Review Date: Nov. 5 1997 Visit Newer Tech.'s web for more info on this product.
=Summary=   PROS: Most affordable PPC750 card at time of introduction.   Good performance/value. Excellent software controls/utils   Memory Timing controls can boost some operations significantly   PhotoShop large file rotate speeds are amazingly good w/80MB allocated to PS.   With new software controls, performance is very close to more expensive Pro+.   CONS: Video artifacts seen with onboard video at thousands colors.   Can't accelerate CPU beyond rated speed. MacBench 4.0 scores  Control Panel Tests   Application Test Results

Updates: 12/06/97- To reduce the size and length of this page - the large list of application tests results were moved to a separate page. 11/18/97- Is Newer Tech's MaxPowr Pro V1.3 60ns memory timing really faster? See my software update report for the answer on this and the motherboard L3 cache question as well. 11/9/97- It seems that Newer is no longer providing the decal/label for your Mac. I'd read an early review that cited it was included, but my two cards (Pro and Pro+) were both used and demos, so I assumed the label was used or lost. Well the new Pro that Newer Tech sent did not have a label - so I'm assuming it's not provided anymore. Email to Newer Tech about this has not been answered so far. However - the new card had Speed Doubler 8 in the bundle! Nice!
Introduction:
Newer Technology was the first company to announce and ship a PowerPC 750/G3 CPU upgrade card, and the MaxPowr Pro is still the most affordable model on the market. The Pro model tested here has a 250mhz cpu and 512K of backside cache running at a maximum ratio of 1.5 ( 166.86mhz ). Bus speeds are selectable between 41.7, 45.5 (default), and 50.0 MHZ. According to Newer's CTO, the 45.5mhz bus speed is the preferred setting, with the highest memory bandwidth according to Newer. They suggested that tests of their newly released control panel with adjustable memory timing (w/Ram settings for 60ns and 70ns memory) be run at the 45mhz bus speed for best results. The initial test scores shown here are for that bus speed, but if time allows I'll be running a 2nd series of tests at the 50mhz bus speed. I have had one reader report via email that he could not run the 1.5X ratio at the 50mhz bus speed in his Mac, so I'd like to verify this myself while I can. I'll report my results in a future update to this page.
Product Description
The Newer card shows very good quality of construction and workmanship. They provide excellent control and utility software, including a memory test utility, clock speed verifier, and of course a control panel (all installed automatically by the installer). An extension is added to the boot disk to activate the MaxPowr Pro cache upon startup. As a bonus, a 3rd party software bundle is included as well containing Virtual PC (DOS only, not Windows95), several DOS Games, Speed Doubler 2.0 {not OS8 compatible, btw) and RamDoubler 2 [Update 2/28/98 - a reader notified me his new Pro 250/125 had only SpellTools in the package now] . Many owners may already have one or more of these packages, but it's still a nice feature. The manual is one of the nicest I've seen, very well illustrated with installation instructions and photos of Apple 73/75/7600, 85/8600, 95/9600, PowerComputing PowerTower Pro and Powerwave, and Umax S900 and J700 installation procedures. At the current time the MaxPowr Pro is not compatible with the PowerCenter Pro, although Newer says a future version will be (and their site lists it as so).(If in doubt about compatibility with your Mac, contact Newer Technology). The Newer card also is supplied with a removable aluminum support bracket that can be used for support in the 8500 and similar models - removing it allows the card to work in low-profile Macs. The MaxPowr Pro's MacBench CPU scores were better than any 604E card we have tested by a good margin, but were well behind the more expensive PowerForce 250 card. Results of Application testing showed the MaxPowr Pro to be a good performer and excellent value. The card was very responsive in use, and there were no problems encountered during the testing with the updated control panel (I used 1.2beta2 for these tests - the latest avail. at the time). Comparison with the MaxPowr Pro+ model: Newer also offers a Pro+ model, which differs from the Pro in the following areas: 266mhz CPU speed (vs 250mhz) 1 meg backside cache (vs 512K) Able to run 1:1 cache speed (vs 1.5:1) (It has run reliably in my 8500 at 266mhz cache speeds) The Pro+ is $700+ more expensive The Pro+ has 5ns IBM static rams, vs 7.5ns Micron on the Pro
Recent Performance Tweaks by Newer:
