[Calimack]

if you have a dual processor, can you have one chip at 1 ghz and the other at say 867 mhz?

[lemac]

Probably not. Upgrade companies don't sell MP where one processor is slower then the other. Nor did Apple. I think it might not be possible with current tech to do that anyway (why would you want to slow down one of the chips anyway?).

[Calimack]

not to slow it down cause I want to...more a money issue. Two 1Ghz cpus are a little too much money for me right now. I'm just trying to figure out what is cheaper and better, to buy a cheap older mac and hook it up or buy an upgraded mac already on ebay. what do you think?

[lemac]

I see.....
Well, now that Powerlogix released new dual 1.2 Ghz upgrades for 799 and that a new competitor in the dual market will be arriving soon (or so says the guy at the xlr8yourmac site), pricing should be less of an issue. The best in-between solution (if money is a concern) is having a fast single processor (such as the 1.4 Ghz).

[Calimack]

But if I was going to use the mac for graphics,music, video work, the dual processors are better, esp in the long run, say 2 years from now. Just need some advice...thanks

[SueG]

You can replace the single processor in recent G4's (since about 2001) with dual processor cards. I would suggest that you not get anything older than the Digital Audio model (newer would be the various Quicksilvers, the MDD, and the FW800).

[lemac]

Are you sure about that? I don't own one myself or tested the theory, but I think only Quicksilver 2001 and older are currently compatible with the Processor Upgrades floating around (meaning the MDD and FW800 are out, and possibly later Quicksilver models).

[SueG]

PowerLogix computer products compatibility page.

[lemac]

Hmm, seems like they added Quicksilver 2002 support. I don't remember that before. Sonnet's site doesn't mention support, but Gigadesigns also mention 2002 support...

[SueG]

It's a moving end point. It's still 2003, so support for 2002 models is really up to date for upgrades. Most people wait until the computer is two or more years old before upgrading.
We're talking about future upgrades. I think we can safely assume that support for newer models will come in the future.