Mac performance issues

[Dunnyman]

Okay, i'm using a rather ancient G4 350, but it's been a workhorse and paid for itself a hundred times over, I've got 300 odd gigs of HD space, 768 megs of RAM, and the stock 16 meg video card, what, if ANYthing can I do to bump this up to get better performance while using ffmpegX, MPEGWorks, etc? Will a better video card enable faster video work? I know the processor can't go past 550 mhz with a zif card, but what else can be done to make this thing work faster? Also, an OSX question, is there a way to force an app to use more RAM? Would that give me more speed?
any ideas are much appreciated!

[WiseWeasel]

You could try the renice command to bump the priority of those tools (the underlying command line tools, not their front ends), or maybe try the free tool nicer (72k). It's probably not going to make a big difference, though, and nothing you can do at this point hardware-wise to your current g4/350 would be worth the cost. I'd suggest putting that baby on ebay and getting yourself a more recent PowerMac G4 or G5, possibly once the next models come out.

[SERBIAN]

I also think that You need new Mac with AGP video card and new BUS...Youll get better throughoutput and speed improvements...If You just upgrade processor, Im not sure You will be satisfied with the speed increase...

[cbkilner]

Actually, your old "Yikes" model can be bumped up as high as 1GHz:
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=135&type=Processor&TI=%23TimeFormat...=Show+Upgrades
Also, if you are transcoding DV to MPEG1/2, then a $250 FastCoder from LaCie will do it very fast.
I don't think a faster video card would do anything for you.

[terryj]

A faster video card would only smooth out your playback
bumps you probably see when playing HQ DV streams,
or HQ encoded DIVX. Otherwise it would be of no benefit.


If you look at everymac.com, you will see that a model like yours
is worth an average price of $ 500.00
Add in a little more for the extra HDs and you probably top now at $750.
http://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g3/stats/powermac_g3_350_bl.html

If you buy a 1ghz processor card, you look at $480.00 to add on.
While a faster processor will help, yes you still would have to deal with bus throughput. A Sonnet Tempo Trio Card with a ATA/133 bus
would be your lowest cost entry to fix this problem, at around $180.00
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo_trio.html

That gives a total of $1410.00

If you ebay your B&W and get $750-$800 ( easy to do if you
include the apps), then if you add the $660 you were going to spend
on the upgrade cards, you could get this:

http://www.smalldog.com/product/44356
or
http://www.powermax.com/cgi-global/generate_css_temp.cgi?p=c-u55371
or even
http://www.expercom.com/product_detail.html?PRODUCT_ID=248809

which would be better for you in the long run.
Eventually, you were going to hit this brick wall
and would have to upgrade. Just think about what
would be better in the long run.

[cbkilner]

Actually, you'd be lucky to get $500 on ebay for the souped-up g4/350 if it is a "Yikes" model with PCI video.
If you parted it out (base 350, hard drives, memory, etc), you could probably get $650.

However, it has been a workhorse and probably already has a PCI IDE controller for some of that 300GB of HD (and if needed, you can pick up an acard PCI 100/133 controller for $70).

If it is a "Yikes" PCI model, the 1GHz ZIF card is the poorest value - get 80% of the power (800MHz) for 70% of the cost ($340).

ZIF upgrades are very easy (as are AGP upgrades).

If your 350 is a "Sawtooth" AGP model, the G4 upgrades are about $100 cheaper and go all the way up to 1.42GHz.
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=89&type=Processor&TI=%23TimeFormat%...=Show+Upgrades

If you have a "Yikes" motherboard, another option is to sell the base G4/350 for $400, buy a base AGP tower (Sawtooth) for $500 or less - see http://www.wegenermedia.com/g4450twr.htm ), add all your memory and HDs, and get an AGP upgrade to 1.42GHz.

Either way, for less than $500-$600, you will have quadrupled your processing power. Also, an AGP model will benefit from a better video card with 10.2 or higher due to Quartz Extreme.

[Dunnyman]

guys, thank you for the pointers!!!!!! I've been wanting to upgrade this one to get a few more months out of it before I go G5! I'd heard rumours of OWC getting the Yikes increase past 500 mhz, but didn't know they'd done it! They worked me a pretty good deal on both the 1 ghz and a IDE Controller to make this baby fly, and roughly around 500.00 for all of it!
Now ffmpegX will move a bit speedier methinks......
btw, I never get rid of old Macs, when this workhorse retires, it'll be a server most likely, running my mail and websites, and then I think the ol' 7100 with the 210 mhz G3 card will finally become a doorstop... My Performa 475 does a wonderful job of holding my monitor on the 7100...and the classic is fishtanked...looks very cool....anyone know where I can get an iMac case to make another tank out of?

[thoughton]

Maquarium alert!

Pics, pics! We want pics!