In a move that should certainly please any existing owner of the Pro/Pro+, Newer recently revised the Pro/Pro+ control panel for the following performance enhancements: Faster Cache Speeds (up to 1:1 - full CPU speed w/Pro+) Faster Memory Timing (settings for 60 or 70ns memory) Options to enable/disable motherboard cache Of most benefit is the faster cache speed options, as now Pro owners can increase their cache speed from a previous maximum of 125mhz (2:1) to 166.86mhz (1.5:1). Pro owners should be able to run the Pro+ model at the full 266mhz processor speed. The card I have has run fine at this speed for many hours. The new control panel features are a nice bonus for existing owners of the Pro and Pro+ cards. The a memory speed option allows owners of all 60ns memory to run a more agressive memory timing setting. Newer says their revised timing on cache reads and writes works best at the 45mhz bus speed setting in conjunction with 60ns memory. Our test results on it were positive overall, but the boost I saw was somewhat less than the results of Newer's preliminary testing (which showed 15% to 25% performance boost - we saw a maximum of 9.7% on a large Photoshop image rotate test), however on this test the MaxPowr performed very well - very close to the times with the PowerForce 250 card. Newer says maximum performance is achieved in cases where Photoshop is allocated enough ram so that operations on images do not result in the application writing (paging) to the swap file/Virtual memory disk. (Note that Photoshop does not use Apple's Virtual Memory methods - it uses its own VM scheme). Remember that Photoshop likes to have 5 times the image size in available ram. Even with a 80MB ram allocation, Photoshop 4 still paged to the swap disk almost constantly during our 32meg image rotate test. In cases like this the disk speed (and fragmentation state) can affect overall performance. I'll be adding another 90meg or so of ram this week - and retesting to see at what point can I run this test without the swap disk being used. Thankfully ram is cheap at the moment relatively speaking. The motherboard cache disable feature is very convenient, and has a "smart" option where it will enable the motherboard cache only if it's larger than the CPU card cache. Since the card is limited to 50mhz bus speeds, unlike the PowerForce cards, there should be no benefit to physically removing the motherboard cache in an attempt to achieve higher bus speeds. Note that Newer warns that MacBench will not report any improvement with the 60ns memory setting over the 70ns setting (but it did a little in the graphics score), but that applications will benefit as much as 25%. My testing in many applications shows that to be a very optimistic estimate - as most application tests I ran showed either no or very little improvement except for a 32meg image operation in Photoshop 4.0. For those with a lot of ram and working on very large Photoshop images there is better news - read on. Photoshop tests with large (32meg) images on certain tests such as rotating an image did show a improvement ranging from 2.4% (50 megs ram allocated to Photoshop) to 9.7% (80 megs allocated to Photoshop). Even with 80 megs of ram allocated to Photoshop, rotating a 32 meg (loaded memory size) image resulted in Photoshop accessing the swap (VM) disk during the operation. Photoshop likes to have 5X the image size in Ram or VM, so larger ram allocations to PS may show increased performance with the 60ns speed setting. Personally I was impressed with the 9.7% improvement in performance. To obtain an almost 10% increase via a software tweek is a bonus I'll gladly take. I was very surprised at the times of the MaxPowr Pro on the rotate test with 80megs allocated to Photoshop - there were almost equal (on this test at least) to the faster cache/more expensive PowerForce 250 cards times. Since I'm using a beta version (but rock solid) of the control panel, it is possible that Newer will fine tune the performance even more in the future.
MaxPowr Pro/Pro+ Control Panel: The latest Control Panel has the following features: Indicates backside cache size Indicates/controls cache speed (1:1* to 3:1 speeds selectable) Indicates/controls cache mode (write-back or write-thru*) Controls motherboard cache (On/Off/On if larger) Allows selecting 70ns or 60ns** memory timing * 1:1 speed only available with the Pro+ version * - Write-back or Copy back modes are faster than Write-thru, and use a "tag" sram chip to keep track of memory addresses in the cache that are changed (called "dirty"), as writes to the cache from the cpu are not immediately written to ram. Write-thru mode forces all writes to cache to go direct to memory. ** - All installed Ram should be 60ns speed.	MaxPowr Pro Control 1.2 & later
Card Speed Settings: All currently listed test results were obtained with the Pro set to 45mhz bus/166.86mhz cache speed (the 1.5 ratio setting), and of course the fixed 250mhz cpu speed. There were no errors or problems of any kind during the testing. Prior to testing, initial attempts to open the control panel with the original 1.2 release resulted in a locked machine. Newer responded with a revised control panel that worked well within 24 hours as promised (and at 2 A.M. to boot). That impressed me to say the least, as most software estimates are subject to my Reality Estimate Adjustment Logic (REAL) factoring - Double the estimate number and change the units ( i.e. 2 days = 4 weeks ). That's based on years of working around major software projects at my full time job. Thanks to Ben at Newer for the quick service.
