Power Mac G4 Upgrade Question

M

macmastah

Registered
I have a G4 PowerMac with 1 Ghz and 256 mb of Ram. It is fairly new and I wanted to upgrade it, processor, ram, and maybe cd drive( currently a cdrw dvd reading combo). Is it possible to run dual processors on this machine, if it is, where would i be able to purchase the second processor?

Thanks in advance
 
The best upgrade you could do in terms of cost and effort versus performance gain would be to get more RAM. This will really make a difference to the performance of the machine and not be too hard to sort out.

Proessor upgrades - particularly putting in a second processor - are pretty much out of the question .... unless you want to trade in the whole box. I wouldn't worry about this anyway. The Dual processor is faster than the single on certain specific tasks, like photoshop renders and some video/multimedia work. But because of the way the software does or doesn't use the dual processors, the single is just as fast as the dual on most of your general working, navigating, looking up, etc.

I don't know about updating the drive to SuperDrive. you might be able to swing it with your Apple dealer but it is expensive - and you would need to re-install OS X. Adding an external DVD writer is possible but make sure you find out if its supported first.

For the expense of some of the things you mention, you might as well trade in your PowerMac on a higher model. But I'd still say your best move at the moment is to get some more RAM into that machine.
 
Depends on the exact model. Do you have the FW800? When did you buy it?

If you do have the G4 (FW800) (which means you have three firewire ports - 2 at 400Mbps and 1 at 800Mbps. Then you have four slots for memory - one already used for the 256. You need PC2100 DDR SDRAM (10ns).
 
RAM dealers know what kind of memory different computers need. If you find a dealer you like, you can enter your machine, based on its specs, and they will tell you what kind of RAM to get.

Why do you want to upgrade your processor, especially if the machine is fairly new? You already have plenty of power at your fingertips with a single, 1 Ghz G4 processor. If you want a DVD burner, go for a Pioneer DV105, as that's the kind that Apple uses for its Superdrive.

The only way to add a second processor to your machine is to replace the entire motherboard, which is quite a hassle. You need a mobo with a specific architecture for running dual processors, which single-CPU machines don't have. Believe me, the best way to get dual processors is to buy a new machine.
 
Originally posted by macmastah
I have a G4 PowerMac with 1 Ghz and 256 mb of Ram. It is fairly new and I wanted to upgrade it, processor, ram, and maybe cd drive( currently a cdrw dvd reading combo). Is it possible to run dual processors on this machine, if it is, where would i be able to purchase the second processor?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Actually, there are no processor upgrades for your computer available. The only way of upgrading it would be getting a replacement dual 1.25 or 1.42 GHz card from Apple, but I guess they charge around $800 for them. Or you can keep an eye on this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2739294069&category=4601

But remember, if you upgrade your processor, you'll get nothing for your old 1 GHz because it doesn't fit any other models.
Get a G5 instead, and you'll even get the superdrive included :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top