G
G-Dog
Guest
I have a couple tech questions about improving the performance and reliability of my Mac at work. I asked a question about Mac vs. Dell last week, and you guys gave me some great information, so here I am again.
First: The Mac specs.
OSX Panther
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 933 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per CPU): 2 MB
Memory: 1.25 GB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Second: The Problem.
I have been told that this Mac will not be replaced for another year or two, even though it keeps getting less and less stable, and running very, very slowly. However, I’ve been told I can order a few new parts for it, but nothing over a couple hundred bucks.
Solutions I want to try. You guys tell me if these will help at all.
1.Reinstall OS X.
When I boot, I get about three error windows telling me things are missing, not installed correctly, and the like. The person before me who used this Mac had zero tech skills and really did a number on this machine. Things don’t run, fonts are spread all over the place and so on. Also, the only Mac repair people in town are idiots, plain and simple. Every time I have a problem I can’t fix myself, they show up and create new problems, including jacking up Adobe software installs and deleting font libraries with out asking. I want to start fresh. But, will this speed up processing time when working on graphics and other jobs?
2. Hard drive upgrade.
I’m still using the original IBM Death Star drive that came with the computer years ago. (If you don’t know why the IBM Deskstar is nick-named the Death Star, google “IBM Death Star”. It’s quite a story.) I’m hoping that a new system drive would speed things up. Is this the case, or would the difference not be worth the trouble? As far as drive choices, I’m interested in one of the fallowing.
2A. New IDE drive. A nice 7200 RPG drive with 16megs of Cache.
2B. New SATA controller card + SATA drive. I was looking, and found a company that makes SATA controller cards for the G4 series. I know that in the PC world, even a single SATA drive can reduce bottle necking, but what about on a Mac? Can a Mac boot from an SATA drive with no issues? Can a Mac run an SATA RAID setup to really boost drive performance?
3. Other Suggestions
I’m at my wits end with this machine. Anybody have any suggestions about ways to squeeze more out of this G4?
Thanks.
First: The Mac specs.
OSX Panther
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 933 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per CPU): 2 MB
Memory: 1.25 GB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Second: The Problem.
I have been told that this Mac will not be replaced for another year or two, even though it keeps getting less and less stable, and running very, very slowly. However, I’ve been told I can order a few new parts for it, but nothing over a couple hundred bucks.
Solutions I want to try. You guys tell me if these will help at all.
1.Reinstall OS X.
When I boot, I get about three error windows telling me things are missing, not installed correctly, and the like. The person before me who used this Mac had zero tech skills and really did a number on this machine. Things don’t run, fonts are spread all over the place and so on. Also, the only Mac repair people in town are idiots, plain and simple. Every time I have a problem I can’t fix myself, they show up and create new problems, including jacking up Adobe software installs and deleting font libraries with out asking. I want to start fresh. But, will this speed up processing time when working on graphics and other jobs?
2. Hard drive upgrade.
I’m still using the original IBM Death Star drive that came with the computer years ago. (If you don’t know why the IBM Deskstar is nick-named the Death Star, google “IBM Death Star”. It’s quite a story.) I’m hoping that a new system drive would speed things up. Is this the case, or would the difference not be worth the trouble? As far as drive choices, I’m interested in one of the fallowing.
2A. New IDE drive. A nice 7200 RPG drive with 16megs of Cache.
2B. New SATA controller card + SATA drive. I was looking, and found a company that makes SATA controller cards for the G4 series. I know that in the PC world, even a single SATA drive can reduce bottle necking, but what about on a Mac? Can a Mac boot from an SATA drive with no issues? Can a Mac run an SATA RAID setup to really boost drive performance?
3. Other Suggestions
I’m at my wits end with this machine. Anybody have any suggestions about ways to squeeze more out of this G4?
Thanks.