What I'd like to see: I know that this is a much lower priced card than the PowerForce, but I'd really like the ability to accelerate the CPU to beyond the rated 250mhz speed. Newer's stance on this is widely known, as reported in their recent white paper. I ( and most of my readers ) disagree with this policy, although I can understand it from a cost standpoint. Providing that option can result in more tech support calls, and therefore cost to the company. They also cite the CPU lifespan may be affected. That can be argued, based on experience. I just want to state that for the record that I would consider an overclocking option as a desirable bonus, if you also agree, let Newer know about it and maybe they will give us that option in future products. Note that there were settings on some Newer cards that allowed overclocking (ie 60/240 on the 225 card), but there were not recommended or listed in the manuals to my knowledge. ( Update: Newer does allow running the static rams beyond their rated speeds with the new 1.2 and above control panels with the new faster cache speed options - for instance the Pro+ at 1:1 ratio is running 33% faster than the rating of the static rams. Example: the Pro+ srams are 5ns parts = 200mhz rating, at 1:1 it runs at 266mhz which is 33% beyond their rated speed. Note that the Pro+ has been reliable for me at this setting however. Maybe they have changed their policies, based on public demand for this feature.) The current control panel wisely prevents the user from attempting to run the 1.0 cache ratio (full cpu speed cache access) with the Pro version , as my information shows that Newer uses 7.5ns Micron static ram on the Pro, 5ns IBM chips on the Pro+, whereas the PowerLogix PowerForce runs 4ns in the PowerForce 250, and 3ns (yikes!) in the PowerForce 275 (both IBM mfg). With the 80% lower access time sram cache chips, the PowerForce 250 I tested runs very reliably at a 1.0 ratio and speeds up to 292.2mhz. But to be fair, that card costs about $800 more than the Newer Pro card. What about my motherboard cache?: As stated in the control panel features description above, Newer allows you to disable the motherboard cache to see if it results in better performance. As I had already removed the 1 meg cache from my 8500 test machine prior to installing the MaxPowr Pro, all tests were run without the motherboard cache installed. I may run tests soon with the RapidCache installed. I've read stories saying it helps and hurts performance, with most Pro owners reporting slightly better MacBench scores with a 1meg cache installed (about 40-50 cpu points in MB). As far as reliability, the Pro running the latest control panel and extension has been perfectly reliable, with no errors or lockups of any kind. And as I've seen with other PPC750/G3 CPUs, the card ran very cool - even during this 2 a.m. to 1 p.m. continous test session.
Installation:
Installation is a very simple. First, install the Newer Pro/Pro+ software and then shut down your Mac. Set the MaxPowr speed switch to the desired settings as shown in the manual (note: my manual was in error on this, as the 41mhz bus setting in the manual was reported as 45mhz by the latest Clockometer, which Newer said is correct). Remove your existing CPU card, and while it's out press the motherboard reset switch (hold for 20 seconds) to ensure that the new CPU card will be recognized at startup (btw - you'll have to reset your date and time). Insert the Pro card - ensuring that it is fully seated and power up the Mac. If you're installing into a Apple 85/8600 or 95/9600, ensure that the aluminum support bracket is installed to engage in the cpu card latch. Don't put the case cover back on yet - make sure that operation is reliable first. Boot the Mac, set your date and time, and other control panel settings that are cleared by the cpu reset switch (the Newer manual nicely lists the affected controls). Now open the MaxPowr Pro control panel and set the operating modes as desired. I set the Pro to 1.5 ratio cache (166mhz), 60ns memory, and the "Motherboard cache" setting to Off (the control already recognized that I had none and reported that next to the heading). Restart the Mac to ensure these settings are working. Run your favorite applications to verify proper functioning and reliable operation. Quicktime Video applications, Games and Virtual PC are some of the best applications to "shake out" a problem with memory or bus speeds. Then I recommend opening one of your favorite refreshments and enjoy the increase in performance the 750 chip and backside cache provides. MaxPowr Pro/Pro+ Compatibility: Newer's latest list shows the following Mac's and clones as compatible with the Pro/Pro+: PowerMac 7300/7500/7600/8500/8600/9500/9600 Power Computing PowerWave, PowerCurve, PowerCenter, PowerCenter Pro, PowerTower, PowerTower Pro UMAX/SuperMac S900, J700 Note = Early cards were not compatible with the PowerCenter/PowerTower/PowerWave models - but a free mod (including shipping ) to them for this is offered buy Newer. Later models are said to be compatible but verify this before buying. Backside Cache Info: (repeated from Powerforce review) The current Macintosh designs bus speed bottleneck is why cache is so important, as cache buffers the CPU from this slower "pipe". Cache contains very fast specialized ram that allows the CPU to run at its full speed without waiting on slower devices like Ram and disks. The larger the cache the better able it is to keep a fast CPU "fed" so to speak. When data is not in the cache, the CPU must wait on slower ram or disk access to process data. The Pro card features a 512k backside cache, operating at up to 166.86mhz speeds. There are options to reducing the cache speed should your card or system be unstable at the faster speeds. (I mention this as the Pro card was designed to run a 125mhz cache (2:1 ratio), but the new control panel offers a higher speed - which so far has been completely reliable in all tests. Higher end (more expensive) cards by PowerLogix were designed with 1meg, full CPU speed backside caches. Newer's Pro+ card has a 1 meg backside cache as well designed to run at 177mhz, but the new control panel will allow you to set the cache to run at the full CPU speed (266mhz with the Pro+). In several hours of testing, using a full compliment of applications I did not encounter any problems whatsoever. The only reason you would want to run the cache at a slower speed is if you experience any errors, lockups, or other problems at the fastest allowable speed. Increasing the ratio in the control panel sets cache access slower, increasing reliability at the expense of performance. Remember: Speed without Reliability is Useless. So far (about 12 hours of continous use) the Pro card has been flawless at the 1.5 (166mhz) cache, 45mhz bus and 60ns memory settings, as has the Pro+ model running the 1.0 (266mhz) cache speed. All my memory is 60ns speed - recommended when using the 60ns control panel setting.
