I began simple with three video filters on a single video track: Gaussian Blur, Broadcast Safe and Basic 3D, with the layer rotating on all axes. The duration of the footage was about 13 seconds.
Result: Dual G4 1 GHz: 95 seconds; G4 933: 170 seconds. [an error occurred while processing this directive] The second test, at about 16 seconds, included three clips arranged in two video tracks. I used the Color Corrector on one clip and Lens Flare and Posterize on the other two shorter clips. I also applied a Cross Iris transition.
Result: Dual G4 1 GHz: 67 seconds; G4 933: 102 seconds.

The third test began the ramp up in processing requirements. Using a single clip (13 seconds), I applied Basic Border, Whirlpool and Curl.
Result: Dual G4 1 GHz: 175 seconds; G4 933: 325 seconds.

The fourth test was more heavy on filters than anything else, including Diffuse, Mirror, Color Balance, Desaturate Highlights and 4-Point Garbage Matte.
Result: Dual G4 1 GHz: 293 seconds; G4 933: 530 seconds.

For the last test, I incorporated three different text tracks (Video Generator) on top of my video footage. These included Typewriter, Crawl and Text. All were animated, of course, and the Text track included a highly varied Pond Ripple effect to give the CPU something extra to think about.
Result: Dual G4 1 GHz: 192 seconds; G4 933: 342 seconds.

Final Cut Pro test summary: You can't help but be impressed with how well FCP 3 takes advantage of the dual G4's second processor. Overall, Final Cut Pro on the dual machine achieved outstanding efficiency, coming in at 55.9 percent the time of the single 933. And, at best, it hit an awe-inspiring 53.8 percent.

What's a shopper to do?
So there are two ways to look at this, judging from these tests. If you work primarily in 2D design work, you can get yourself a G4 933 and feel pretty good about the purchase. You'll save yourself $700 (minus the cost of the extra RAM), and you won't be sacrificing too much in the way of performance. If, on the other hand, you work in video editing and/or compositing, the dual G4 is clearly the way to go, particularly with Final Cut Pro and Combustion. But even with After Effects, with its less dramatic performance gains from the dual CPUs, every little bit helps.

In terms of price and performance, the dual 1 GHz is 30 percent more expensive than the single 933. With Final Cut Pro, your 30 percent gets you 78.7 percent more performance, and with Combustion you get 59.1 percent more performance. Time is money. Simple math, right?

Next time around, we'll measure the performance of 3D applications in Mac OS X on these same two machines. Following that, we'll have benchmarks for and a complete review of the new PowerBook G4 800. Stay tuned!