MHz G3 upgrade that's running at
500 MHz. The machine was originally a 300 MHz G3 and I'm just happy as can be with
its performance. One year after I purchased the Mac and six months after I purchased
the upgrade, I still have one of the fastest Macs around. For me, a new upgrade doesn't
makes sense. All options available to me are either a step backwards or offer no
great improvement.
On the other hand, the Power Mac 8500 used in the tests is running on a 250 MHz G3.
It used to be a 180 MHz 604e Mac. If this was my primary computer, a 500 MHz upgrade
would definitely be worth while in either the 604 or G3 case. My 8500 could run significantly
faster than a new Power Mac G4 system at up to 1/4 the price.
Many Mac users prefer to upgrade their older system than buy a new Mac. I know plenty
of people who have invested a lot of money into these older systems. To simply toss
away all those RAM chips and hard drives does not make a lot of sense. So, ultimately
the equation is value. For the $/MHz, the 500 MHz G3 is a better value for non-AltiVec
applications. If you're looking to upgrade, you should consider whether if putting
this kind of money into an older machine is worth while. If you find upgrading is
the best solution for you, all three of these upgrades offer great performance at
good prices.
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