Hands-On Review--1.4GHz MAChSpeed G4 Upgrade for 867MHz 12" PowerBook G4
When we wrote Gary Dailey at Daystar to inquire about their plans for an upgrade for the 867MHz model, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Daystar was about ready to offer an XLR8 MAChSpeed G4 Aluminum upgrade running at 1.4GHz for the 867MHz model. The 1GHz, 1.33GHz and 1.5GHz 12" PowerBook G4 models get a faster 1.67GHz upgrade but we pre-ordered one immediately. Going from 867MHz to 1.4GHz should provide a noticeable speed improvement.
Daystar uses the latest 7447A/B G4 CPUs made by Freescale (formerly Motorola). The CPU has 32KB of L1 cache and 512KB of L2 cache. Daystar simply switches out your stock G4 CPU for a new, faster one. No software is needed but Daystar does tweak the firmware to run the newer Freescale G4 CPUs. Daystar also offers upgrades for hard drives, optical drives, batteries and handles.
The process involves 3-way shipping. Daystar sends you an empty box, you send them your PowerBook in it and they send it back to you upgraded. 3-way FedEx Ground is free but unless you live in a state located near Buford, Georgia, or don't need your PowerBook G4 for up to about 3 weeks, we suggest you consider opting for 2-day FedEx or faster. Daystar even has "Weekender" service for those who can't be without their PowerBook during most of the work week--overnight it on Thursday and it's back on Monday.
How Fast Is It?
Before shipping our 867MHz 12" PowerBook G4 off to Daystar, we ran our standard suite of speed tests on it. Upon its return, we again ran the tests. In addition to the new CPU, our 12" PowerBook G4 had been previously upgraded with 1.128GB of RAM, a 7200rpm 60GB hard drive and a higher capacity 4400mAh battery from NewerTech. Here are the results:
| Test | 12" PowerBook G4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
867MHz
|
1.4GHz
|
Improvement
|
|
| Benchmarks: |
(stock)
|
(upgrade)
|
(%)
|
| Altivec Fractal 1.3 (GFLOPS) |
3.5
|
5.5
|
+57
|
|
Cinebench 2003 (9.5) - Rendering
|
81
|
135
|
+67
|
|
- OpenGL Hardware Lighting
|
157
|
250
|
+59
|
| Let1kWindowsBloom 1.0 (sec) |
20
|
17
|
+15
|
| Xbench 1.2 - CPU |
36
|
56
|
+56
|
| - Threading |
38
|
59
|
+55
|
| - Memory |
20
|
23
|
+15
|
| - Quartz Graphics |
39
|
54
|
+38
|
| - OpenGL Graphics |
56
|
74
|
+32
|
| - User Interface Graphics |
15
|
24
|
+60
|
| - Hard Disk |
30
|
31
|
+3
|
| "Real World" Tests: | |||
| Startup (sec) |
45
|
37
|
+18
|
| Shutdown (sec) |
10
|
10
|
0
|
| Launch System Preferences (sec) |
4
|
3
|
+25
|
| Dup. 500 MB Folder of Files (sec) |
100
|
82
|
+18
|
| Scroll 144p Adobe Reader 5.1 File (sec) |
34
|
30
|
+12
|
| Quake III Arena 1.32 (frames/sec) |
62
|
79
|
+27
|
As expected, the CPU-intensive tasks get a substantial speed boost--over 55 percent. Even graphics-intensive tasks get good speed boosts--over 27 percent. Of course, tasks that depend significantly on hard drive performance (Startup, Launch, Duplicate and Scroll) get lesser but not trivial improvements.
What About Heat?
The original 867MHz 12" PowerBook G4 is known for being one of the hottest (literally) of the PowerBook G4s. We measured its CPU temperature using Temperature Monitor, a free utility by developer Marcel Bresink. Our 867MHz 12" PowerBook G4 ran 50-51oC at idle (doing nothing but plugged into the AC adapter) and 57-58oC playing the 2006 Macworld Keynote by Steve Jobs on QuickTime 7.1. With the 1.4GHz XLR8 MAChSpeed Aluminum G4 CPU upgrade, the temperature measured at 47-48oC and 54-55oC respectively.
Our 12" PowerBook G4 runs about 3oC cooler with the 1.4GHz XLR8 MAChSpeed G4 upgrade.
What About Battery Life?
This is difficult to measure very precisely. It takes a major change in power draw to change battery life significantly. The LCD screen, fans and hard drive are all sources of significant power draw. We normally got over 4 hours of use of our 867MHz 12" PowerBook G4 on its new high capacity battery. This included an hour or so of WiFi use before boarding an airplane and some 3 hours of use on a transcontinental flight mostly doing typing with the screen set to its next lowest setting.
Given that our 12" PowerBook G4 runs cooler with the 1.4GHz CPU upgrade, we expect that the battery life during normal use should be at least as good as it was with the 867MHz CPU.
With the 12" PowerBook set at full battery conservation (screen at the lowest visible setting, fans not running, WiFi and Bluetooth off, and not accessing the hard drive), disconnecting the AC adapter with a fully charged battery the PowerBook with the original 867MHz CPU produced a reading of 5:46 in the battery menu icon. We got 5:48 reading under the same circumstances with the new 1.4GHz CPU upgrade installed.
With the everything set the same but WiFi on and playing the 2006 Macworld Keynote by Steve Jobs on QuickTime 7.1, using the 867MHz CPU it took 8:12 for the battery to drop to 95%, 18:25 to drop to 90% and 36:57 to 80% as measured by CoconutBattery. With the 1.4GHz MAChSpeed CPU upgrade, it took 8:30 and 18:47 and 38:34 for the battery to drop to the same respective levels, slightly better than with the original CPU--the battery icon showed 3:14 remaining at the 90% mark and 2:34 at the 80% mark.
Based on expectation and our tests, battery life with the 1.4GHz XLR8 MAChSpeed CPU upgrade is somewhat better than with the original 867MHz CPU.
In Summary
Unless Apple is secretly working on a small, ultralight MacBook Pro, the 4.6lbs 12" PowerBook G4 is history since last month's roll out of the new 5.2lbs 13" MacBook. Daystar's XLR8 MAChSpeed G4 Aluminum 1.4GHz upgrade for our 867MHz 12" PowerBook G4 is just what we needed to extend its useful life. It's a trifecta--the PowerBook's performance is improved significantly, it runs cooler and its battery life is better.
Our experience with Daystar Technology over the years has been excellent. Daystar's process for upgrading your PowerBook is painless and it worked for us. They also provide a unique 90/728 limited warranty. It includes:
- An initial 30 days of immediate replacement
- An initial 90 days of full repair or replacement
- Followed by 728 days under our extended warranty plan (repairs at a 50% discount).
Daystar Techology's XLR8 MAChSpeed G4 Aluminum Upgrade (1.4GHz or 1.67GHz) for the 12" PowerBook G4 is now available for $449 with free FedEx Ground 3-way shipping. [Bill Fox]
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