Reviewer's Name: Scott W.
Date Submitted: 4/5/2005
Rating (1 to 10): 9
Manufacturer: Giga Designs Dual 7447A G4 1.8GHz (1.42GHz rated CPUs), 512KB L2 Cache per processor (no L3 cache)
Mac Type: G4 AGP 400MHz/1.2GB Ram, OS 10.3.8
Comments:
I got my giga this week, and have installed and had it running smoothly at 1.8GHz as promised... (full report includes comments on system firmware update, omitted here to save space)

Tests:
Digital Performer 4.52 under 400mhz took at least 40 seconds to load. With the upgrade its up in under 6 seconds!

iTunes chugs through a 3 minute song converting from aif to mp3 in about a minute thirty seconds under my 400mhz. Same tune took about 30 seconds with the upgrade.

Back to digital performer. I was able to run several instances of reverbs, sound destroyers, and virtual instruments at 512 buffer with headroom left over to open other apps, move faders, and generally still have a usable system. With the 400mhz I was running out of headroom sometimes with just two plugin instances and had to run these with 1024 buffer sizes.

I tested my largest file under Reason sequencing sampling software. This composition (http://www.garageband.com/song?|pe1|S8LTM0LdsaSkYlC_Ymw in case you would like to listen) would always crash at certain points in the tune with the 400mhz. It played smoothly through it with the upgrade with zero stutters or dropped samples.

The last test I can offer was using my soundcard MOTU 828. I was never able to run ANYTHING at 96khz with my 400mhz processor. I was able to run digital audio without a hitch under the upgrade, albeit 96k did not seem to run well with Reason, even with the upgrade, although I will experiment with this more.

Fan Noise:
I deducted one point for fan noise. It's not that the extra fans are extremely loud, it's the frequency they hum away at. It's enough to cause a bit of a headache, and although I will work with the mac on the tabletop for the time being (I would hate to put it out of sight) but I may have to put it into an enclosure to deaden the sound.

Heat:
It's hotter. I measured 102F out the rear exhaust, as I have no sensors to measure heat. The ambient temperature in the room was about 70F. I have heard that I'm good till about 150For until the cpu overheats and acts up noticibly. (Most G4 CPUs are rated for either 65C, 85C or 105C max internal junction temp, but I've not checked the specs on the 7447A they're shipping. The 7447A is also a lower core voltage CPU than the 745x series which helps. No accurate software utils for reading internal CPU temp (G4s don't report accurate temps and support for the feature was removed in later G4s some years back. Later macs have sensors on the logic board, etc. but no way to read the actual CPU junction temperature as far as I know.) I've had some upgrades with a thermocouple attached at the chip for monitoring using my Fluke 87 (i.e. the Gigadesign 1.2GHz Cube review), but that's not a standard config. I bought a cheap Radio Shack IR thermometer to read heatsink temps, but not sure how accurate it really is.-Mike) So I wont worry too much about the heat right now but if this seems excessive please let me know. I may have to clock it down for the summer, or simply to ensure longer life of the other components in the case. But I think it will be ok. All in all a good bump which will keep me going until apple rolls out with something more profound in a year or two.
Thanks Mike, Jason at Giga, and the reviewers on this site. It really helped me make my upgrade a smooth experience."

I asked he post an update in 6-12months if all is OK on the overclocked CPUs. (Upgrade vendors can't really test as well as the chip MFR's who do extensive tests across the temp and voltage range, etc. It will be interesting to eventually have long-term reports on these 7447A OC's.)

Reviewer's Name: Larry B.
Date Submitted: 4/5/2005
Rating (1 to 10): 10
Manufacturer: Giga Designs Dual G4 1.25GHz 7455 (tested at 1.33 GHz) 2MB L3, 256KB L2 per processor
Mac Type: Quicksilver G4/867
Comments:
I got this Gigadesigns upgrade after waiting almost a month for the dual 1.2 upgrade for my Quicksilver 867 that has already been upgraded with a Pioneer DVR-108. OWC sent this one to me for the same price. It was a very straightforward and easy upgrade to install.

Below are some tests of tasks I normally use. I've included results with the original Pioneer DVR-103 as well so you can see the benefits of both upgrades.

