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Got my hands on the elusive MPC7448. What can I use it for?

W

wry

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 25, 2020
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Found it on a Matrox image capture card for $100. NXP wanted more than $1500 for it; they overcharge the crap out of their PPC units.

Heard it’s quite rare and only a few PPC Mac users have ever seen one.
 
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wry said:
Found it on a Matrox image capture card for $100. NXP wanted more than $1500 for it; they overcharge the crap out of their PPC units.

Heard it’s quite rare and only a few PPC Mac users have ever seen one.
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What model of Matrox card?
 
I did find what appears to be a related unit - Matrox Odyssey Xpro 7077-01 Ver.A Image capture card - listed for parts or repair on eBay UK. The listing photo showed 2 heat sinks that looked the same as the XCL.

I took a chance and nabbed it. It will not be my first reball project - I’ve got a Pismo, and picked up a spare CPU card and appropriate G4.
 
ADunsmuir said:
I did find what appears to be a related unit - Matrox Odyssey Xpro 7077-01 Ver.A Image capture card - listed for parts or repair on eBay UK. The listing photo showed 2 heat sinks that looked the same as the XCL.

I took a chance and nabbed it. It will not be my first reball project - I’ve got a Pismo, and picked up a spare CPU card and appropriate G4.
Click to expand...
I don't think the Pismo Cpu daughter card will be pin compatible with the 7448. Any Mac with the 7447a/b should be good or a daughter card with a 7455 maybe of use with an imposer board.

I think @dosdude1 did a swap with a 7448 on an iMac with a 7445?
 
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DearthnVader said:
I don't think the Pismo Cpu daughter card will be pin compatible with the 7448. Any Mac with the 7447a/b should be good or a daughter card with a 7455 maybe of use with an imposer board.

I think @dosdude1 did a swap with a 7448 on an iMac with a 7445?
Click to expand...
You can swap any 744x CPU with a 7448 (but firmware patches are needed on all but the latest PPC machines). So that would be 7440, 7445, and 7447 that can all be swapped with a 7448. You cannot swap a 7400 or 7410 with one, nor any 745x CPU without an interposer (of which I am currently working on).
 
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DearthnVader said:
I don't think the Pismo Cpu daughter card will be pin compatible with the 7448. Any Mac with the 7447a/b should be good or a daughter card with a 7455 maybe of use with an imposer board.

I think @dosdude1 did a swap with a 7448 on an iMac with a 7445?
Click to expand...
No, I got the G4s that are supposed to be pin compatible. Vendor lists as MPC7410RX500LE Encapsulation:BGA,REV 1.4,1.8+/-.05V,105C
 
ADunsmuir said:
No, I got the G4s that are supposed to be pin compatible. Vendor lists as MPC7410RX500LE Encapsulation:BGA,REV 1.4,1.8+/-.05V,105C
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EDIT: Misread your post. Yes, 7410 will work just fine on Pismo CPU board. As mentioned, you can upgrade to 7448 on any machine that comes with a 744x series CPU.
 
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I've also managed to accrue quite a nice collection of 1.7 GHz-rated 7448s over the years, which I use for various upgrade experiments.

image.jpeg
 
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DearthnVader said:
I don't think the Pismo Cpu daughter card will be pin compatible with the 7448. Any Mac with the 7447a/b should be good or a daughter card with a 7455 maybe of use with an imposer board.

I think @dosdude1 did a swap with a 7448 on an iMac with a 7445?
Click to expand...
Sadly, the Pismo is not and neither is the Titanium 1ghz, as I asked DosDude personally about this. It would be nice if the 7448 could be used on the 1 ghz titanium to replace the 7455, though this processor really hasn't given me much issues.
 
dosdude1 said:
You can swap any 744x CPU with a 7448 (but firmware patches are needed on all but the latest PPC machines). So that would be 7440, 7445, and 7447 that can all be swapped with a 7448. You cannot swap a 7400 or 7410 with one, nor any 745x CPU without an interposer (of which I am currently working on).
Click to expand...
Hi Dosdude, per what you told me the Titanium 1ghz I own will not support the 7448, at all or will it with this interposer you are working on ?
 
Macbookprodude said:
Hi Dosdude, per what you told me the Titanium 1ghz I own will not support the 7448, at all or will it with this interposer you are working on ?
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I'm guessing that any sort of middleman board is going to shift interest towards desktops rather than the very narrow confines of a notebook. You might have to do some very tricky, if at all possible, work with heatsinks to get both to fit where a mobile processor sits today.
 
And here it is, in its full unadulterated glory!
6038643F-B608-430D-A232-DA00398A6178.jpeg


I was surprised at how tiny the die was, it’s smaller than my fingernail.

But something I am a little concerned about are these little nicks and dents on the corner and edges of the die; no wonder they began to add heat spreaders.

55F20623-3F39-4CC2-97DC-D3B57EAD4C27.jpeg

CF4981CB-6A2E-4551-AD37-18835F0DDCA5.jpeg
D6894485-BF6D-4793-A71E-3EB350381D7D.jpeg


Either way, I also have an MC7447B and a CELL Broadband Engine as well as a RSX Reality Synthesizer on the way; gonna try to make an SPE-enhanced laptop out of them (to run Linux, not necessarily a PS3 out of them although I do have a mainboard with those as well). I’m majoring in computer engineering.

The macro lens effect was achieved by a small droplet of water on my phone camera lens.

dosdude1 said:
I've also managed to accrue quite a nice collection of 1.7 GHz-rated 7448s over the years, which I use for various upgrade experiments.

View attachment 1960101
Click to expand...
YOOOOO HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE THAT??? ???
 
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There are some existing threads here about getting and using the later G4 chips. For example:

forums.macrumors.com/threads/g4-7448-and-7457-swap.2233532/

Good luck with your project.
 
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wry said:
And here it is, in its full unadulterated glory!
View attachment 1963677

I was surprised at how tiny the die was, it’s smaller than my fingernail.

But something I am a little concerned about are these little nicks and dents on the corner and edges of the die; no wonder they began to add heat spreaders.

View attachment 1963678
View attachment 1963679View attachment 1963680

Either way, I also have an MC7447B and a CELL Broadband Engine as well as a RSX Reality Synthesizer on the way; gonna try to make an SPE-enhanced laptop out of them (to run Linux, not necessarily a PS3 out of them although I do have a mainboard with those as well). I’m majoring in computer engineering.

The macro lens effect was achieved by a small droplet of water on my phone camera lens.


YOOOOO HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE THAT??? ???
Click to expand...
It's pretty common for the edges of the die to be a little bit scuffed on the 7448. What you need to watch out for are small cracks in the ceramic package; if any are present, the chip will not work.
 
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dosdude1 said:
It's pretty common for the edges of the die to be a little bit scuffed on the 7448. What you need to watch out for are small cracks in the ceramic package; if any are present, the chip will not work.
Click to expand...
That’s what I’m a bit worried about, the seller did say that this was a non-functional board being sold as a donor board. Seems to be fine though, but the top is quite scratched and scuffed. Well as long as the actual silicon on the other side is intact…

And a few days ago I committed a cardinal sin… I had ordered a cheap and non-functional PS3 motherboard to try to gain some experience in desoldering using equipment at my uni’s creative lab, unfortunately I learnt the hard way that it’s extremely important to use a temperature controlled heat gun and a vacuum nozzle; I ended up cooking the substrate and cracking the die of both the CELL BBE and RSX, so the only thing I could get were some die shots of the silicon interconnects and then dispose of the thing in one of the many e-waste bins that line my campus.

At least it was cheap, just worried about the chips not being manufactured anymore. Same thing goes for the MC7448; they go for literal hundreds on Mouser and Digi-Key.

I just decided to order another CBBE and RSX as well as an MC7447B from eBay and shelve the Matrox board for now.

I’m also wondering what the Mohs hardness of silicon dies is; seems like using a 100% cotton cloth is fine on some dies but will scratch others.

I know, I sound like a fool.
 
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