PPC750 Cards/On-Board Video (Thousands Color Mode) Issues:
Some Pro models (one I had did, one didn't) exhibit the video artificats problem on systems that have built-in video capability when running in thousands color mode. PCI video cards are not affected, and the problem is most pronounced in areas of inverted video (such as selection areas, highlighted file open dialog boxes, etc). Changing the color depth to 256 or Millions colors solves the problem as first reported at Brett Harris's MaxPowr Pro Issues page. A sample from my 8500 is Here. On the PowerForce card, lowering the bus speed to 45mhz solved the problem completely, and on most Pro cards lowering it to 41mhz will solved the problem at a slight cost in performance. Again, changing color depths usually cures the problem, and most users of this card will be running true-color modes anyway. (Oddly, the faster Pro+ card did not seem to exhibit this problem - at least in my initial testing so far.) NOTE: In most cases setting the bus speed to 45mhz or lower and/or reducing the cache speed will eliminate the video artifacts completely.
Warranty:
According to the manual, Newer Technology's Pro CPU cards carry a 2 year limited warranty. (Powerlogix warrants their cards for 3 years, btw)
Base System Notes:
The base system used to test the MaxPowr TM Pro was our standard PowerMac 8500, with 128megs of matched memory (60ns), standard built-in video with 4 megs Vram, running OS 7.6.1. All Graphics tests were run using the 8500 video set to 1024x768, thousands colors (as is our normal mode). Disk cache was 512k (except as noted), Speed doubler 2.03 and LibMoto were active (Speed Doublers faster disk access was disabled). Quicktime 2.5 and Quickdraw 3d 1.5.1 extensions were also enabled (as done in prev. testing).
Benchmark Notes:
All tests were run using MacBench 4.0 . All graphics tests were run at 1024x768, thousands of colors , not the lower resolutions and color settings used by most of the magazine reviews. We feel our settings are more in tune with the typical Mac owner. Consider this when evaluating the video scores.
Newer Tech. MaxPowrTMPro Specifics:
PowerPC 750 processor running at a fixed 250 mhz (266mhz for Pro+ Backside cache size: 512K (1meg for Pro+) Maximum cache speed: 166.86mhz (1.5:1) w/latest software (266mhz for Pro+ Selectable Bus speeds of 41.7, 45.5 (default) and 50.0 mhz. Selectable Cache speeds from 1.5:1 to 3:1 (1:1 avail on Pro+)
Newer Tech. MaxPowrTMPro/Pro+ CPU Upgrade MacBench 4.0 Scores (Other systems/cards shown for comparison) For a chart of just Newer's Pro/Pro+ cards - see this Pro/Pro+ comparison. For a comparison of my scores to Newer's - see the MaxPowr Pro+ Macbench page
Applications Tests Results: Due to the sheer number of tests and to reduce the file size of this page, the application test results have been moved to a separate page. You'll find Photoshop, Bryce 2, Infini-D 4.0, Freehand, Norton Utilities, Virtual PC and other tests there. Check it out!
Final Analysis:
The MaxPowr Pro is currently the most affordable 750 chip based card on the market, providing about 80% of the MacBench CPU score and 90% or more of the performance in real world applications of the more expensive Pro+ model. It's no match overall for the PowerForce 250 card, but then it's $800 less as well. At approx. $850 (250/125) and $1300 (266/183), you pay a premium for the 750 chip and fast backside cache. The 604E cards are still the the best bangs for the buck out there now, but many need a L2 cache upgrade for best performance. If you don't want to mess with L2 cache upgrades and you need the application boost the 750/backside cache provides but can't afford the $1400+ price tags of the high-end PPC750 cards - then the MaxPowr Pro is just the ticket. **Prices seem to be dropping every day so check the vendors below for the latest pricing.
= Where to Buy = Any Newer Technology retailers. Better prices than retail are often at found at Bottom Line. Other World Computing or MacGurus. Prices change so often (almost daily) that I no longer try to list them. And remember that price is just one consideration before buying, so shop carefully.
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