PowerLogix 1.4GHz Upgrade--Very NIce

[Dave Jochum]

For anyone with a Mac as old as mine (Sawtooth 500) you might be interested in this. I installed a PowerLogix 1.4 GHz upgrade card ($436 from owcomputing.com) and the results are just great. I've included some comparative test times below. This will keep me going until the next dual G5 leap, supposedly next fall.

Boot AC -> Choose a file window: Now 7.75 sec. (Was 22.94 sec.)
Choose file -> Ready to Work: 12.28 (43.04)
Boot AC by double-clicking file: 35.98 (56.79)
Open 3D Window: 15.62 (33.03)
Open Section Window: 6.85 (14.37)
Photorendering: 1:29.21 (2:59.57)

Will install X 10.3.1 soon. And now for the graphics card...

[Anonymous]

Dave - I have a Quicksilver 800. The processor isn't too bad, badit's biggest down fall is it does not have the L3 cache that the G4's after it did. I am looking to uograding to either a single 1.4, or a dual 1.25. Any idea which would be a better configuration? Particularly for ArchiCAD?

Thanks.

[Dave Jochum]

jhutchison wrote:
Dave - I have a Quicksilver 800. The processor isn't too bad, badit's biggest down fall is it does not have the L3 cache that the G4's after it did. I am looking to uograding to either a single 1.4, or a dual 1.25. Any idea which would be a better configuration? Particularly for ArchiCAD?

AC is not dual processor aware, so doesn't directly benefit per se from having them. The benefit comes when you run multiple applications--PlotMaker, etc.--and run multiple tasks concurrently. I rarely do that. If I'm going to photorender an image, I'll do it when going to lunch or I'll catch up on phone calls or some other task away from the computer. It really depends on your work habits. GS says the two most important elements of a system with respect to speed in AC are processor speed and quantity of RAM, and as AC evolves, they will become even more important.

[JCovarrubias]

Dave wrote:

jhutchison wrote:
[]GS says the two most important elements of a system with respect to speed in AC are processor speed and quantity of RAM, and as AC evolves, they will become even more important.

I agree

[Anonymous]

All this talk about AC not being multiprocessor aware....
like most software development it will probably only be a matter of time.

However, as has been said many times in this forum, just look at the new PlotMaker and you'll realise a great benefit in dual processors...(when direct links are set up, PlotMaker will launch another copy of ArchiCAD to generate views in the background. Having another processor available to do this while you keep working is, well, of obvious benefit!).