Mac OS 9 Lives

General => Off Topic => Topic started by: torvan on February 07, 2019, 03:27:51 PM

Title: Got two, but no idea which is really better
Post by: torvan on February 07, 2019, 03:27:51 PM

Today I bought two G4 MDD machines for only $50 for both but I do not know which to make regular use of and which to set aside as a parts or a "just in case this part fails" machine. Both are running great:

1. 2002 Dual 1 Ghz  2 GB RAM  2 Pioneer DVDR  Radeon 9000 Pro 128MB  Rage 128 16MB

2. 2003 1.25Ghz Single, 2GB RAM, HL-ST-ST CDRW/DVD GeForce 4 64 MB  Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB

Drive storage is immaterial, but each comes with 4 80GB IDE drives, and I have more storage and adapters than you can mention in a single post.

OS will of course be OS 9.2.2 since they can run it natively and well, you know the reasons already being an OS9Lives member.  But I do not really know which to make the regular machine. Ideas? Opinions?

Title: Re: Got two, but no idea which is really better
Post by: Jakl on February 07, 2019, 04:08:05 PM

I think they have different bus speeds - IIRC the dual 1ghz has 133Mhz bus - the other one single 1.25Ghz has a 167mhz bus - I think thats the only major difference. Hold on to one of the power supplies.  :D :D

Title: Re: Got two, but no idea which is really better
Post by: GaryN on February 07, 2019, 10:35:33 PM

Quote from: Jakl on February 07, 2019, 04:08:05 PM

I think they have different bus speeds - IIRC the dual 1ghz has 133Mhz bus - the other one single 1.25Ghz has a 167mhz bus - I think thats the only major difference. Hold on to one of the power supplies.  :D :D

Actually, Jaki's wrong on this one. Both machines will have 167MHz bus speeds. Only the single 1.0GHz and the 867MHz CPUs had 133 Mhz bus speeds.

Don't think of them as separate machines. Think of the two as a collection of parts and sub-assemblies that are completely interchangeable.
Take the best parts from both and put them together. Save everything else - especially the extra power supply - for spares.
If you're going to run only OS9, use the single 1.25 processor unless you'll be regularly using one or more of the apps listed in this post:

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=2618.0

Title: Re: Got two, but no idea which is really better
Post by: Jakl on February 07, 2019, 10:51:20 PM

You're right again GaryN - Good Job!!

Title: Re: Got two, but no idea which is really better
Post by: torvan on February 08, 2019, 10:29:53 AM

Decision made, going to use the DP machine. It also has a higer GeekBench score, and I have no FW800 needs.

Besides, with two 200GB drives and my 1 TB SATA drive connected to the Sonnet Allegro Pro SATA card, plus a useless USB2 card (in OS9 at least) all the good stuff is already in the DP.

Now to just clean the machine up. Looks like it has lead a rough life, but at least I can make old guy shine.