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

Game Performance Tests

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

This page lists test results in popular 3D games like Jedi Knight II, UT2003 (v2225.2), Unreal Tournament X PR3, Quake3 (demo), and Halo (1.0.5). Since this is a test of CPU upgrades and not video cards, lower resolutions were used. (For comparison test of games at higher resolutions/tests of graphics cards - see the Graphics card section of the Video Topics page. Also, if ATI happens to release a new PCI Radeon card, stay tuned for a more detailed video card review. I will say now that if you want to have the latest games playable on your PCI mac, it's probably time to get a new mac.)

Jedi Knight II Tests:

Jedi Knight II as well as its sequel Jedi Academy and many other mac FPS, is based on the Quake III engine. Timedemo tests were run at 640x480/32bit since this is a CPU review, not a graphics card review. The map used is outdoors, and the G4s have a hard time pushing that many pixels around. The Radeon 7000 is satisfactory only up to Quake III and at low resolutions so performs well in this test.

JEDI II Tests
Note: like many Mac 3D games, Jedi Knight II is CPU bound, as shown in the 9700 Pro OEM Review and 9800 Pro tests, most of the high end AGP cards show flat FPS rates from low res up to 1600x1200.

Unreal Tournament X PR3 Tests:

I used the latest UT X (PR3) version as of this review date. Medium Quality settings, 1024x768 mode (the graphics card is not a much of a limiting factor with these settings), music volume set to 0, decals and dynamic lighting enabled, "Min Desired FPS" set to 0. Framerates seen in actual play will usually be significantly higher than what is shown with a demo benchmark however. But since it's impossible to play matches the exact same way, I used a botmatch demo that Mike recorded for testing. Again, the Sonnet G4s hit the wall (OWC's upgrade is CPU, rather than bus, limited).

UT X PR3 ests

Unreal Tournament 2003 Tests:

I used the full version of Unreal Tournament 2003 for Flyby and Botmatch tests using the "Asbestos" (indoor) and "Antalus" (outdoor) benchmarks on low and medium settings as specified by MacBidouille's BenchUT2003. The OWC Mercury Z600 really shines here - even in the CPU intensive botmatches. I used a clean INI file (defaults to 800x600) with two changes - sound channels were set to 8 (vs 32) and UseTripleBuffering = True. Results were rounded to 2 decimal places. Time restrained me from running medium tests on the G4 350MHz. Higher numbers are faster.

UT2003 Tests

Quake3 Demo Tests:

Unfortunately I could not find a full version of Quake3 before this review, so I was forced to use to non-G4 optimized demo. 640x480 and 800x600 resolutions were used since this is a CPU test, not a graphics card test. I used the default "High Quality" and "Fastest" Quake3 settings w/all game options on, changing only the resolution for those standard settings. An updated version of Quake would see significantly better scores form the G4s.

Quake3 Demo results

Halo Timedemo:

Halo (1.0.5) is my favorite game and in my opinion, the greatest test of a machine. In an attempt to get as much speed as possible out of the game (since this is a test of CPUs, not Graphics cards), I ran it with every single detail option off or on its lowest setting. Resolution was 640x480, no VSYNC. 22.58 or 19fps is playable, but you will be at a disadvantage. I do not believe that a new (PCI bus especially) video card will make much of a difference (higher resolutions and more complex shaders will be available), but we will see - a faster G3 could also help. Again, the Mercury Z600 at 550MHz puts up good numbers, but the G4 1GHz does not perform shabbily. Powerlogix's G3s are on top by a fair margin.

Halo scores

Other Sources of Game Performance Comparisons:

The Video card reviews page lists articles and reviews with comparisons of many previous Mac 3D video cards.
The Systems page includes reviews of various G5, G4, and G3 systems and iBooks/PowerBooks. Usually those reviews include game performance tests also.
Previous G4 reviews and G3 reviews include game test pages with various systems from G4 towers to G3 macs to Cubes.

