The Source for Mac Performance News and Reviews

Review: MetaBox's JoeCardTM Z G4/450 2MB Cache First Shipping 2MB G4 CPU Upgrade By Mike Published: 9/15/2000 (Updated 9/18/2000 for Beige G3 comments)

2MB Cache G4/450MHz CPU Upgrade for Beige G3/B&W G3/AIO Macs

Intro | Benchmarks | Appl. Tests | Software Controls | Installation | Specs/Design | Summary

Introduction

Pros: ZIF has switches for setting speeds, avoiding the need to mess with motherboard jumpers. iMovie 1.02 performance was almost twice as fast as a G3/450 CPU upgrade in the same Blue and White G3 system. If you make your living from rendering movies in Sorensen codec, then this upgrade would have paid for itself quickly compared to the G3/450 CPU. Applications supporting Altivec can see major gains with a G4 upgrade compared to a G3 of the same speed, but only certain Photoshop filters benefit from Altivec (see apps test results). Cons: More expensive than 1MB cache upgrades, even G4/500 1MB models. Requires software to enable the backside cache, meaning OS X compatibility may require updated software from MetaBox. (They tell me they are working on OS X enablers now.) Cache speed in Beige G3 was 187Mhz, since 1/2 the CPU speed would have exceeded the 225MHz (max) cache speed design. (Cache speed is not adjustable with the v3.0 MetaBox extension/control panel) Performance gain from extra 1MB cache is small overall. Most current MacOS applications don't use the G4's Altivec (Velocity Engine) instructions. Without Altivec support, most applications perform similar to a G3 of the same clock speed, which are available at much lower prices.

