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[supernova777]

G-Celerator G4/1.8 Dual AGP 7A (7AD-1418U) Specs



The Giga Designs G-Celerator G4/1.8 Dual AGP 7A features dual 1.8 GHz PowerPC 7447a (G4) processors (1.42 GHz overclocked to 1.8 GHz) each with an AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processing unit, and a 512k on-chip level 2 cache operating at the same speed as the processors. The card plugs into the processor socket provided by AGP-based (Sawtooth), Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio, Quicksilver, and Quicksilver 2002 Power Macintosh G4 models, replacing the original processor card. Please note that not all AGP-based (Sawtooth) systems are dual-processor compatible (they must have a uni-N of 7 or greater to be able use this card). All upgrade cards in this series are designed so that both the bus and backside cache ratios can be adjusted. Requires MacOS X 10.3.5 for installation, compatible with MacOS 9.2.2 but Giga Designs does not provide a warranty "third party software operations under OS 9". Another version, the 7AD-1416C, for the Power Macintosh G4 Cube is also available. It runs at 1.6 GHz and includes a Cube VRM upgrade and a low speed fan kit.

[Totusek]

Whether trying to get a
Sonnet dual 1.8 GHz Encore/MDX G4 Duet
CPU upgrade for a G4 MDD tower
[ http://lowendmac.com/musings/07/art/mirrored.jpg ],
http://www.sonnettech.com/support/downloads/manuals/xg4d_qsg.pdf
(see full range here) >>>> http://www.sonnettech.com/support/kb/kb.php?cat=120#position_content

or a Giga Design Dual 1.33 GHz 7455
CPU upgrade for a G4 MDD tower
[ http://lowendmac.com/musings/07/art/giga-mdd.jpg ],

isn't one of the issues theses days, where to find them, to begin with ?

[supernova777]

Whether trying to get a Sonnet dual 1.8 GHz Encore/MDX G4 Duet CPU upgrade for a G4 MDD tower
 http://lowendmac.com/musings/07/art/mirrored.jpg ],
or a Giga Design Dual 1.33 GHz 7455 CPU upgrade for a G4 MDD tower
[ http://lowendmac.com/musings/07/art/giga-mdd.jpg ],
isn't one of the issues theses days, where to find them, to begin with ?

i dont think u can upgrade a MDD tower.. only quicksilver, gigabit, digital audio, AGP(Sawtooth)
i think these ones u have linked are very rare..

[MacTron]

i dont think u can upgrade a MDD tower...

Of course you can.
http://www.officespecialties.com/sonnet_xg4d_1800_encore_mdx_duet_1.8_ghz_processor_85649_prd1.htm

[Protools5LEGuy]

At that price, better to be stock and buy another MDD.
There is a thin line between cheaps PowerMacs and $$$$ Apple collectors CPU upgrades.
I will not cross that $$$$ line for sure. If you can make music with a G3 233-450 why spend 500-800 bucks on a 866 to 1.x upgrade?

[supernova777]

well there are MANY cpu upgrades.. some of them more common then others..
i personally havent seen any MDD upgrades on ebay for sale, EVER.

@mactron: i thought there was only one duet
http://www.sonnettech.com/support/kb/kb.php?cat=315#position_content
the ST/DUET series i guess excludes the MDD
i had thought there was no MDD

so is this MDD DUET the one that we are seeing in teh benchmarks at the top?

[MacTron]

... If you can make music with a G3 233-450 why spend 500-800 bucks on a 866 to 1.x upgrade?

Each one has his own needs...
I made my first songs with a Mac LC (68020 @ 16 Mhz) and  now a days I easy exhaust my Sawtoth (Single [email protected]), MDD (Single [email protected]) & MDD (Dual [email protected]) only with midi tracks on Cubase and NI FM7 + NI Kompakt

[MacTron]

so is this MDD DUET the one that we are seeing in teh benchmarks at the top?

