How to identify the correct PowerPC G4
Looking over your downloads, there are a couple of different builds for PowerPC G4 processors. I'm guessing that they are compiled to take advantage of certain features in a particular iteration of G4. If so, I think that's great.
My problem comes from trying to figure out which browser is compiled for my G4. I have two iMac G4 comuuters: iMac G4/800 15" and iMac G4/1.0ghz 17" (USB 1.1). They both have the PowerPC G4 7445. According to wikipedia, the 7445 is the same as the 7455, except the 7445 does not have the L3 cache. Does this mean I should get the 7450 build or stick with the 7400 build? I'm guessing 7400 as I assume taking advantage of the L3 cache is what differentiates the builds.
For my future reference (should I get a different PowerPC Mac in the future), would it be better to identifying the processors as 74xx and 745x (with "x" being the sub-model in the processor line, ie. 7441, 7445, 7447 & 7451, 7455, etc.)?
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Support Staff 1 Posted by Chris (chtrusch... on 09 Jul, 2014 08:32 PM
Hello aroneo,
I don't know about the L3 cache. More likely, the builds are differentiated by other things than just cache. E.g. the JIT is different as well and this is very important for browser speed. According to https://code.google.com/p/tenfourfox/wiki/WhichVersion you want the 7450 version for both your iMacs, and as long as Cameron doesn't say different, I'd stick to this.
BTW, MacTracker says 7450 for the 800 MHz, and 7455 for the 1 GHz iMac.
7400 vs 7450 is what you get returned from the "machine" command in a Terminal window, so there's probably no need to split the models up further. Logically, 745x would be a sub-model of 74xx in your classification, so this wouldn't work.
2 Posted by aroneo on 09 Jul, 2014 08:58 PM
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the quick reply. I'm actually off to install the browser for someone else who happens to have the same iMac. Now that I know which version to install, it will make the experience better.
Also, thanks for the clarification on differences between the processors. I was making a guess on the assumption that the 7445 and 7450 were different classes, which I now know they aren't. Also, my info for processors came from the Everymac.com model page, which is apparently inaccurate.
Thanks again and take care.
Support Staff 3 Posted by Cameron Kaiser on 09 Jul, 2014 09:27 PM
Chris is right; the 7445 uses the same architecture as the 7450. Only 7400 and 7410 processors should use the 7400 build. I have a 1GHz iMac also; it uses the 7450 build.
There isn't a big difference between the 7400 and 7450 builds, but there is a non-trivial performance impact to running the wrong one.
I'll close this ticket. No reply is needed unless you have another question. If you reply, the ticket will automatically open again.
Cameron Kaiser closed this discussion on 09 Jul, 2014 09:27 PM.