Ideal MorphOS hardware?
  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    matt3
    Posts: 655 from 2004/2/10
    Will you lose dual monitor support in MorphOS if you do this?


    Quote:

    bennymee wrote:
    Quote:

    matt3 wrote:
    I was wondering what everyone would recommend for an ideal MorphOS system.

    Looking for:
    1. Quiet running system or at least close to it.
    2. Best possible performance.
    3. Dual monitor environment.

    So far in life I have played with PowerMac and I love the performance, but they run loud and since I use MorphOS almost all day every day, it wears on you.

    Love the powerbook, that almost seems like the idea system, but I need 2 real monitors to work on (preferably 3!).

    I use more OS for work and productivity constantly, and really love it. Still looking for the ideal hardware for me though!



    With 2. you could use the Powerbook G4 with a Matrox Dual- or Triplehead to multiply the DVI output of the laptop.


  • »19.02.23 - 12:57
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  • MorphOS Developer
    jacadcaps
    Posts: 2968 from 2003/3/5
    From: Canada
    Well… if you don’t care about the portability, one could build a 2 monitor desktop from a PowerBook. There are lvds to hdmi adapters so one could rip the lcd panel of the PB and have dvi+hdmi.
  • »19.02.23 - 16:19
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    matt3
    Posts: 655 from 2004/2/10
    Thanks for the great idea, but I love portability to much!

    Hoping for good results for my single processor 2.0 GHz PowerMac PCIe system with the X1900 GT. I think we are getting closer with that. In theory that should run quieter as it was setup for air cooling from the factory, it will be amazing to work with 2 good sized monitors without the jet engine flying around all day freezing my feet off. :).

    Besides, once it is running I will need to purchase my 7th MorphOS license, sounds like an addiction problem to me...

    The PowerBook is truly amazing, being quite and powerful... Probably the best system to run MorphOS imho...

    Thanks to everyone for the helpful ideas!

    Quote:

    jacadcaps wrote:
    Well… if you don’t care about the portability, one could build a 2 monitor desktop from a PowerBook. There are lvds to hdmi adapters so one could rip the lcd panel of the PB and have dvi+hdmi.




    [ Edited by matt3 20.02.2023 - 14:57 ]
  • »20.02.23 - 19:56
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    matt3
    Posts: 655 from 2004/2/10
    I wanted to follow up now that I have the 2.0 GHz PCIe system up and running.

    I would nominate this as the ideal MorphOS hardware now that I have some time with it.
    It runs relatively quiet, as the fans spin at a slow speed constantly and I have it hidden behind the desk.

    For somethings it is actually faster than the 2.7 GHz PCIX system since it has a faster bus.

    Great to have 2 monitors again, can't go back to one for sure.

    The biggest issue I have is the video card, the PPC Bios X1900GT. A decent card, but much slower than the AGP X1950 in the other system. The 1900 struggles playing media files, where the 1950 did pretty well with them.

    So very happy for now to have a productive system that works very well.

    I will be looking at some point to play with another video card when Bigfoot wraps up the bounty and to see what cards are going to be best. I will need the 1900 for the point release updates regardless, so that is a keeper.

    Does anyone have any updated feedback on what they will video card they will choose?

    Quote:

    matt3 wrote:
    Thanks for the great idea, but I love portability to much!

    Hoping for good results for my single processor 2.0 GHz PowerMac PCIe system with the X1900 GT. I think we are getting closer with that. In theory that should run quieter as it was setup for air cooling from the factory, it will be amazing to work with 2 good sized monitors without the jet engine flying around all day freezing my feet off. :).

    Besides, once it is running I will need to purchase my 7th MorphOS license, sounds like an addiction problem to me...

    The PowerBook is truly amazing, being quite and powerful... Probably the best system to run MorphOS imho...

    Thanks to everyone for the helpful ideas!

    Quote:

    jacadcaps wrote:
    Well… if you don’t care about the portability, one could build a 2 monitor desktop from a PowerBook. There are lvds to hdmi adapters so one could rip the lcd panel of the PB and have dvi+hdmi.



  • »17.03.23 - 20:11
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  • MorphOS Developer
    jacadcaps
    Posts: 2968 from 2003/3/5
    From: Canada
    Quote:

    matt3 wrote:
    The biggest issue I have is the video card, the PPC Bios X1900GT. A decent card, but much slower than the AGP X1950 in the other system. The 1900 struggles playing media files, where the 1950 did pretty well with them.



    Video playback is essentially CPU, bus and memory bound. The GPU has nothing to do with it. That's the 700MHz less you're seeing.
  • »18.03.23 - 00:01
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    matt3
    Posts: 655 from 2004/2/10
    Quote:

    jacadcaps wrote:
    Quote:

    matt3 wrote:
    The biggest issue I have is the video card, the PPC Bios X1900GT. A decent card, but much slower than the AGP X1950 in the other system. The 1900 struggles playing media files, where the 1950 did pretty well with them.



    Video playback is essentially CPU, bus and memory bound. The GPU has nothing to do with it. That's the 700MHz less you're seeing.



    Thanks for letting me know. I will have to see if I can get a broken 2.5 PCIe going later this summer or tame the 2.7 flame fan breathing monster.

