G4 466 digital audio / G4 500 server ...

[ADSR]

Hi,

Just wondering about the one to choose ....between a G4 466 digital audio
or a G4 500 server ......
Are they quite the same...upgrade, speed, pros and cons etc...what do you suggest between the two?

Thanks in advance

GR

[kelly]

Hi GR.

Server is kind of a generic term. Not a specific machine.

http://www.lowendmac.com/ppc/g4-133.shtml

http://www.lowendmac.com/ppc/index.shtml

I'd probably get the machine with the faster Bus speed.

You'd want a Processor Upgrade in any case in my opinion.

[chriskleeman]

GR,

According to what I see, the 500 is a Cube, with no PCI slots, and a slower bus speed than the DA 466.

Krissel and I both have DA G4's, although I think both of us got the 533 G4. But the bus speeds of both machines are the same, at 133 Mhz, and that makes a big difference.

We both have the OWC 1.5 Ghz  G4 OWC Mercury Extreme upgrades, and at last look, both machines are purring along quite nicely.

With the expansion slots, the faster bus speed, I'd definitely recommend the DA 466, and I'm totally in agreement with Kelly about getting a processor upgrade. I cannot recommend the NewerTech MaxPower G4 upgrade, I had multiple problems with it.

And it wasn't the first upgrade I've done, I've done a bunch of them.

Hope this is helpful.

Chris K

[krissel]

Yup, I also have a DA. Mine was a 466 and it was respectable for everyday activities. But as Chris said, the OWC upgrade puts these machines into a new category of use. I strongly recommend maxing out the RAM if you can. I added two SATA PCI cards and am running 3 large drives at very quick speeds, faster than ATA. Also added a USB 2 card which I had lying around but I usually use the FW anyway. Oh, also added a Radeon 8500 64MB video card.

Yes, I put a bit of $ into this machine but if it lasts a couple years I'll be more than happy.  

[ADSR]

Hi,

 The Apple Mac Server G4/500 (AGP Graphics), based on the Sawtooth architecture, features a 500 MHz PowerPC 7400 (G4) processor with the AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processing unit and 1 MB of backside cache

That's what i found about the g4 500 server, it has only a 100 mhz bus speed ,
133 for the D/A....

Does it makes a big difference...?

The thing is ...for about the same price the server has 3 drives (60 gb) 768 mb ram

the D/A 1 drive 30 gb and 256 ram...

Actually get a YKES whith a 1gb sonnet upgrade and i'm looking for a spare unit having about the same performances and booting os 9... i've some concern about the noise of the quicksilvers...maybe i can wait for a more powerfull D/A like the 733

What do you think...?

Thanks

GR

[chriskleeman]

When I was looking around for a back-up machine, the price of the lower speed G4 DA's more than justified the speed bump cost of the OWC Upgrade vs. the price of a 733... especially when you realize that the 1.5 Ghz upgrade is going to run twice as fast as the stock 733, and it really does make a huge difference in how fast your machine will run.

Also, RAM is about $25 from OWC for 256 MB for the DA's, $60 for a 512 MB module.

I think that the speed bump from the 100 Mhz to 133 Mhz bus (and don't forget, the memory speed is faster too) is well worth it, especially if you couple that with a fast processor upgrade.

You can find DA 533's and 466's pretty cheap on eBay.

Hope this helps you GR,

Chris K

[dboh]

QUOTE(ADSR @ May 7 2007, 06:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi,

 ... i've some concern about the noise of the quicksilvers...

GR

My Quicksilver is almost 5 years old, and I've never had a noise problem with it. What I do hear doesn't seem out of line to me.

[ADSR]

Thanks very much for all your infos...

Gonna try to get a D/A and upgrade it later...don't know if OWC will ship to france?

GR

[tacit]

QUOTE(ADSR @ May 7 2007, 01:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi,

Just wondering about the one to choose ....between a G4 466 digital audio
or a G4 500 server ......
Are they quite the same...upgrade, speed, pros and cons etc...what do you suggest between the two?

Thanks in advance

GR

If I were spending money, I wouldn't buy either one, unless I were getting them for about $25 or so. Both of them have processors that are about six generations obsolete.

Actually, now that I think about it, I doubt I'd buy either one for $25.

[chriskleeman]

QUOTE(tacit @ May 9 2007, 08:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If I were spending money, I wouldn't buy either one, unless I were getting them for about $25 or so. Both of them have processors that are about six generations obsolete.

Actually, now that I think about it, I doubt I'd buy either one for $25.

And then, there are the rest of us...

If I had the $$$ I wouldn't buy old technology either. But, if you're running multiple computers, trying to put  a daughter through college (or other such academic/ professional endeavor) then she gets the MacBook Pro, I have to stay with the G4 technology so I can keep in business.

When my MDD went down, I had a choice. I could go way into hock, knowing that a MacBook Pro for my daughter was literally a few months away, or, I could fix up an older machine on the cheap, using all the spare parts and drives I've collected and wait at least another year to buy a newer machine for myself, and keep on truckin'!  

So that's what I did. I now have a back-up machine that is dependable, and if the MDD goes down again, I'll junk it for spare parts.  

But for now, I still have a quite viable computer, even though I keep having to wipe the drool off my daughter's new MacBook Pro...

Chris K

EDIT: Oh yeah, there is the OS 9 issue, which I periodically need to use as well!!!

[kelly]

GR wants to run OS 9.x You can't do that on newer machines.

[tacit]

QUOTE(kelly @ May 10 2007, 03:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

GR wants to run OS 9.x You can't do that on newer machines.

You can't boot OS 9 on other machines, but you can run it on any machine through the last G5 systems.

I'm actually running OS 9 on my MacPro, through the use of SheepShaver. It's got some quirks, but all in all it runs remarkably well.