The next page covers installation of these CPU upgrades. 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
Game Performance Tests
Intro \| Benchmarks \| Apps Tests \| Game Tests \| Installation \| Specs/Photos/Summary

This page lists test results in popular 3D games like Jedi Knight II, UT2003 (v2225.2), Unreal Tournament X PR3, Quake3 (demo), and Halo (1.0.5). Since this is a test of CPU upgrades and not video cards, lower resolutions were used. (For comparison test of games at higher resolutions/tests of graphics cards - see the Graphics card section of the Video Topics page. Also, if ATI happens to release a new PCI Radeon card, stay tuned for a more detailed video card review. I will say now that if you want to have the latest games playable on your PCI mac, it's probably time to get a new mac.)
Jedi Knight II Tests:
Jedi Knight II as well as its sequel Jedi Academy and many other mac FPS, is based on the Quake III engine. Timedemo tests were run at 640x480/32bit since this is a CPU review, not a graphics card review. The map used is outdoors, and the G4s have a hard time pushing that many pixels around. The Radeon 7000 is satisfactory only up to Quake III and at low resolutions so performs well in this test. Note: like many Mac 3D games, Jedi Knight II is CPU bound, as shown in the 9700 Pro OEM Review and 9800 Pro tests, most of the high end AGP cards show flat FPS rates from low res up to 1600x1200.
Unreal Tournament X PR3 Tests:
I used the latest UT X (PR3) version as of this review date. Medium Quality settings, 1024x768 mode (the graphics card is not a much of a limiting factor with these settings), music volume set to 0, decals and dynamic lighting enabled, "Min Desired FPS" set to 0. Framerates seen in actual play will usually be significantly higher than what is shown with a demo benchmark however. But since it's impossible to play matches the exact same way, I used a botmatch demo that Mike recorded for testing. Again, the Sonnet G4s hit the wall (OWC's upgrade is CPU, rather than bus, limited).
Unreal Tournament 2003 Tests:
I used the full version of Unreal Tournament 2003 for Flyby and Botmatch tests using the "Asbestos" (indoor) and "Antalus" (outdoor) benchmarks on low and medium settings as specified by MacBidouille's BenchUT2003. The OWC Mercury Z600 really shines here - even in the CPU intensive botmatches. I used a clean INI file (defaults to 800x600) with two changes - sound channels were set to 8 (vs 32) and UseTripleBuffering = True. Results were rounded to 2 decimal places. Time restrained me from running medium tests on the G4 350MHz. Higher numbers are faster.
Quake3 Demo Tests:
Unfortunately I could not find a full version of Quake3 before this review, so I was forced to use to non-G4 optimized demo. 640x480 and 800x600 resolutions were used since this is a CPU test, not a graphics card test. I used the default "High Quality" and "Fastest" Quake3 settings w/all game options on, changing only the resolution for those standard settings. An updated version of Quake would see significantly better scores form the G4s.
Halo Timedemo:
Halo (1.0.5) is my favorite game and in my opinion, the greatest test of a machine. In an attempt to get as much speed as possible out of the game (since this is a test of CPUs, not Graphics cards), I ran it with every single detail option off or on its lowest setting. Resolution was 640x480, no VSYNC. 22.58 or 19fps is playable, but you will be at a disadvantage. I do not believe that a new (PCI bus especially) video card will make much of a difference (higher resolutions and more complex shaders will be available), but we will see - a faster G3 could also help. Again, the Mercury Z600 at 550MHz puts up good numbers, but the G4 1GHz does not perform shabbily. Powerlogix's G3s are on top by a fair margin.
Other Sources of Game Performance Comparisons: The Video card reviews page lists articles and reviews with comparisons of many previous Mac 3D video cards. The Systems page includes reviews of various G5, G4, and G3 systems and iBooks/PowerBooks. Usually those reviews include game performance tests also. Previous G4 reviews and G3 reviews include game test pages with various systems from G4 towers to G3 macs to Cubes.
The next page covers installation of these CPU upgrades. 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.