Product Watch: German Company Joins the G4 Upgrade Arena
Phase 5 Digital Products
Phase 5 was founded in 1992 as a company dedicated to add-on products for the Amiga platform. In 1996 Phase 5 expanded to include video and processor upgrades for the Mac as well. The Amiga also uses the 68k and PPC processor so the move was a logical one. On December 3rd Phase 5 announced the availability of 350MHz, 400MHz and 450MHz G4 upgrades for a variety of Macs and clones. Phase 5's Macceletrate 7400 works on PCI based machines, their G4 Power Booster works on G3 Power Macs. Phase 5 also announced the availability of G4 upgrades for Power Mac 4400, Motorola Starmax systems and UMAX C series machines. Information on these cards is not currently available at their site. The backside cache on all cards operates at a ratio of 2:1 or 5:2 depending on the model.
When it comes to overclocking your PCI based card, Phase 5 takes a different approach from other manufacturers. You are allowed to push your bus speed but not the processor ratio.
"The MACCELERATE!7400 accelerators have an on-board switch, which allows to select between different available bus clock speeds, while the CPU/bus clock ratio is automatically adjusted to run within the specs of the CPU, which ensures safe and trouble-free operation, and avoids system failures or crashes due to overclocking. By using this approach, the MACCELERATE!7400 let you easily choose the best setting for your particular system, and avoid the hassle of testing numerous more-or-less stable configurations..."
Phase 5 has also added a direct order page to their web site for consumers in North America. This page must be printed and faxed in however, there is currently no facility for purchasing directly online. Below is a list of G4 offerings from Phase 5 along with their estimated shipping date.
Pricing and Availability
Card
MSRP
Available
Intended Machines
Macceletrate 7400 G4/350
$549.00
December 10th
Alternate Power Dome TS, Apple Power Mac 7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600*, 9500, 9600*, Umax Pulsar and Compatibles (Tsunami-, Nitro- and TNT-motherbords) *except models with 604r processor or Inline-Cache
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Phase 5 was founded in 1992 as a company dedicated to add-on products for the 
When it comes to overclocking your PCI based card, Phase 5 takes a different approach from other manufacturers. You are allowed to push your bus speed but not the processor ratio.