Power Macintosh
Guide to G4 Daughter Cards for PCI Power Macs and Clones
Updated 2007.10.31
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The G4 goes two steps beyond the popular G3, adding the Velocity
Engine (formerly AltiVec) and the ability to use a 2 MB level 2
cache.
PowerLogix notes: "Unfortunately the G4 chip is not compatible with
Catalyst motherboards from Power Computing. This includes the
PowerCurve, PowerCenter, PowerCenter Pro, and PowerTower. But those
machines can still fly with up to a 500 MHz G3. The PowerBase, believe
it or not, is compatible with the G4." It remains to be seen if this
will apply to other brand G4 upgrades.
This page uses MacBench 5 processor scores. The previous page with MacBench 4 scores is still
available, but it will not be updated to reflect new models, price
changes, etc.
Note that computers upgraded with these cards may not support Mac OS
X. (Apple has emphatically stated it will run on all Macs designed with
a G3 processor, but has never promised any support for G3-upgraded
models.)
Discontinued accelerators are listed for historical reasons.
|
CPU
Speed |
Cache
Size |
Cache
Speed |
MacBench
5.0 rating* |
Estimated
U.S. Price |
| metabox joeCARD, adjustable bus,
discontinued |
|
450 MHz |
1 MB |
225 MHz |
|
disc |
|
400 MHz |
1 MB |
200 MHz |
|
disc |
| Newer Technology, MAXpowr
G4 |
|
450 MHz |
1 MB |
xx MHz |
|
disc |
|
400 MHz |
1 MB |
200 MHz |
1309 |
disc |
|
350 MHz |
1 MB |
175 MHz |
|
disc |
| Phase 5 Maccelerate! 7400, US
distribution by Software Hut |
|
450 MHz |
1 MB |
225 MHz |
|
disc |
|
400 MHz |
1 MB |
200 MHz |
|
disc |
|
350 MHz |
1 MB |
175 MHz |
|
disc |
| Sonnet Crescendo
PCI, updated 2007.10.31 |
|
1 GHz |
2 MB L3 |
250 MHz |
|
$100 |
|
800 MHz |
1 MB L3 |
200 MHz |
|
disc |
|
700 MHz |
1 MB |
|
|
disc |
|
500 MHz |
1 MB |
250 MHz |
|
$50 |
|
450 MHz |
1 MB |
225 MHz |
|
disc |
|
400 MHz |
1 MB |
200 MHz |
1267 |
disc |
|
350 MHz |
1 MB |
175 MHz |
1116 |
disc |
| XLR8 MACh Carrier G4 MPe (solo),
adjustable bus, updated 2005.01.06 |
|
450 MHz |
1 MB |
225 MHz |
|
$199 |
|
400 MHz |
1 MB |
200 MHz |
1274 |
$159 |
|
350 MHz |
1 MB |
225 MHz |
1028 |
disc |
* Processor score from MacWeek or Macworld when
possible, but many MacBench ratings are from manufacturers. End user
results will vary based on a number of factors including bus speed and
OS used.
Reviews & Overviews
