Powerlogix's G3 1.1GHz vs Sonnet G4/1GHz Review/Comparisions

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The Source for Mac Performance News and Reviews

2004 ZIF CPU Upgrade Roundup:
G3/750GX 1.1GHz vs G4/550MHz, G4/800MHz and G4/1GHz CPU Upgrades
Performance Tests in Yikes G4/PCI System
By Nathan W.
Published: 7/6/2004

Benchmark Test Results

Intro | Benchmarks | Apps Tests | Game Tests | Installation | Specs/Photos/Summary

Benchmark Tests

Benchmark tests were run with AltiVec Fractal (FPU test), CineBench 2003, GaugePro, Let1KWindowsBloom, and Xbench. (A reboot between all tests (benchmarks and apps/game tests) to ensure as clean/consistent a cache/memory state as possible) Pure benchmarks are far less important than real-world applications tests, but many want to see them regardless. (The Apps tests page has results of tests with QT to MPEG4 conversion, iMovie4 QuickTime movie export, iTunes 4.6 MP3, AAC, and Apple lossless encoding, iPhoto (slideshow export), iDVD archiving, Garageband, Photoshop CS (50MB image/21 filter tests), the Finder archive function, boot time, and Word 04 (scroll test). The game tests page includes results with popular 3D games like Jedi Knight II, Unreal Tournament 2003, Quake3, and Halo.)

CineBench 2003 Results:
Since probably less than 1% of Mac users own Maxon's Cinema4D application, Mike and I use their freely available CineBench benchmark. (Which does more than just a simple timed render of a scene file - it also does shaded and wireframe model spins, "fly-throughs" of a 3D scene, etc. to show graphics card and CPU performance, not just rendering times.) CineBench 2003 is available at http://www.maxon.net/jumps/cinebench.html. As with all tests in this review, the desktop was set to 1280x960, millions of colors. The Radeon 7000 has faster GPU and memory clocks - the Radeon 7200 shows its age. The faster bus and high clock speed helps Powerlogix's upgrades pull ahead in this test. Higher numbers are better.

CineBench 2003 Results

Legend:

C4D Shading = Graphics performance using Cinema's software mode
OpenGL SW L = Graphics performance using OpenGL Software Lighting mode
OpenGL HW L = Graphics performance using OpenGL Hardware Lighting mode

Fractal FPU Benchmark:
I used the freeware Altivec Fractal (Carbon) demo program (available here) to compare FPU/Altivec performance of the various CPUs. Tests run in OS X 10.3.4 (not OS 9). Default settings were used. This is basically a FPU test (AltiVec boosted). (Note: MegaFlops=Millions of Floating Point Operations.) In terms of processing power and potential the G4 has a large advantage.

Fractal Demo Results
(Support of Altivec instructions dramatically increases performance with the G4 upgrades for this test; much more of an increase than actually seen in common applications that support Altivec.)

GaugePro Memory Bandwidth Tests:
Newer Tech's (R.I.P.) GaugePro has a simple memory bandwidth test included. I've seen a lot of variation with this utility, so all tests were run immediately after a clean reboot, with no other apps running. (GaugePro 1.1 is available at OWC's Newer Tech software mirror page.) G4s have always shown higher rates with this test than G3s due to the MaxBus enhancement to the 60x bus, which allows for higher sustained bus bandwidth than the "ancient" 60x technology in the G3. For more info see the G4 White Paper (http://e-www.motorola.com/files/if/cnb/G4WP.pdf) or the G4 Owner's Manual (http://e-www.motorola.com/files/32bit/doc/ref_manual/MPC7450UM_ZIP.zip). Even with better bus technology, Sonnet's upgrades take huge hits in memory throughput due to their 66MHz bus, but still are close to Powerlogix's upgrades.
GaugePro Mem. Bandwidth

Let1K WindowsBloom test:
Let1KWindows Bloom is a simple benchmark that opens and closes 1000 windows. It measures UI performance, but can be inconsistent at times. The top four offerings are all very close - the G3s only see a slight advantage.

1000 windows test

XBench (1.1.3) Tests:
Results from tests using v1.1.3 of XBench. Note: The OpenGL test is not truly reflective of real OpenGL performance, the CPU test is excessively accelerated by the G4, and the disc tests are very varied with each processor. I took the best overall run of three runs. XBench results are not a true measure of a computer's performance, but can be useful in some situations.

For comparisons to other CPU Card upgrades and systems see the site list of CPU Card Reviews and Systems page.

The next page has results from real world applications. Or you may use the links below to jump to a specific page.

Index of 2004 G3/G4 ZIF Review Pages
Intro | Benchmarks | Apps Tests | Game Tests | Installation | Specs/Photos/Summary

- or -
Back to WWW.XLR8YOURMAC.COM

Copyright © 2004 All rights reserved

No part of this sites content or images are to be reproduced or distributed in any form without written permission.
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.

