[MrK540]

Hey all,
I want to max my G4 Sawtooth 400 out with a new processor and graphics card. I know that I could get a new iMac that would be faster than any G4 tower I can make, but I don't have that much money and I really like the tower design better anyway. I was researching on the internet and found the GigaDesigns 2.0Ghz single processor upgrade for G4s. It is a bit more expensive than other competing G4 processors($463 compared with $395, like the OWC Mercury Extreme 1.5 Ghz), but it looks promising.
My question is this: Is the 2.0 GHz Giga faster than a 1.5 GHz processor with 2 MB L3 cache. The Giga doesn't have L3 cache. It only has 512k L2 cache. I thought L3 cache was important for speed...
One french guy has reviewed this upgrade so far(http://www.macbidouille.com/article.php?id=186) and he concluded that the 2.0 GHz Giga only showed speed increases when lots of processing power was needed. Otherwise it was comparable to a 1.5 GHz G4 upgrade.
I want to use the computer for video editing and games(Halo mostly) so that's why I want to get the best processor upgrade for my money.
The other part to my question involves a new graphics card. I have a RAGE128 card at the moment. I want the best card a Sawtooth can handle. Does anyone know if the RADEON 9800 Pro Mac Edition with 256 MB DDR memory works with a Sawtooth? If that doesn't work should I get a RADEON 9800 PRO with 128 MB DDR memory or should I get a nVidia card?
Thanks in advance for your help. ANY advice would be greatly appreciated! /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[macnuke]

Barefeats took a look at the upgrade also.
you can read their results along with different video cards HERE
luck
m