Power Macintosh
Guide to G4 Accelerators for Level 2 Cache Slot
Updated 2002.05.16
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- Benchmark: G4 worth
extra cost?, MacSpeedZone, 2/7. Real advantage comes only if
you're using AltiVec enabled applications.
- Bare Feats
studies cache size, cache speed, and motherboard cache
This
page covers currently shipping G4 upgrades that fit in the cache
socket of the Power Macintosh 4400,
5400, 5500,
6400, 6500,
7220; Performa
54xx, 6360, and 64xx; Twentieth Annivesary
Mac; StarMax 3000, 4000; Power
Computing PowerBase; Umax
SuperMac C500, C600.
Each accelerator will provide several times the performance of
processors installed in these older Macs. Be sure to read That extra 10% to help you decide
which upgrade provides the best value for you.
The information is as accurate as I can find, but specifications
and availability are subject to change; I suggest you check with
the manufacturer to verify current models. Prices keep dropping, so
these prices may be outdated. (Prices are in $US.)
In fact, models are added and discontinued so often, it's
impossible to keep track of which models are current.
Note that computers upgraded with these cards may not support
Mac OS X. (Apple has emphatically stated it will run on all Macs
designed with a G3 or G4 processor, but has never promised any
support for upgraded models.)
Further, models with AV cards may require special adapters or
versions of the card at additional cost.
Discontinued accelerators are listed for historical reasons.
|
Manufacturer
|
CPU
Speed
|
Cache
Size
|
Cache
Speed
|
MacBench
5.0 rating*
|
Estimated
Street Price
|
Estimated
Value**
|
Phase 5
Maccelerate!7400TA
discontinued
|
360 MHz
|
1 MB
|
180 MHz
|
|
$479
|
|
* Processor score from MacWeek or Macworld when
possible, but many MacBench ratings are from manufacturers. End
user results will vary based on a number of factors including bus
speed and OS used.
** Estimated value is MacBench rating divided by
price. Figure is based on estimated MacBench score for untested
cards. Higher numbers represent more bang for the buck.
Reviews & Overviews
This page created December 3, 1999 and updated
occasionally.
