The reason to go for A1G3XE instead...

[Helgis75]

After receiving a mail from Gunne about going for the AmigaOne G3-XE instead, being mainfold, i will tell you why to do this...

On the contrary, A1G3XE has a 750FX G3 at 800Mhz being faster than the G4 on the same frequency, as long as the Altivec unit of the G4 is not used and supported...

Secondly, because the G3 almost doesn't get warm at all, only generating 3V, while the G4 with the Altivec activated generates 500% more eletrical power than the G3. This is why Eyetech at the moment was looking for a suitable deliver of G4 CPU-fans, which means they will receive the A1G4XE boards at still an uncertain date, which could be another couple of weeks...

The advice i got from Gunne was that he would now order a small bunch of A1G3XE boards, which is still not being ordered yet, except from me now being the first who has exchanged my order going from A1G4XE to the A1G3XE instead. The reasons have been very clear, and the G3 should be 100% a stable system, while the G4-model could occur instability because of the extra use of voltage power..

I feel that the G4 is better served at a later date, especially the latest G4s from Motorola having 512KB L2 Cache and over 1Ghz. In the meantime, IBM also have future plans for their G3-series, the new 750GX being one of the first, with 1MB L2 Cache, running from 1.3Ghz and up, and later G3 models will also incorporate the Altivec unit. The G3 will simply become IBMs' answer to Motorolas' G4 series...

The G3XE is simply just a brilliant choice at the moment, and being upgradable also makes this the perfect choice, and the fact that Eyetech will receive the A1G3XE boards by next weeks, simply means we get the boards much faster...not having to wait another couple of weeks to months just to get the G4 model and perhaps getting too much heating problems...Better go for the G3XE instead, and upgrade the CPU later...You save a whole lot...

Just think about it. I for once will get the A1G3XE pretty soon, being perfect for Linux use, and by the way, Mai has finished the latest Linux kernel which should support High Memory above 768MB and having DMA active, even that it's still a little bit jerky...But a whole lot better than previous kernels..

Go for the A1G3XE. You won't regret it... :-)

[KennyR]

Why do I suddenly think of Articia?

[Hooligan_DCS]

@Helgis

o.....kay... ? :-)

[odin]

Helgis:

You still don't have your A1?? :-?

I remember you screaming death and destruction a few weeks ago, cos you didn't have it yet. :-D

[Helgis75]

I will get it pretty soon now. Eyetech gets the G3XEs by next week, so around the second week of June i get the board. I'm dumping the G4 model...The current version of G4XE is having too hot a CPU...it could become unstable...and i can always upgrade the G3XE at a later date..no problem there...

[takemehomegrandma]

This is why Eyetech at the moment was looking for a suitable deliver of G4 CPU-fans, which means they will receive the A1G4XE boards at still an uncertain date, which could be another couple of weeks...

But I thought that the A1G4XE was shipping in huge quantaties allready (more than 3 times units sold than Pegasos)? Does this mean that the A1G4XE isn't shipping at all? :-o  :-o  :-o

[takemehomegrandma]

KennyR wrote:
Why do I suddenly think of Articia?

Same here!  ;-)

[zacman]

>Does this mean that the A1G4XE isn't shipping at
>all?

It was (for a short period of time). They found a heat
problem which needs some changes to the G4 that's
why the next AmigaOne XE G4s will ship in around
6 weeks (July).

[zacman]

>so around the second week of June i get the
>board.

Well in that case (if you only get your G3 in June)
then I would wait two more weeks and get the G4 in
July when the heat problem is supposed to be fixed.

[JurassicCamper]

@Helgis

I have done exactly the same, changed for the G3-XE.

The reason I originally went for the G4 was the clockspeed. This was when the G3-XE was annouced as being 700Mhz.  Now it ships at the same clock speed at the G4 version.

I'll be changing  to one of the dual CPU boards later. But in the meantime I think the G3 is more than adequate.

Don't forget that some users  have got A1-XE(750FX) overclocked to 933Mhz.   :-P  :-P  :-D

 

[takemehomegrandma]

Well in that case (if you only get your G3 in June)
then I would wait two more weeks

"Just wait another " ... nah, I'll spare you the sarcasm ...  ;-)

[Karlos]

Is it really a G4 overheating problem holding things up? It's not as if it's a flipping AthlonXP-catches-fire-without-a-fan (really!) sort of chip, is it?

I've seen passively cooled G4 macs (copper flower heatsink)...

[CaptainFrank]

Hello,

> Is it really a G4 overheating problem holding things up?

Yes.


> I've seen passively cooled G4 macs

So have I, The ones I`ve seen have a huge heatsink on them.  The A1G4 has (in my opinion) a tiny VGA heatsink and fan.  It`s fine here in the UK, but aparently some people in warmer countries had stability problems.

Regards,


Frank,

[GAG]

OK.  So let me get this straight.  I should buy an A1G3XE 800Mhz and not the A1G4XE 800Mhz because it's slower or less powerful?
I'm confused!  Or are you saying that the full advantage of the G4 is not used becasue of lack of support for that processor?  Surely it would be better going for the G4?
If it's down to power and heat then that should not be a problem.  I have two PC's here which I can guarentee get a lot bloomin hotter!  I'm well used to having 4-10 fans inside a tower.  As for PSU's 300W should be ample and if not get a 400w or more.

If there is no advantage with getting the G4 over the G3 then I would also suggest that the G3 would be a better choice and then upgrade.  However, with the price difference I would still go for the G4 even if it was only marginally faster.

[mikeymike]

@ Helgis75

Even if altivec support wasn't mentioned (it was, btw) in the OS4 featurelist, that would be an incredibly short-sighted attitude.  If an OS doesn't take advantage of a significantly performance-enhancing architecture in one revision, you can be quite certain it will do, as soon as possible (ie. a patch for the operating system at a later date).