If you mean to this:

Here we have the table with the results of the test "Cinebench 2003"

	[email protected]	[email protected]
Rendering (Single CPU):	163	158	3.16%
Rendering (Multiple CPU):	309	297	4.04%
Shading (CINEMA 4D) :	181	190	-4.74%
Shading (OpenGL Software) :	473	494	-4.25%
Shading (OpenGL Hardware) :	474	511	-7.24%

The test was done in two MDD with Mac os 9.22. One with sonnet [email protected] dual and the other with [email protected] Dual overclocked to 1.66.

Yes.
Some time ago Kameron Kaiser (the creator of Clasilla) and I, tried to see what is the most powerful Mac Os 9 machine ever made.  MDD with MDD DUET [email protected] against my MDD [email protected] Dual.
In my opinion only a [email protected] machine can overpass this but only in some aspects, as the MDD is far better in almost everything.
I love all my Macs. I never count them all. But if the point is power and speed under Mac Os 9, don't loose your time, "those are the ones"
I

[Totusek]

When I tried the links on the Office Secialties "Sonnet XG4D-1800 Encore/MDX Duet 1.8 GHz - Processor Upgrade G4" page, I got:

We are sorry, but the requested product is currently not available.
For more information visit our store at http://www.officespecialties.com/

Therefore, again it's not that this CPU upgrade for G4 MDD Towers doesn't exist, but theses days, it's where to find them...

Whether trying to get a Sonnet dual 1.8 GHz Encore/MDX G4 Duet CPU upgrade for a G4 MDD tower
 http://lowendmac.com/musings/07/art/mirrored.jpg ],
or a Giga Design Dual 1.33 GHz 7455 CPU upgrade for a G4 MDD tower
[ http://lowendmac.com/musings/07/art/giga-mdd.jpg ],
isn't one of the issues theses days, where to find them, to begin with ?

i dont think u can upgrade a MDD tower...

Of course you can.
http://www.officespecialties.com/sonnet_xg4d_1800_encore_mdx_duet_1.8_ghz_processor_85649_prd1.htm

[supernova777]

our manuals directory is now public open + browsable.

u can view all the pdfs on sonnet cpu upgrades for instance at this url:
http://www.macos9lives.com/downloads/manuals/hardware/sonnet/

[MacTron]

our manuals directory is now public open + browsable.

Great idea.
I've added 3 new manuals in NI folder, and created two new folders "MacOs" and "MusicTheory" and I'm adding some extra content to those new folders also.
Perhaps will be more convenient to start a new tread with this stuff...

[DaCat]

Just got a Newer Technology Maxpower G4 7448 Dual 1.7Ghz Processor on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Newer-Technology-Maxpower-G4-7448-Dual-1-7Ghz-Processor-/221721711338?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=2YCLlJuNJOY7TwM3n8vTLSwjevA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Installation with a firmware upgrade seems slightly tricky, also whenever one resets the PRAM apparently you have to redo the firmware, which is a slight hassle IMO.

Wanted to try this on my 2002 Quicksilver DP 1 GHz to see if it does much for Opcode Studio Vision, Digital Performer or BIAS Peak, granted even the stock Quicksilver is way more computer than the programs were designed for. I will also test out Digital Performer & Peak in Leopard.

From what I gather the last MDD that boots OS9 would likely outperform this setup, but considering a lot of Studio Vision Pro users seem to think >2002 G4 are overkill & unstable it will be interesting to see how this works, so far I've had no issues with these programs on the stock Quicksilver. I have two identical models so will test on my spare. The only difference in it has half a GB less memory & the slower video card, if everything works out OK I will make this one the new work machine and transfer the memory & video card over.

[IIO]

this is not what you want to hear atm. , but, to make best use of dual processor machines, use software which supports dual processors.

[supernova777]

sweet cpu u got there!!

From what I gather the last MDD that boots OS9 would likely outperform this setup, but considering a lot of Studio Vision Pro users seem to think >2002 G4 are overkill & unstable it will be interesting to see how this works

only for stability with 1998 and before software.... for everything else (classic software coded from 2000-2004) MDD;s kick ass...

[MacTron]

this is not what you want to hear atm. , but, to make best use of dual processor machines, use software which supports dual processors.