Startup
Stock 867 - 1:10
Dual 1.33 - :50

Finder Copy (iLife 03 install CD - 138.9 MB)
Stock 867 and DVR-103 - 1:23
Stock 867 and DVR-108 - :51
Dual 1.33 and DVR-108 - :40
(optical drives still a bit of a bottleneck on these sorts of tests)

Import U2 - "The Joshua Tree" into iTunes 4.7
Stock 867 and DVR-103 - 9:03 (4x-8x)
Stock 867 and DVR-108 - 4:55 (9x-13x)
Dual 1.33 and DVR-108 - 2:54 (18x-22x)

IDVD 3.01 (53 minutes of video, 3.88 GB, assets encoded, Confetti theme)
Stock 867 and DVR-103 - 79:00
Stock 867 and DVR-108 - 47:30
I didn't have the same project, but a similar project took:
Dual 1.33 and DVR-108 - 16:30

Export 1 hour iMovie 4.01 project to Full Quality DV movie
Stock 867 - 1:46:43 (1 hour to compress, 46:43 to export)
Dual 1.33 - 57:20 (32 minutes to compress, 25:20 to export)

Overall, I am very happy with this upgrade - especially since I had ordered one model below this one. Application startup times are significantly faster. Response times are quicker when multiple applications are open too. Video editing and DVD burning are vastly quicker and will save me much time over the stock machine. I haven't tried overclocking the processors yet because it has been so stable (no crashes, kernel panics, etc), but I may sometime in the future. Thanks for such a great resource. I wouldn't have been able to make such good decisions without it."

Thanks to all that post a report, especially those with before/after apps tests.

" Unrolling the Mac AltiVec performance abilities, Part 1
Apple has been very aggressive about getting AltiVec (aka "Velocity Engine" as Apple calls it.-Mike) optimizations into core components of its operating system, to make sure that users feel they're getting some benefit from it. Graphics applications on the Mac are very likely to be AltiVec enhanced. The consistent architecture has made the return on investment of AltiVec optimization quite good. Now that every Mac shipped comes with an AltiVec processor, every user will benefit if a program is able to make effective use of AltiVec for processing. This article gives you the basics on what AltiVec is, what it does -- and how it stacks up against its competition. "

(The article has a date of March 1st, 2005 which I assume is the date written by the author, not the date posted).

• Mac OS X Tip of the Week: Your Very Own Keyboard Shortcuts (apple)
• Review: iPod Camera Connector (Houston Chronicle)
• Impression 2.72, a digital archiving utility for OS X (Babel Company)
• Google Video to Accept Public Submissions (PCworld)
  (BTW - a friend mentioned maps.google.com which has a cool satellite photo feature, although zoom levels are limited for rural areas)
• Nvidia SLI homepage

Combo DVD-CDR Drives:
• Exp. Bay Matshita UJDA710 in (Pismo) Powerbook G3 2000 (OS X 10.3)
  (Using Patchburn 3 for iApps burn support. Systems page, Powerbook section has articles from 2001 on expansion bay combo drive installs/swaps.)
  
  DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives:
• IDE HP DVD640i lightscribe in G4/AGP (OS X 10.3)
  (using toast for burning but suggested trying Patchburn 3 for iApps burn support. No mac software that I know of for lightscribe feature though.)
• IDE Matshita UJ-825 in iMac G5 (OS X 10.3)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-109 in (MDD) Single G4 DDR (OS X 10.3)
  (Using Patchburn 3 for iApps burn support.)
  
  Hard Drives:
• IDE (serialATA onboard) Hitachi 250GB (x2) in Xserve (OS X server)
  (includes notes on Raid1/Mirror setup)
• IDE Hitachi Travelstar (5400rpm) 60GB in iBook 2001 (OS X 10.3)
  (FAQ's iBook section has links to drive upgrade guides)

You can find full owner reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). For guides to installing CD/CDRW/DVD drives or Hard drives in many mac models, see the IDE Articles page. The Firewire articles page also has guides on case kits, installing drives, etc.
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. (If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.)
(Incomplete entries are deleted. Do not post questions in the database, it's for drive reports not questions on what drive to buy - for that try searching the database for reports from owners of your mac model on the drive type/brand/interface, etc. you're interested in.)

• Giga Design Dual G4 1.25GHz in (QS) G4/AGP (rated 10)
  (includes apps tests vs stock G4/867 and DVD-103 vs 108 drives)
• Giga Design Dual G4 1.8GHz (7447A) in (sawtooth) G4/AGP (rated 9)
  (includes notes on system firmware update and apps test results)
  
  (Full reviews of G4 and G3 upgrades compared to stock CPUs, including real world apps/game tests, install info, etc. are linked at the CPU upgrades page. OC/CPU module articles are on the Systems page.)

(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand).