[Nobody]

quote:

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According to www.xlr8yourmac.com, QE will max out a PCI bus

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So I understand you to say that we don't really need QE. OS X v10.2 will run just fine without QE capabilities - correct? If so good. We'll wait for our new G? towers with Jaguar installed after the first of the year.

[Nobody]

Karl Seppala wrote:

quote:

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With the Radeon 7000 on a 7600 running 10.2 with our new Crescendo/PCI G4 800, the Quake frame rate test showed 37.4 to 37.7 fps. We've had really great results across the board with this graphics card.

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Karl, I assume you mean Quake 3? At what resolution was this test run? I can't wait to see what type of jump in FPS I get using the Crescendo/PCI G4 800 in a Power Mac 8500 with Quake 2 and Unreal Tournament. I am currently using one of your G3 400MHz cards and I have a PCI Radeon, not the 7000, which is somewhat crippled for gaming.

[ 09-18-2002: Message edited by: Gordon Hawley ]

[Nobody]

For those helping with your great advice:
we have had to postpone our install of the Sonnet/Crescendo 800 Mhz G4 card until Saturday the 21st (we are under a huge amount of deadlines and work comes first).

[Nobody]

For those who have been tracking my installation of the Sonnet/Crescendo 800 Mhz G4 Card and the Radeon 7000 Graphics Card: they are now installed in my PowerPC 9600/200 along with a RAM upgrade bringing the total to 920 System RAM. I am running OS 9.1 and have had the following difficulties:
1) could not interleave the RAM, it just would not work without system freezing so we de-interleafed it and it is fine
2) Unable to install the the Sonnet G4 enabler 9 - so we have no access to the AltiVec Engine
3) Tried to reinstall OS 9.1 and just install the AltiVec Libraries but to no avail. The OS 9.1 Updater does not allow us to customize the install so that we can the AltiVec Engine Or Sonnet Processor Upgrade Extension
4) in the System Profiler the info about the upgrade card reads that the processor speed is 450 Mhz NOT 800 Mhz as purchased.
5) as far as the Radeon card goes it doesn't seem any faster than the card that came with the 9600/200 and 4 MB VRAM.
I guess I need the original Mac OS 9.1 install disk not the Upgrade disk. And I also need some confirmation on whether this is a 450 Mhz or 800 Mhz G4 Card.

So far: total disappointment. Did some tests in Photoshop and ho hum performance. This is why I have never been one get a processor upgrade card. Just get a new machine because it is all new and integrated to for maximum performance. HELP!!! I am so disappointed plus I feel like I got ripped off (450 Mhz for the price of an 800 Mhz that I ordered).

[Nobody]

Rikki has started a different thread to report on his support and installation issues.

As for the Apple System Profiler reading, this is a known issue with many third party upgrades, not just those from Sonnet. ASP is written and supported by Apple, and they do not try to support CPU upgrades. For the most part, it checks to see if things are the way Apple intends or expects them to be. An 800MHz G4 in a 9600 falls outside the expected parameters of a 9600.

Sonnet has an open project to see if we can put a patch in a future software release so that ASP reports the correct speed. In the meantime we provide a product called Metronome that does correctly report the CPU speed of any machine on which it is run.

[Private_Saul]

Flash a pc pci g-force3 card and you will get QE

[Nobody]

Captain Saul: I think the Radeon is running fine it is the Sonnet/Crescendo card that is giving me trouble. Started Up this morning and the Finder crashed three times; I got a strange metallic crash sound before my screen came up and then a Finder freeze. Upon restarting several times got instruction set error messages. Plus I still have NO File Sharing my connection to my Ethernet Network is NOT working. I did notice on the back of the 9600 there is another <-->
icon that uses a multi pinned connection instead of the telephone jack connection.
Could my connection jack for Ethernet have gone bad (all of a sudden with this installation)? And, can I use the other connection?

[Nobody]

I noticed that no one mentioned the Radeon 8500, which was available for a time in a PCI version as well as AGP. Has 64 megs of RAM, and impressive specs. I don't know if it is available for sale new anymore, but eBay often has such items.

- Wolf

[Nobody]

Okay, I made one mistake something that has faked me out before: the problem with File Sharing has been solved. I had neglected to go to the AppleTalk menu and set it to Ethernet it was on Printer Port. So I now have my Networking restored. But as far as Sonnet tech support is concerned I have to go through the arduous task of eliminating an Extension conflict with no hints as to known conflicts. I keep getting a finder has unexpectedly quit error and the system freezes. The tech guy at Sonnet says it the card works with the Extensions: Sonnet Power Upgrade and Text encoding Converter ONLY in the Extensions folder than there is nothing wrong with the card. If that didn't work it would have meant that the Cache was bad and I would need to return the card. I don't know what is worse - I don't relish hunting down a mysterious conflict with no hint or history about what it might be. Any suggestions out there?

[Nobody]

I keep getting "The Finder has unexpectedly Quit" or "Finder Error" and "Bus Error", the system freezes up or it just crashes immediately at startup. I have been trying to clear my Extensions Folder of conflicts however, everything except (practically - no kidding) the Sonnet Power Upgrade and Text Encoding Converter extensions are the only two that will load and not cause a freeze or crash. I am so unhappy and have lost sooooo much work time. I have experienced the speed increase and it is very nice but the longest this upgrade card has stayed up and running is about 15 minutes and in fact the longer it stays installed the worse everything is getting. The glory days of 15 minutes up and running ended yesterday. I want it to work but it just ain't doin' it. Tech support has no ideas and I could spend forever coming up with Extension variations until I hit the combination that works and then that might not be what I need to actually run the programs and utilities I need to get our work done. Should I just bag it and send it back? images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/frown.gif

[Nobody]

It's 10 P.M in Seattle and I have just completed deinstalling the Sonnet/Crescendo 800 Mhz G4 Card and the Radeon 7000 Graphics Card put all the original parts back in the 9600/200, deinstalled the software that came with the above and my computer is humming along, again a machine I can work on. I went against my strongest convictions in buying these upgrade cards; I have never believed in upgrades as I have witnessed my colleagues fight with conflicts and system crashes and lost time and money. We have always purchased new Macs and have never (really) had any trouble (the Quadra 840av - motherboard had to be replaced twice - long ago but that was the only exception in a string of great computers). We will either buy a new workstation from the top of the line selection Apple has just put forth or wait until after January announcements of new products. I really wish this had worked but three days of trial and error and error and more errors and crashes is all we can afford; it will cost us overtime to catch up and I am sure Sonnet or ATI does not reimburse for wasted billable hours.