None 7448 has ever worked in dual configuration in mac Os 9. AFAIK

[GaryN]

The Sonnet Dual G4's are a bad option for a MDD or FW800 G4. The Sonnet CPU's simply lacks L3 cache (and has less L2 cache than Apples CPUs) which makes for instance the dual 1.8ghz slower than a dual 1.42ghz G4 when doing CPU intensive tasks that uses a lot of FPU power (using VST's, RTAS, rendering audio files etc).

I have an "original" Dual 1.25ghz board overclocked to 1.5ghz in my MDD. Have worked great the past two years I've had it, even during the warmest summer days.

Go buy yourself a $50 original Dual 1.25ghz board and overclock it. It's the fastest and cheapest way to maximize the power of your MDD

I have a FW400 MDD. I started with a dual 1.25, replaced those with 1.42s, and finally I now have one of those rare bird Sonnet dual 1.8s.  I can say that without any question, my experience is that the Sonnet is measurably and empirically fastest in all aspects. This is true in both OS9 AND 10.5.8 - L1,2,3 caches and /or single or dual procs being present / used notwithstanding. Running the same software (which includes StudioVision, Peak, SonicWorx, etc. etc., many VST's, various iterations of Adobe Creative Suite and on and on) the speed bump on each upgrade was immediately apparent - especially with the Sonnet. In OS9 I have no concern about track counts or how many plugins in use. In OSX it almost feels like a G5. With TenFourFox's Quicktime extension, I get full-screen (1920 x 1200) glitch-free 720p video on YouTube all day long. My main bottlenecks now are the 7200rpm drives - my next upgrade will be 2 SSD's. I held my breath when I bought the Sonnet… it was NOT cheap, but it was well worth it. Over the years, I've gone all the way from a Mac Plus to what is the fastest OS9 config there is, as far as I can tell. The Sonnet is the engine that made it happen.

[MacTron]

The Sonnet Dual G4's are a bad option for a MDD or FW800 G4. The Sonnet CPU's simply lacks L3 cache (and has less L2 cache than Apples CPUs) which makes for instance the dual 1.8ghz slower than a dual 1.42ghz G4 when doing CPU intensive tasks that uses a lot of FPU power (using VST's, RTAS, rendering audio files etc).

I have an "original" Dual 1.25ghz board overclocked to 1.5ghz in my MDD. Have worked great the past two years I've had it, even during the warmest summer days.

Go buy yourself a $50 original Dual 1.25ghz board and overclock it. It's the fastest and cheapest way to maximize the power of your MDD

Well, the MDD overclocked at 1.5 is one of my favorite macs, it is fast, cheap and stable. But it is not as fast as the sonnet 1.8 upgraded MDD, so forget about 1.25 or 1.42.
This is the proof:


and compare it with GaryN Sonnet 1.8 upgraded MDD:

I have a FW400 MDD. I started with a dual 1.25, replaced those with 1.42s, and finally I now have one of those rare bird Sonnet dual 1.8s.  I can say that without any question, my experience is that the Sonnet is measurably and empirically fastest in all aspects. This is true in both OS9 AND 10.5.8 - L1,2,3 caches and /or single or dual procs being present / used notwithstanding.

Yes you are right, but in the comparison with the overclocked 1.66 or even the 1.5, the Sonnet 1.8 don't goes so far, especially in real task ...

But in my opinion,overclocking, buying an SSD and nVidia ti 4600 is the best way to greatly improve the performance of those MDDs.

[IIO]

None 7448 has ever worked in dual configuration in mac Os 9. AFAIK

not sure what you mean by that.

however, what i tried to say before is that "if you mainly use vision and peak, you would have been fine with a single processor."

[MacTron]

None 7448 has ever worked in dual configuration in mac Os 9. AFAIK

not sure what you mean by that.

If you install a dual 7448 upgrade, it only can work as a single CPU under Mac Os 9 due to a weird and unsolved incompatibility with "Apple CPU plugins" file.

[Protools5LEGuy]

If you install a dual 7448 upgrade, it only can work as a single CPU under Mac Os 9 due to a weird and unsolved incompatibility with "Apple CPU plugins" file.

I thought it happened on all dual 7448 but Sonnet