Upgrade Power Mac so it gets as new
Hi, i have a Power Mac G4 and wanna get it faster. Is this possible. Can i upgrade processor and graphic card?
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Yes. There are processor upgrades from several manufactures. www.FastMac.com had a couple of good ones. Call Darlene. 408/850-3377 tell her Richard from Lubbock always thinks of her. She’ll get a kick out of that. We did a lot of them. They had some well priced upgrades. XLR had some. They should be bargain priced now and well worth $100.+
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there are lots of cards available for this machine. I've done plenty. Cost now becomes a concern. It's easy to spend $400-500 on RAM, video card, & processor upgrades. Consider a 2GHz G5 Mac Pro on eBay for $500
Here are the FastMac upgrades: http://fastmac.com/processors.php
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Yah, you can upgrade just about everything, but do be sure how much money you want to put into it - they're only worth a few hundred now. RAM is pretty easy to find - it's standard PC 133 RAM for most G4 models. I recommend Other World Computing for RAM, as I've purchased a bunch of their ram - fast, reliable, and well priced!
Video cards are a tricky issue - Mac cards are very expensive, but you can flash standard PC video cards with a Mac Rom, depending on the card, chipset, ROM size, and some other factors. (http://theMacelite.wikidot.com/ is a fantastic reference for this!). PC cards are far cheaper, although still a bit expensive. Keep an eye out for sales and at used computer stores - I found a Radeon 9800 Pro for $15 once, and pulled another out of an old Dell desktop that had been thrown out. Note that the QS G4s use an AGP 4x bus, and that due to Apple's special ADC monitor port, you'll need to tape over pins 3 and 11 on any PC card you add. See the link for more info.
I believe you can swap CPUs with other QS models, if you find one used, but you won't get faster than a dual-1Ghz. Beware that MDD G4 CPUs are NOT compatible with QS G4s! You can find accelerators online, but they are all generally a couple hundred dollars, and most are discontinued.
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The MDD CPU uses the same connector, but won't mount in the case, however if the busses are the same (133Mhz) and you could figure out how to make it fit, it should work.
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Spend that $500 on a mac mini - migrate your info.. money well spent.
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I agree!!! ++
He wants to upgrade his computer so he can use it more, which is what this site is about. If he had wanted a new computer he could have specified that, but he didn't.
Hmm - Adam - How much should he waste on 1.5x performance upgrades that could have gone towards a 10x faster machine for $500? He may not know all the options, so those of us with more experience try to help him make an educated decision. This site is about more information, it is NOT about I'm right, and you are wrong!
I understand that, but he specifically asked "How can I upgrade this computer?", not "what's the most cost effective way to get a better computer?". There's a big difference between the two.
ten years later now, 2020. Very definitely now people searching for this information want to keep a specific "vintage" computer running. "Dave" probably had no idea his answer was saved for posterity, but certainly now I wish he and matthew put some effort into finding upgrade solutions. I hope people see this and consider the same when they answer, maybe if your advice is to get a new computer (or holodeck or whatever future tech is available!) just send a private message or email, don't clutter Ifixit with "Here's a nickle kid, get yourself a better computer"- Dilbert
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You can drop in a dual 1Ghz CPU (The fastest stock speed available) and max out the RAM to 1.5GB, for around $125 if you want to go a step further, you can buy a used ATI Radeon (Eg. 9600 XT) and flash it to run on a mac for about $25, if you have no plans to connect an ADC-Based Apple display. You will however need a PC to do this. If you need help flashing a card, let me know, I did one this week, and have all the info with me.
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Hello, I know it has been a long time, but can you give me, us some instructions regarding flashing graphic card?
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Want a whole new computer and OS? Just download and install linux for powerpc. I've got Ubuntu running on a dual 533 Powermac and it runs a lot faster and more efficiently than OS X (Tiger.) There's a ton of free linux software out there that's supported.
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Thanks! I understand that i can do it but it will properly take some time!
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Chris Green - Dude, you have all the info, please put the info here in a step by step guide! BTW - That is a cool thing to do if you are a big DIY computer type like you & me, but newbies blow stuff up, and get hung on simple technicalities.
lukaslevin - When you modify a Mac processor in any way you are asking for non-Mac-type trouble. Buy the new Intel Mini (comes with OSX 10.6) - (what matthewfrey said). I have modified ONE Mac of my 10+, and that was when I put an APPLE Brand PPC upgrade card in my 68000 Mac.
lukaslevin - If you have not maxed out the RAM, then buy more, that is the best way to go, then install MemoryStick so you can tell when you run out of RAM.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/806...
Installing MemoryStick now may help you tell if that is your problem...
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