MetaBox is (to my knowledge) the first upgrade company to offer a 2MB Cache version of a G4 CPU Upgrade for sale. Although last fall I tested an experimental XLR8 G4/350 2MB Cache upgrade, it was never offered for sale. This review uses a B&W (Blue and White) G3 as the test system and includes test results in applications, games and benchmarks of the MetaBox G4/450 2MB upgrade to a G3/450 1MB Cache (the previously reviewed Formac ProG3/450) in the identical system to show how a lower cost G3 upgrade of the same speed compares. In many cases I also include test results with other systems such as my G4/500 AGP (single CPU). I did not have a 1MB cache G4/450 upgrade to compare to the 2MB MetaBox G4/450, but past tests such as my G4/350 1MB vs G4/350 2MB article last year noted most applications show little gain from the larger backside cache. Metabox notes on their Photoshop Benchmarks page a one second advantage from the extra 1MB of cache in their tests (I admire their honesty). I hesitated to use results from a past XLR8 G4/400 ZIF review running at 450Mhz since those test were run with a different OS version/extensions and with their early control software which seemed to produce lower than average performance. (Comparisons of this was noted in the Newer Tech G4/400 review.) Update: Beige G3 Tests All the tests for this review (apps/games/benchmarks) used my B&W G3 rev 2 (see system specs below). However as promised I did verify the G4/450 2MB worked in my Beige G3 rev 2 (with Ratheon VRM). It booted fine first time had although it ran at a max of 59C during heavy use (about the same as the G4/466 in my iMac rev A) I saw no problems during an overnight ram test. One thing I noted in the Beige G3 however - the cache speed ran at 187MHz in the Beige G3, but ran at 225Mhz (1/2 CPU speed) in the B&W G3. The MetaBox cache speed is not adjustable (see the software controls page) Metabox replied that since the Beige G3 runs the CPU at 466MHz, the lower cache speed was selected since the default 1/2 CPU speed cache setting would have exceeded the 225MHz (max) cache speed of the upgrade. (With a 100Mhz bus of the B&W G3, the CPU speed is 450Mhz, but 466MHz in the 66MHz bus speed Beige G3.) Unlike another G4/450 ZIF I tried earlier this year, other than the lower cache speed I saw no problems in limited use with my Beige G3. As mentioned in all my past reviews of G4 CPU upgrades, without software that takes advantage of the Altivec core, a G4 runs most applications no faster than a G3 CPU of the same speed (all other factors being equal). Applications with Altivec support often show dramatic performance increases with a G4 CPU. For a list of applications that have G4 Altivec (what Apple calls the 'Velocity Engine'), see the FAQ's Apple G4 topic area. About OS 9 and G4 Upgrades: [NOTE: This review was written long before OS 9.1 was released - OS 9.1 does not have the extensions below (doesn't need them) and will remove them if they exist during an OS 9.1 update. For see this related article on OS 9.1.] As noted on my Nov 13th 1999 weekend news page and in the previous XLR8 G4/400 ZIF review, if you install OS 9 on a G4 CPU upgraded Mac, the 4 OS 9 Altivec extensions are not normally installed. (Note: These 4 extensions are only a part of OS 9.0 and OS 9.04 - not OS 9.1) These 4 extensions are: vBasicOps vBigNum vectorOps vMathLib If you don't know someone with a new G4 system, the best way to get these extensions is to use Tome Viewer to extract the specific files from the OS 9 installer. Point Tome Viewer at Mac OS 9:Software Installers:System Software:Mac OS 9 Additions:Tome. Review Tests/Topics Pages: BenchMark Performance: Includes MacBench 5.0, G4Timedemo, Altivec Fractal Demo, CineBench 2000, and GaugePro and Steam memory bandwidth tests. Applications Performance: How the upgrade performed in real world CPU intensive applications/games like Photoshop 5.5, SoundJam MP, iMovie 1.02, Quake3 and Unreal Tournament. Software Controls: Ease of use and features of the supplied cache control software. Installation: Installation information and tips for troubleshooting should problems arise. Specs/Design: Features and details on the hardware design. Includes package contents and compatibility information. Summary: Final comments, summary and pricing/availability. System Compatibility: The JoeCard G4 is listed as compatible with the following Macs: Beige G3 (the All-In-One Mac uses a similar motherboard) *Note: Newer Tech warns that 'Royal' Brand Voltage Regulator Modules present in some Beige G3 (and perhaps AIO models) pose a danger of destroying G4 CPU upgrades. See the FAQ's Apple G3 or CPU Upgrade section for links to a page showing how to tell which VRM your Beige G3 has. Blue and White G3 Since the G4/PCI (Yikes) is based on the B&W G3 motherboard, I suspect this upgrade would also work in that model. Test System Hardware Summary Apple B&W G3/400 (revision 2) 256MB SDRAM (222 clock matched dimms) Maxtor 27GB IDE drive (6800 series, 7200rpm, 2MB cache) ATI Rage128 rev 2 in 66MHz PCI slot OS 9.04, VM off, QT 4.1 Pro, OpenGL 1.1.3, [No Libmoto] Apple Beige G3 160MB SDRAM Maxtor 27GB IDE drive (6800 series, 7200rpm, 2MB cache) ATI Rage128 VR ATI universal drivers v4.2 OS 9.04, VM off, QT 4.1 Pro, OpenGL 1.1.3, [No Libmoto] Apple G4/500 AGP (Sawtooth) Comparison System G4 CPU revision 2.8 256MB SDRAM (222 clock matched dimms) Stock 20GB WD Expert (7200rpm, 2MB cache) ATI Rage128 Pro AGP graphics card All OS 9.04 Altivec extensions were enabled OS 9.04, VM off, QT 4.1 Pro, OpenGL 1.1.3, [No Libmoto]

You can follow my preferred path through the review by continuing to the next page, or use the links below to jump to a specific page.

Index of MetaBox's JoeCard TM Z G4/450 2MB Cache Review Intro | Benchmarks | Appl. Tests | Software Controls | Installation | Specs/Design | Summary - or - Back to WWW.XLR8YOURMAC.COM

Copyright © Mike, 2000. All Rights Reserved. All brand or product names mentioned here are properties of their respective companies. Users of the web site must read and are bound by the terms and conditions of use.