    The 2.5 should be the best all around system since you get a decent clock speed and the newer PCIe bus...

    For now, the 2.0 is only a single processor and so quiet... Gonna enjoy this for a while.
  • »18.03.23 - 01:17
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  • MorphOS Developer
    jacadcaps
    Posts: 2968 from 2003/3/5
    From: Canada
    2.3GHz is also pretty decent if you can find the cpu. Should be an easy job to replace it if you do.
  • »18.03.23 - 01:49
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  • MorphOS Developer
    zukow
    Posts: 642 from 2005/2/9
    From: Poland
    Quote:

    sailor wrote:
    @Amigaharry2
    copy that

    in real I am using OWB for pages where it works - it is faster.
    Wayfarer is great for all modern pages.



    In fact Javascript from OWB is slower than Wayfarer one running the same JS code. Just JS scripts from current webpages aren't executed correctly/fully so OWB is faster.
  • »18.03.23 - 11:39
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    matt3
    Posts: 655 from 2004/2/10
    Can you just swap CPUs?

    I would be willing to try putting the one 2.7 CPU in this 2.0 since there is only one of them and it may run quieter and I get the faster bus as a bonus? Do you have to stay in the same family (PCIX and PCIe) of systems? Does the CPU dictate the clock or the bios?

    Interestingly the PowerBook 1.67 G4 seems to play back media better than the G5 2.0.
  • »18.03.23 - 12:34
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12058 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > Javascript from OWB is slower than Wayfarer one running the same JS code.

    Interesting, considering that Odyssey/OWB comes with a JS JIT compiler while Wayfarer does not.
  • »18.03.23 - 12:58
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12058 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > Do you have to stay in the same family (PCIX and PCIe) of systems?

    That's a given. IIRC, even the CPU modules of the different AGP-based models are not freely interchangeable. There are some restrictions on which module works with which mainboard, which have been covered in some older MorphZone threads.

    Examples:
    https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=12690&forum=11
    https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=9459&forum=11
    https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=9371&forum=11

    > Does the CPU dictate the clock or the bios?

    On G5 systems (and opposed to G4 systems), the CPU clock is hardcoded on the CPU module and the other system clocks are derived from it.

    > Interestingly the PowerBook 1.67 G4 seems to play back media
    > better than the G5 2.0.

    Reasons may be the G4's faster-per-clock AltiVec/VMX implementation and the fact that MorphOS binaries are compiled for generic PPC (+AltiVec, if available), which corresponds more to the G4/e600/MPC74xx instructions and microarchitecture than to the G5/PPC970 instructions and microarchitecture.
  • »18.03.23 - 13:33
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  • MorphOS Developer
    jacadcaps
    Posts: 2968 from 2003/3/5
    From: Canada
    Quote:

    matt3 wrote:
    Can you just swap CPUs?



    As long as they're CPU modules for the same motherboard type. So you've a choice between 2, 2.3 and 2.5GHz on a PCIE G5.
  • »18.03.23 - 13:46
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  • MorphOS Developer
    zukow
    Posts: 642 from 2005/2/9
    From: Poland
    Quote:

    Andreas_Wolf wrote:
    > Javascript from OWB is slower than Wayfarer one running the same JS code.

    Interesting, considering that Odyssey/OWB comes with a JS JIT compiler while Wayfarer does not.


    Last version of OWB with static java interpreter is faster than Bigfoot OWB version with JIT javascript (probably due to compilation with newer GCC).
  • »18.03.23 - 15:46
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12058 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > Last version of OWB with static java interpreter is faster
    > than Bigfoot OWB version with JIT javascript

    Thanks for the info.
  • »18.03.23 - 16:04
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    matt3
    Posts: 655 from 2004/2/10
    Does anyone know if you can use a 2.5 GHz QC Processor from the PCIe system in a 2.0 GHz DC PCIe system?

    The processors appear identical. From reading some of the power supplies in the 2.0 systems might not have the wattage to drive both 2.5 processors, but since the 11,2 2.0 board only has one slot. Thought it might be ok.

    Anyone done this crazy thing before?
  • »30.03.23 - 12:01
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    matt3
    Posts: 655 from 2004/2/10
    Well I can report back that the 2.5 transplant worked.

    So in my mind this is now the ideal system.

    A single processor 2.0 PCIe 11,2 system swapped with a 2.5. Temps hover in the 130's (F) and the fans never spin up.

    IO and responsiveness is better than 2.7 PCIX system, very noticeable. Browsing in Wayfarer is definitely quicker also on the PCIe system than the PCIX system.

    The one item that didn't really change is video playback compared to the 2.0 system. I really think the video card has to have some impact on video playback at this point.



    [ Edited by matt3 03.04.2023 - 21:45 ]
  • »03.04.23 - 21:34
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    matt3
    Posts: 655 from 2004/2/10
    Upgrading 2.0 GHz PCIe PowerMac to 2.5G GHz

    Decent video to show how it's done. I could never find the tool he had, so I had to use pliers for the last 2 bolts he had trouble with.

    Thanks to Jaca and Frank for the ideas and motivation to get this done.

    [ Edited by matt3 06.04.2023 - 11:50 ]
  • »06.04.23 - 15:48
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