Swapping G4 processors in a Sawtooth PowerMac

gotohamish · May 13, 2003, 05:39 AM

Hi

I had a G4 500 Sawtooth tower that I've upgraded with a GigaDesigns G4 1.25Ghz (overclocked to 1.3Ghz) - which means my original 500Htz processor is in a box. If I were to cheaply pic up another Sawtooth (say, the 350Htz one), would it just be a processor swap to make the 350-->500?

I assume the machines are identical, except the processor? Where does the cache live?

barkmonster · May 13, 2003, 06:10 AM

I'd do a search on xlr8yourmac to confirm if the clockspeed is set by the cpu module or by jumpers on the motherboard. I might mean that putting a 500Mhz cpu on a G4 motherboard that came with a 350Mhz cpu only runs it at the slower speed without making alterations somehow. Then again, it's probably perfectly simple.

The L2 cache is on the cpu module with the cpu itself.

gotohamish · May 13, 2003, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by barkmonster
I'd do a search on xlr8yourmac to confirm if the clockspeed is set by the cpu module or by jumpers on the motherboard. I might mean that putting a 500Mhz cpu on a G4 motherboard that came with a 350Mhz cpu only runs it at the slower speed without making alterations somehow. Then again, it's probably perfectly simple.

The L2 cache is on the cpu module with the cpu itself.

Thanks for that - I'm still wondering why I'd need another G4 though - more curious about being well informed when/if I sell my 500Htz processor card.

barkmonster · May 13, 2003, 01:19 PM

Thanks for that - I'm still wondering why I'd need another G4 though - more curious about being well informed when/if I sell my 500Htz processor card.

I must have worded that wrongly, sorry.

What I meant was, If I had a 350Mhz G4 and you sold me a cpu card out of a 500Mhz G4, It might only run at 350Mhz in my G4 if the clockspeed is set using jumpers on the motherboard rather than the cpu card itself.

Seeing as all CPU upgrades have jumpers on the cpu card, I'd assume the apple cpu card works in much the same way.

WannabeSQ · May 13, 2003, 01:29 PM

Your swap will work fine. I think barkmonster is talking about swapping an Apple CPU from a 133mhz bus machine to a 100mhz bus machine, but this is not that case. And, not all cpu upgrades have jumpers, only the Giga Designs ones do. The others require solder to overclock.

I think if you were taking say a 533 mhz processor from a 133mhz bus machine and put it in a 100mhz bus machine, it would run much slower, unless you changed the resistors.

GeeYouEye · May 13, 2003, 04:12 PM

One small problem. I think the 350MHz wasn't Sawtooth, but Yikes! (PCI Graphics), and it had a ZIF-style socket not found on Sawtooth and later. IOW, you'd have to get a 400 MHz G4 to swap it with.

gotohamish · May 14, 2003, 02:57 AM

Thanks for all your help and comments - anyone after a 500 CPU card?

Flickta · May 14, 2003, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GeeYouEye
One small problem. I think the 350MHz wasn't Sawtooth, but Yikes! (PCI Graphics), and it had a ZIF-style socket not found on Sawtooth and later. IOW, you'd have to get a 400 MHz G4 to swap it with.

There was a Sawtooth (AGP Graphics) 350 MHz. And somewhere... here still is

May 13, 2003, 05:39 AM	#1
gotohamish macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: BKLN	Swapping G4 processors in a Sawtooth PowerMac Hi I had a G4 500 Sawtooth tower that I've upgraded with a GigaDesigns G4 1.25Ghz (overclocked to 1.3Ghz) - which means my original 500Htz processor is in a box. If I were to cheaply pic up another Sawtooth (say, the 350Htz one), would it just be a processor swap to make the 350-->500? I assume the machines are identical, except the processor? Where does the cache live?
	0

May 13, 2003, 06:10 AM	#2
barkmonster macrumors 65816 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Lancashire	I'd do a search on xlr8yourmac to confirm if the clockspeed is set by the cpu module or by jumpers on the motherboard. I might mean that putting a 500Mhz cpu on a G4 motherboard that came with a 350Mhz cpu only runs it at the slower speed without making alterations somehow. Then again, it's probably perfectly simple. The L2 cache is on the cpu module with the cpu itself. __________________ 16Gb iPhone 5 • 2.53Ghz Mac Mini (8Gb, 60Gb Vertex 2) • Mbox2 • LG W2343T • Samsung SyncMaster 913n
	0

May 13, 2003, 01:19 PM	#4
barkmonster macrumors 65816 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Lancashire	Thanks for that - I'm still wondering why I'd need another G4 though - more curious about being well informed when/if I sell my 500Htz processor card. I must have worded that wrongly, sorry. What I meant was, If I had a 350Mhz G4 and you sold me a cpu card out of a 500Mhz G4, It might only run at 350Mhz in my G4 if the clockspeed is set using jumpers on the motherboard rather than the cpu card itself. Seeing as all CPU upgrades have jumpers on the cpu card, I'd assume the apple cpu card works in much the same way. __________________ 16Gb iPhone 5 • 2.53Ghz Mac Mini (8Gb, 60Gb Vertex 2) • Mbox2 • LG W2343T • Samsung SyncMaster 913n
	0

May 13, 2003, 04:12 PM	#6
GeeYouEye macrumors 68000 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: State of Denial	One small problem. I think the 350MHz wasn't Sawtooth, but Yikes! (PCI Graphics), and it had a ZIF-style socket not found on Sawtooth and later. IOW, you'd have to get a 400 MHz G4 to swap it with. __________________ I bring order to chaos. You are in chaos Windows, you are the contradiction, a bug wishing to be an OS. Visit Softyards Software NEW DEFINITION OF GEEK Like politics, free speech, computers, entertainment, and more? Join us at Wordforge.net
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May 13, 2003, 01:29 PM	#5
WannabeSQ macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2002	Your swap will work fine. I think barkmonster is talking about swapping an Apple CPU from a 133mhz bus machine to a 100mhz bus machine, but this is not that case. And, not all cpu upgrades have jumpers, only the Giga Designs ones do. The others require solder to overclock. I think if you were taking say a 533 mhz processor from a 133mhz bus machine and put it in a 100mhz bus machine, it would run much slower, unless you changed the resistors.
	0

May 14, 2003, 02:57 AM	#7
gotohamish Thread Starter macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: BKLN	Thanks for all your help and comments - anyone after a 500 CPU card?
	0


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