Apple Mac Upgrades - RAM, SSD Flash, External Drives and More

Export a 502MB DV File to MPEG-2 W/ FCP	L2 Cache	L3 Cache	Time, Sec.

Reference Apple Systems

PM G4/350 AGP Graphics (Sawtooth)	1024k	0MB	359
PM G4/400 Gigabit Ethernet	1024k	0MB	344
PM G4/450 Gigabit Ethernet	1024k	0MB	314
PM G4/500 AGP Graphics (Sawtooth)	1024k	0MB	287
PM 2x G4/450 Gigabit Ethernet	1024k x2	0MB	255
eMac G4/700MHz	256k	0MB	236

Acceleration Cards

GigaDesigns G-Celerator G4/800MHz	256k	2MB SPB SRAM	207
OWC Mercury Extreme G4/800MHz	256k	2MB SPB SRAM	212
PowerLogix PowerForce G4/800MHz	256k	2MB SPB SRAM	211
Sonnet Encore/ST G4/800MHz	256k	2MB DDR SRAM	209
GigaDesigns G-Celerator G4/1GHz	256k	2MB SPB SRAM	188
GigaDesigns G-Celerator G4/1GHz (@ 1.2GHz)	256k	2MB SPB SRAM	169
Sonnet Encore/ST G4/1GHz	256k	2MB DDR SRAM	177
PowerLogix PowerForce G4/1.2GHz	256k	2MB SPB SRAM	162
Sonnet Encore/ST G4/1.2GHz	256k	2MB DDR SRAM	162
GigaDesigns G-Celerator G4/1.25GHz	256k	2MB DDR SRAM	159
OWC Mercury Extreme G4/1.25GHz	256k	2MB DDR SRAM	163
OWC Mercury Extreme G4/1.3GHz	256k	2MB DDR SRAM	153
GigaDesigns G-Celerator G4/1.4GHz	256k	2MB DDR SRAM	153
OWC Mercury Extreme G4/1.4GHz	256k	2MB DDR SRAM	153
PowerLogix PowerForce 2x900MHz	256k x2	2MB SPB SRAM x2	157
PowerLogix PowerForce 2x1.0GHz	256k x2	2MB SPB SRAM x2	148
PowerLogix PowerForce 2x1.2GHz (@ 1.3GHz)	256k x2	2MB SPB SRAM x2	129

Final Cut Pro MPEG-2 Export. Shorter bars are better, all times in seconds.
The test file was created using iMovie's included tutorial movies. Load all of the included clips and duplicate them 2x to have 3 movies in a row in the timeline. Save the file as raw DV footage and open the file using Final Cut Pro. In Final Cut Pro, then export the file to MPEG-2 format, with the following specifications set: 720x480 Resolution 6.5Mbps Bitrate Include Audio Write Report File The exported MPEG-2 file ends up being 140.1MB. This test is fantastic for a benchmark as I ran the export multiple times and the test scores were exactly the same every time. This removes any stopwatch variables (the export writes a text file with vital statistics when it runs, no stopwatch needed) and I was amazed that there was no variation - ever. Perfect for testing!