The Source for Mac Performance News and Reviews
2004 ZIF CPU Upgrade Roundup: G3/750GX 1.1GHz vs G4/550MHz, G4/800MHz and G4/1GHz CPU Upgrades Performance Tests in Yikes G4/PCI System By Nathan W. Published: 7/6/2004
Benchmark Test Results
Intro \| Benchmarks \| Apps Tests \| Game Tests \| Installation \| Specs/Photos/Summary
Benchmark Tests
Benchmark tests were run with AltiVec Fractal (FPU test), CineBench 2003, GaugePro, Let1KWindowsBloom, and Xbench. (A reboot between all tests (benchmarks and apps/game tests) to ensure as clean/consistent a cache/memory state as possible) Pure benchmarks are far less important than real-world applications tests, but many want to see them regardless. (The Apps tests page has results of tests with QT to MPEG4 conversion, iMovie4 QuickTime movie export, iTunes 4.6 MP3, AAC, and Apple lossless encoding, iPhoto (slideshow export), iDVD archiving, Garageband, Photoshop CS (50MB image/21 filter tests), the Finder archive function, boot time, and Word 04 (scroll test). The game tests page includes results with popular 3D games like Jedi Knight II, Unreal Tournament 2003, Quake3, and Halo.) CineBench 2003 Results: Since probably less than 1% of Mac users own Maxon's Cinema4D application, Mike and I use their freely available CineBench benchmark. (Which does more than just a simple timed render of a scene file - it also does shaded and wireframe model spins, "fly-throughs" of a 3D scene, etc. to show graphics card and CPU performance, not just rendering times.) CineBench 2003 is available at http://www.maxon.net/jumps/cinebench.html. As with all tests in this review, the desktop was set to 1280x960, millions of colors. The Radeon 7000 has faster GPU and memory clocks - the Radeon 7200 shows its age. The faster bus and high clock speed helps Powerlogix's upgrades pull ahead in this test. Higher numbers are better. Legend: C4D Shading = Graphics performance using Cinema's software mode OpenGL SW L = Graphics performance using OpenGL Software Lighting mode OpenGL HW L = Graphics performance using OpenGL Hardware Lighting mode Fractal FPU Benchmark: I used the freeware Altivec Fractal (Carbon) demo program (available here) to compare FPU/Altivec performance of the various CPUs. Tests run in OS X 10.3.4 (not OS 9). Default settings were used. This is basically a FPU test (AltiVec boosted). (Note: MegaFlops=Millions of Floating Point Operations.) In terms of processing power and potential the G4 has a large advantage. (Support of Altivec instructions dramatically increases performance with the G4 upgrades for this test; much more of an increase than actually seen in common applications that support Altivec.) GaugePro Memory Bandwidth Tests: Newer Tech's (R.I.P.) GaugePro has a simple memory bandwidth test included. I've seen a lot of variation with this utility, so all tests were run immediately after a clean reboot, with no other apps running. (GaugePro 1.1 is available at OWC's Newer Tech software mirror page.) G4s have always shown higher rates with this test than G3s due to the MaxBus enhancement to the 60x bus, which allows for higher sustained bus bandwidth than the "ancient" 60x technology in the G3. For more info see the G4 White Paper (http://e-www.motorola.com/files/if/cnb/G4WP.pdf) or the G4 Owner's Manual (http://e-www.motorola.com/files/32bit/doc/ref_manual/MPC7450UM_ZIP.zip). Even with better bus technology, Sonnet's upgrades take huge hits in memory throughput due to their 66MHz bus, but still are close to Powerlogix's upgrades. Let1K WindowsBloom test: Let1KWindows Bloom is a simple benchmark that opens and closes 1000 windows. It measures UI performance, but can be inconsistent at times. The top four offerings are all very close - the G3s only see a slight advantage. XBench (1.1.3) Tests: Results from tests using v1.1.3 of XBench. Note: The OpenGL test is not truly reflective of real OpenGL performance, the CPU test is excessively accelerated by the G4, and the disc tests are very varied with each processor. I took the best overall run of three runs. XBench results are not a true measure of a computer's performance, but can be useful in some situations.
For comparisons to other CPU Card upgrades and systems see the site list of CPU Card Reviews and Systems page.
The next page has results from real world applications. Or you may use the links below to jump to a specific page.

Index of 2004 G3/G4 ZIF Review Pages Intro \| Benchmarks \| Apps Tests \| Game Tests \| Installation \| Specs/Photos/Summary - or - Back to WWW.XLR8YOURMAC.COM
Copyright © 2004 All rights reserved No part of this sites content or images are to be reproduced or distributed in any form without written permission. 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.