Another quicksilver upgrade thread

occams razor · Nov 21, 2010

So I recently received a quicksilver 733 for free. Since im starting college in a month I figured I would try and upgrade it to get me through the next two years. I will mainly be using it for word processing, internet surfing, and watching various media. Its current configuration is okay but im looking to max out its performance.

What I already have for it.
3x 512mb pc133 chips
DVD-RW drive

What im looking to get
a hard drive or two (I have a SCSI card that came in a B&W that I had a few years ago and was considering adding SCSI drives to bypass the 128gb limit)
Dual CPU upgrade if I can find one for under $200 (yeah right huh? XD)

Radeon 9800pro

Now I have found a radeon 9800 all in wonder pro 128mb on the local craigslist for a PC. I have done some reading about flashing and taping pins to force the later cards to run in 2x mode for the sawtooth users. Is this card the same as a normal 9800 with the added video capture? If able to flash will the video capture work with my QS and osx 10.4? I have not been able to find any information on flashing this card or if its possible. any help would be appreciated!

ThunderSnake · Nov 21, 2010

occams razor said:
...and was considering adding SCSI drives to bypass the 128gb limit)

I think you'd be better off getting a Firmtek SATA card.

Dual CPU upgrade if I can find one for under $200 (yeah right huh? XD)

No problem. You should easily be able to find an entire working dual 1GHz Quicksilver under $200 on Craig's List or eBay. This will give you plenty of spare parts too.

Now I have found a radeon 9800 all in wonder pro 128mb on the local craigslist for a PC.

I don't think that can be used on a Mac. Look for the more standard R9800 with the diamond shaped heatsink. Take a look through The Mac Elite's ATI Buying Guide.

occams razor · Nov 21, 2010

mucho thanks snake. that ati buyers guide should be pinned!

Wouldnt a SATA card be bottle necked by the speed of the pci slots?

occams razor · Nov 22, 2010

Okay so I'm confused on flashing here. I dont have access to a pc for flashing. Can I use my QS to flash a card over? I have a pci video card I can drop in so I dont have to do a blind flash

Dave H · Nov 22, 2010

Yes. Radeon cards can be flashed in Macs.

ThunderSnake · Nov 22, 2010

occams razor said:
Wouldnt a SATA card be bottle necked by the speed of the pci slots?

No more so than a SCSI card. It will still give better performance than the motherboard ATA controller, but my answer was based more on your desire to bypass the 128 limit. If you're looking for cost-effective storage, SATA is the way to go. Also, any new drives should still be useful beyond the two years that you would like to keep this Quicksilver going. SATA drives can later be moved to any new tower without adapters or controller cards. There are also more options for putting them in external cases if you should choose a Macbook, iMac, or Mini as your next computer.

If you end up getting a dual 1GHz as a parts machine, the motherboard from that tower would also solve your 128 problem.

Yes. Radeon cards can be flashed in Macs.

Yup. And having a pci video card available for use makes that pretty easy. There are also some folks on eBay who sell cards that have already been flashed. It's not difficult for find one under $80. If you buy a PC version intending to flash it, try to test it in a PC before doing so. If there is a problem with the card, the vendor may not want to take it back after it has been flashed.

666sheep · Nov 22, 2010

occams razor said:
Dual CPU upgrade if I can find one for under $200 (yeah right huh? XD)

Radeon 9800pro

Consider these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SONNET-ENCORE-S...ade-/120650391336?pt=CPUs&hash=item1c1752df28

http://cgi.ebay.com/GIGA-DESIGNS-G-...CPU-/400166726785?pt=CPUs&hash=item5d2bcbac81

If you want to flash a card by yourself, consider 9700 (especially from Hercules, if you'll be able to find one) instead of 9800. 9700 runs cooler, draws less power and is near to 9800 performance-wise. Hercules cards have 128 KB EEPROM - they're taking full Mac ROM.

Hrududu · Nov 22, 2010

It'll be tough to find a new dual CPU upgrade for less than $200, but there are some single 1.6GHz options for a good bit under $200. http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upg...ype=Processor&TI=4333&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades

occams razor · Nov 23, 2010

I'm contantly trolling craigslist for a quicksilver with a bad logic board. But I have not seen a power mac die. That seems to be notebooks and iMacs that die lol. Right now as is it's holding it's own. I can even watch southparkstuidos.net as long as nothing else is open lol

ThunderSnake · Nov 23, 2010

occams razor said:
Right now as is it's holding it's own. I can even watch southparkstuidos.net as long as nothing else is open lol

If you're enjoying this computer now, you're absolutely going to love it with a CPU upgrade. The 733 is a dog. Even the single 933 with its 2MB of level 3 cache would be a significant upgrade. I hope you can find what you're looking for on Craig's List. The suggestions above by 666sheep and Hrududu are also well worth considering.

I'm contantly trolling craigslist for a quicksilver with a bad logic board.

Heh. Word of warning: I've purchased three "parts machines" from Craig's List this year, each sold as a Mac G4 with a bad motherboard. All three were fine. One needed a PRAM battery, one booted perfectly after reseating the CPU daughtercard, and the other simply had drives that were jumpered incorrectly. At less than $20 each, it was a great deal. Three more perfectly good Macs! But then....you still need parts machines....and so on. Be careful! It gets out of hand quickly.

occams razor · Nov 25, 2010

Oh trust me i know it gets out of hand. At one time I have a B&W, imac snow, Emac, and ibook g3 and used them all. Woman made me get rid of them though.

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Another quicksilver upgrade thread

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