iMac 800 to updated iBook

[jesus shuttlesworth]

hi everyone!

i currently use a G4 iMac 800mhz. 60GB, 256 RAM, superdrive.

would the updated 14" iBook be a worthy upgrade from what i'm using now? or would it be better to just wait for the intel iBooks next year?

thanks :)

[Luca]

Let's compare some statistics on the two machines...

Processor speed: 800 MHz vs. 1420 MHz
L2 cache: 256 kb @ 800 MHz vs. 512 kb @ 1420 MHz
Frontside bus: 100 MHz vs. 142 MHz
RAM: 256 MB vs. 512 MB
Hard drive: 60 GB 5400 RPM vs. 60 GB 4200 RPM
Optical drive: 2x DVD-R vs. 8x DVD±RW
Video chipset: 32 MB GeForce 2MX vs. 32 MB Radeon 9550
Screen: 15" XGA vs. 14" XGA

In some areas (the screen, for instance), it's very similar. But in most areas the iBook will be a huge improvement. The only area where the iMac is better than the iBook is the hard drive. Desktop hard drives, even at 5400 RPM, are still much faster than laptop hard drives. I think a 5400 RPM desktop drive will usually outperform a 7200 RPM laptop drive, and the iBook is stuck with just 4200 RPM. Still, it's not the end of the world. If anything, you'll benefit greatly from the extra RAM, but the faster processor with more L2 cache should help a lot too. And you should like the fact that it's a completely portable system.

[jesus shuttlesworth]

thanks alot!

i'm not really familiar with the ff. techinical stuff that you mentioned. i'd really appreciate it if you could explain these:

L2 cache
frontside bus

what exactly do these 2 things pertain to? what funtions of the computer do they affect?
:D

[Luca]

I'm not even sure myself what L2 cache does, even after reading the Wikipedia entry on CPU caches! All I know is that L2 cache is a very small amount of extremely high-speed memory designed to hold onto data or instructions that the CPU uses repeatedly. From a practical standpoint, having more L2 cache gives you much better performance. All I'm saying is that the iBook's CPU is not only running at nearly double the clock speed, but it's also got more L2 cache (at that same higher speed) to back it up, so it should be a lot faster overall. L2 cache is very important but a lot of people forget about it. Back in 1998, Apple released a lower-end PowerBook to their lineup that was very inexpensive but had no L2 cache. The result was a computer that performed less than half as well as the next highest model, which had only 7% more clock speed but also had an ample supply of L2 cache. You're not looking at anything so extreme here, since the inclusion of ANY amount of L2 cache (even 64 kb) is enough to increase performance tremendously over having none, but I still think the difference will be noticeable.

The frontside bus is the rate at which the CPU communicates with the RAM. A faster frontside bus basically means everything will be a little faster, but I don't think this would really be noticeable by itself. One time I tried using a computer on a 100 MHz bus, then moved the same processor over to one with a 133 MHz bus and ran it at the same clock speed, and I didn't notice any difference. So while it looks good on paper I don't think it really matters that much.

Overall, though, what I'm trying to say is that all these add up to the iBook being a faster machine. Now if you could only get a 5400-7200 RPM hard drive in there, it would beat your iMac at everything!

[CoolToddHunter]

Think of L2 cache like a desk. You keep documents in your filing cabinet, but that's inconvenient for regular work. So documents you're currently working on stay on the desk. When you're through, you put them back in the cabinet. The bigger the desk, the more things you can be working on without the down time of looking through the filing cabinet.

[Luca]

Actually, in that analogy, your system RAM is the desk. L2 cache is WAY too small to hold several things you're working on. All it can do is take care of a few tiny parts of the task at hand (albeit very quickly). The L2 cache would be whatever you can hold in your hands. Very small capacity, but immediately available to work on.

Filing cabinet = All your data (hard drive)
Desk = What you've been working on recently (RAM)
Hands = What you're doing at this very moment (cache)

[Robo]

I second Luca (as if you needed a second opinion) - the 14" iBook would be a very worthy upgrade from the iMac your using now (I miss the iMac G4...). Plus, it's, uh, portable. And the 14" model is a better deal than ever - so good, in fact, that even though I'd much rather have the 12" model I'm considering picking up the 14" one.

Enjoy your iBook!

[jesus shuttlesworth]

great analogy :D
that makes it all very easy to understand!

i'll go for it then! i'll just probably add for an 80gb HD and 1gb RAM to really set it up for the long haul. Enough for it to last till the first or second update of the intel-iBooks. since i'm sure the first batch will have alot of bugs..

thanks again! :)