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numby
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Posts: 2
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Click here to see the profile of this user 		What's the best G4 PowerMac 4 me? - 2009/10/09 18:26 Well, SHE who must be loved, worshipped and obeyed has given me the green light to get my own mac.
It needs to run at least Tiger, be reasonably quiet, really reliable,upgradeable and be capable of running my Photoshop/photo editing software and SkyFighters1945(!)
My budget will probably be adequate on current second-hand prices here in New Zealand ( but cheap is always good- I'm only a school caretaker)
I'm thinking about the last of the Quicksilver line; the 800/933 single processor models.
Could I have some opinions?
They would be very much appreciated!
Cheers!
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harryb
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Click here to see the profile of this user 		Re:What's the best G4 PowerMac 4 me? - 2009/10/10 16:32 Tiger and Photoshop will both take advantage of a Dual Processor, and a 1.42GHz FW800 MDD is as fast as the G4 range goes. Very scarce here in Australia so imagine the same for you. Slightly slower 1.25DP are thought to be noisier, but did not find them so when used with Nap Control; under Chud Tools v.3.5.2.
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krowmagnum
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Click here to see the profile of this user 		Re:What's the best G4 PowerMac 4 me? - 2009/10/12 20:13 Avoid the 733 & 800MHz Quicksilvers because they lack L3 cache and have a small L3 cache. It really makes a difference too.

I suggest getting as fast as you can afford. The DP 800 or 933MHz is a good choice but stepping up to the MDD models will give a nice increase in power due to faster bus, RAM and AGP slot speeds over the QS models.

Like harry mentioned you will have an advantage with a dual processor in Photoshop but not a huge difference. If you can get a faster single processor than dual go for it. Duals sell higher and depending on the availability in NZ it may be a lot higher. Overall, the faster the CPU the better.
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numby
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Click here to see the profile of this user 		Re:What's the best G4 PowerMac 4 me? - 2009/10/14 12:35 Thanks Harry and Krowmagnum,
I've just successfully bid NZ$51.50 for a 800 QS single (I couldn't pass at that price!). Being quiet is a big deal so earlier MDD's are a bit dodgy as options (a shame really as a chap here has listed a bulk lot of 1.0 MDD duals-$1 start...) I've also still got my eye on a 1.42 MDD dualie thats still on $50...and listed in a weird section :-).
Next a 17" apple lcd monitor- there's one on three bucks...

I think the moderately small market in NZ is an advantage as everything you can think of is eventually sold here, yet you are sometimes only competing with a few other bidders. We buy tribal rugs and textiles etc, guitar effects pedals, plants, all sorts of stuff and seem to mostly do pretty well out of it.

The powerMac I've just bought is MUCH more powerful than our old main computer (before we got or intel iMac) ,a g4 800 iMac, which we both loved and did pretty much all we wanted. So I'll just stuff it with ram and caress it's sexy curves - this was the greatest period in Mac design.
Cheers!
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krowmagnum
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Click here to see the profile of this user 		Re:What's the best G4 PowerMac 4 me? - 2009/10/15 01:39 Good deal !

I always liked the Quicksilver design over any other Mac tower and I had an 800MHz QS a couple years ago. Solid machine but the lack of L3 and small L2 cache kinda hobbles it.

A couple things you can do though. Replace the CPU with a 933Mhz or DP 1GHz CPU. Or overclock the 800 to 867 and squeeze a little more power out of it.

Overclocking the 800 QS is pretty easy with an automotive window defrost repair kit:

http://powermac-g4.com/g4quicksilverclockup.html
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