Estimated Street Pricing:
PowerForce Dual G4 Series 100 @ 800MHz $799
PowerForce Dual G4 Series 100 @ 1 GHz $1199

PowerForce Dual G4 Series 133 @ 867MHz $799
PowerForce Dual G4 Series 133 @ 1 GHz $1199

Availability: PowerForce Dual G4 models will be available within 2-3 weeks.

Note they mention a Dual G4/800 is possible with the Cube (but not the dual 1GHz)

" **The PowerMac G4 Cube has a lower capacity power supply and therefore we conservatively recommend installing at most a Dual 800MHz. As Motorola introduces faster processors with lower core voltages, this recommended clock speed limit may increase. The kit for the Cube includes a high-output fan which does mean the Cube is no longer silent but the trade-off is significantly more speed. Cube owners who prefer silent operation should opt for a single processor upgrade up to 1GHz. "

The single G4/1GHz Cube upgrade comes with an 80mm fan as mentioned in my review, but apparently the dual G4 model comes with a higher speed fan.

Note to early G4/AGP Sawtooth owners:
As noted in the FAQ here and a spring 2001 update to the Dual G4 CPU module swap article (as well as Sonnet's Duet errata page), the early G4/AGP motherboards had a Uni-N chip revision not compatible with dual CPUs. Uni-N rev 7 or later is compatible (some early models had Uni-N rev 3. I never saw a shipping mac with Uni-N 4, 5 or 6). If you missed the notes here on how to check your Uni-N revision using Apple System Profiler, Powerlogix also notes how to do this in their product notice page.

"Unsanity LLC Releases WindowShade X 2.1.1
Unsanity LLC announces the immediate availability of WindowShade X 2.1.1. This version fixes several bugs and improves performance.
New in this version:
* Japanese localization by Kaori Saegusa.
* Improved the way drawers in Cocoa applications are handled when a window is minimized.
* Fixes a bug in Roxio Toast Titanium 5.1.4 that made it crash on startup with WindowShade X installed.
* Rewrote sound playing system for better performance/memory utilization.
* Improved custom window shadows performance.
* Fixed a bug introduced in v2.1 causing system slowdowns.
* Fixed a bug with desktop icons being affected by custom shadow settings.
* Fixed a bug with incorrect drawer behavior while windowshading in Mail.app in Mac OS X 10.1.5.
* Option-windowshade all windows is now working properly in applications with floating windows visible (Eudora, BBEdit and others).
* A warning is given if the haxie was not activated properly.
* Updated with Application Enhancer v1.1.
* Obligatory smaller bugfixes.
WindowShade X 2.1.1 is available for download at: http://download.unsanity.com/windowshade-x-211.dmg.sit
WindowShade X is distributed as shareware priced at $7.00 per license. "

I added a note about this update to today's earlier reports on reduced performance with the previous version WindowshadeX. (See Wednesday's news page for reader reports on performance with the 2.1.1 Windowshade X update - most noted the performance slowdown was fixed.)

" Combat Mission is a 1-2 player, turn-based, simultaneous-execution 3D simulation of WWII tactical warfare. It combines unparalleled game depth and ease of use with a true 3D environment. The move to the 3rd dimension is not just to look cool, rather it it improves the accuracy of the simulation. Think of the world around us - it's all 3D. True 3D LOS, 3D spotting, 3D terrain, and 3D trajectories are a lot more realistic than 2D approximations, so that is what CM delivers.
Requirements:
PowerPC G3+, 3D graphic acceleration card. "

The ReadMe File also notes "Mac OS 8.6 to 9.xx" and includes a lot more info on the game.

NOTE: As with all modified files - these are provided "as-is" with no warranty or support. These files replace the existing files of the same name (use Sherlock to find the locations of the original files - and to avoid permissions issues in OS X if you're not familiar with the terminal, you may want to boot into OS 9 to replace the OS X file.)

• Updated the custom BootX to use the new boot graphic from Mac OS X 10.2. This looks a little odd when used with Mac OS X 10.0 or 10.1, but it works OK.
• Added a "debug" preference to show panic text, rather than the new panic dialog.
• Fixed the problem with the SCSI bus on unsupported Powerbooks.

" Mike,
A quick note on your readers comment on Let1KWindowsBloom and WindowShade X. We released an update today which fixed several bugs and should have improved the performance of Let1KWindowsBloom also.
Thanks,
Brian Wilson
Business Manager - Unsanity, LLC
http://www.unsanity.com/ "

See Wednesday's news page for reader reports on performance with the 2.1.1 Windowshade X update (most noted the performance slowdown was fixed).
(earlier news post follows) From a reader email, I personally have not used WindowshadeX. 2nd reader report added below.)

" Hi,
I don't know if anyone has sent this in to you or not, but it appears that Window Shade X can slow down your system (at least is mine). Here's the stats:

My System:
Powerbook G4 400Mhz with 384Mb ram, 20G 5400 rpm Travelstar hard drive with MacOS 10.2, 1152x768 resolution, thousands of colors, anti-aliasing set to light, all dock animations off. No third party themes.

Test with Let 1k Windows Bloom. Rebooted after each change in settings.

• Without Window Shade X enabled = 75 sec.
  
• With Window Shade X enabled and drop shadows turned off = 109 sec
• With Window Shade X enabled and drop shadows set to Apple Defaults = 105 sec

I thought turning off the drop shadows should speed things up? Looks like it doesn't on my system. I ran through this several times yesterday and the numbers varied slightly but it always turned out that things were much better without Window Shade X enabled.
Thought you might find this interesting.
Andy "

See Wednesday's news page for Andy's tests with the 2.1.1 WindowShade X version which resolved the performance drop.

Another reader replied to this post:

"Hi Mike,
Reading todays news about the Windowshade X slowing down the Let Windows Bloom test seems to hold true here also. With Windowshade X enabled on my dual ghz g4 with gf4ti and 256megs of ddr memory I get 37 seconds on a reboot with Windowshade X enabled and restarted with Windowshade X not enabled and I got 29 seconds on Let Windows Bloom test. Though basic finder features have not seemed to be slower or faster with Windowshade X enabled or not..
Sandy"

Windowshade X 2.1 was also reported to have a conflict with Toast 5.1.4 (removing it or reverting to Toast 5.1.3 was a tip). Version 2.1.1 released today solve that conflict.

" Hi Mike, knowing that you're a Cube user and enthusiast, here's a little project I've been working on. I call it Project: BlueCube
Rich C "

Rich's page is hosted on .mac, so bandwidth limits may shut the site down at times (happens often in the past when links are posted here to .mac pages w/many images). If the link fails, try again later (or the next day).

"Hi Mike, I've updated my power management benchmarks at http://technojunkie.org/berniec/pbpowerbench.html to include a comparison from 9.2.2 to 10.2. I don't have a comparison between 10.1.5 and 10.2, unfortunately, but 10.2 beat 9.2.2 for battery life in all but one test.
Thanks, Bernie"

CompactFlash Card Reader Reports
• USB Microtech Zio! CF reader used w/G4 AGP (OS X)
  (noted drivers worked in 10.1.x but not 10.2)
  
  SmartMedia Card Reader Reports
• USB Microtech Zio! SM reader used w/PowerBook G4 (OS X)
  (noted drivers worked in 10.1.x but not 10.2)
  
  DVD-R DVD Recorder Reports:
• IDE Pioneer DVR-04 in Dual G4 (OS X)
  (retail drive front tray edge must be removed to clear the opening in the new G4 mirrored drive doors model)
  
  IDE CDRW Drive Reports:
• Cendyne 481648AX (48x12x48) in Beige G3 (OS 9.2)
  (listed under "other" brands, noted drive set to slave, no itunes support)
• Lite-On LTR-48125W (48x12x48) in B&W G3 (OS X)
  (noted not bootable)
• Lite-On (Buslink RW4048 box) 40x12x48x in Dual G4 (OS X)
  (problems noted)
• Ricoh MP7200A (20x10x40x) in G4 no AGP (yikes) (OS X)
  (no itunes or discburner support)
• Sony CRX210A1 - 48x12x48x in G4/AGP (OS X)
  (using modified plugin file)
  (FYI - Illustrated CD drive install guide here covers G4 towers up to the Digital Audio Model, Beige G3 MT, B&W G3 and 8600/9600 Macs)
  
  Firewire CDRW Drive Reports:
• Sony CRX185E1 32x10x40x used w/Powerbook G3 2000 (OS X)
• Sony CRX195E1 (40x12x48x) in FW case used w/G4 AGP (OS X)
  (using modified support file added to FAQ yesterday)
  
  IDE Hard Drive Reports:
• IBM 120GXP 40GB in iMac (OS X)
• Maxtor 60GB in Beige G3 (OS X)
  (some problems noted)
• Western Digital WD1200JB (8MB cache) 120GB in iMac G4 (OS X)
  
  Firewire Hard Drive Reports:
• Lacie Studio Drive 60GB used w/Dual G4 (OS 9.1)
  (problems noted with some file copies)

You can find full owner reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). For guides to installing CD/CDRW/DVD drives or Hard drives in many mac models, see the IDE Articles page. The Firewire articles page also has guides on case kits, installing drives, etc.
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. [If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.]
(Entries today will be added the following newsday. Incomplete entries are deleted. Do not post questions in the database, it's for drive reports not questions on what drive to buy - for that try searching the database for reports from owners of your mac model on the drive type/brand/interface, etc. you're interested in.)

• Other World Computing G4/450 in Beige G3 (rated 10)
• Powerlogix G4/1GHz in G4/AGP (rated 9)
• Sonnet G4/500 in B&W G3 (rated 1)
• Sonnet G3/450 in PowerCenter 150 (rated 7)
• Sonnet G3/500 in 7600 (rated 7)
• XLR8 CarrierZIF MPe w/G4 450MHz ZIF in PowerTower Pro 250 (rated 8)
• B&W G3/300 OC report (@350)

(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand). For detailed reviews with performance tests and install tips, see the CPU Upgrades page.)

• 1 year ago today
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