A few newbie questions... (speeding up PowerMac G4, copying disk)

[dmurray14]

Hi guys...

I have a Powermac G4, getting to know the mac system. I like it a lot, but it does seem a little slow. It's the 867MHz model, with 512 of ram. Is there any way to speed things up? Running at 1280x1024, things are a little slow, and scrolling / navigating can be a little jumpy (for instance, searching in iTunes or scrolling in Firefox). Is this a function of the video card, CPU, or RAM? In the PC world, that would usually be a video card, but I don't know if the same symptoms are true for macs.

Also, I have a very small hard drive in there now, but I have a bigger drive I'd like to upgrade to. Is there any way to do a complete copy from one drive to the other so I don't have to reinstall tiger, etc?

Thanks!

Dan

 

[robbieduncan]

It's a combination of CPU, Video card and RAM. I'd recommend upping the RAM to at least 1Gb first of all. Also if you don't have much free space on your hard drive OSX can get a bit unhappy. Try and keep 2-4Gb minimum free.

Edit to add: SuperDuper is pretty good at cloning drives.

 

[dmurray14]

It's a combination of CPU, Video card and RAM. I'd recommend upping the RAM to at least 1Gb first of all. Also if you don't have much free space on your hard drive OSX can get a bit unhappy. Try and keep 2-4Gb minimum free.

Edit to add: SuperDuper is pretty good at cloning drives.

Thanks for the response. Is there any way to do the disk copy without buying additional software?

Dan

 

[Eidorian]

There's also...

http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

It sounds like your video card doesn't support Quartz Extreme. Click on the Apple then About this Mac. In "About this Mac" click on More Info. System Profiler should pop up and tell you more about your Mac. Under Graphics/Displays it'll tell you if your card supports Quartz Extreme or not.

 

[law guy]

Hi guys...

I have a Powermac G4, getting to know the mac system. I like it a lot, but it does seem a little slow. It's the 867MHz model, with 512 of ram. Is there any way to speed things up? Running at 1280x1024, things are a little slow, and scrolling / navigating can be a little jumpy (for instance, searching in iTunes or scrolling in Firefox). Is this a function of the video card, CPU, or RAM? In the PC world, that would usually be a video card, but I don't know if the same symptoms are true for macs.

Also, I have a very small hard drive in there now, but I have a bigger drive I'd like to upgrade to. Is there any way to do a complete copy from one drive to the other so I don't have to reinstall tiger, etc?

Thanks!

Dan

Which 867Mhz model do you have:

The quicksilver: http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=g4_quicksilver&performa=off&sort=date&order=ASC
OR
The Mirrored Drive Doors ("MDD"): http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=g4_mirror&performa=off&sort=date&order=ASC

Both of these were 4x AGP machines. Either the 128 MB ATI 9800 Mac Edition (but not the special edition which is 8x AGP) (Ah, here's a 256 9800 4x AGP/non-special edition for the G4: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ATI Technologies/100435058/) [UPDATE - after seeing the 256 4x 9800 card, I investigated a bit and found that the special edition / non-SE had both been discontinued and now there is the 258 that will support 4x AGP - here are some benchmarks: http://www.barefeats.com/rad4x.html) or the ATI 9600 256 MB video cards would be a way to upgrade the ram. I've seen the 256 MB 9600 from between $180 and $200.

The single 867 Mhz quicksilver maxes out at 1.5 GB of ram and the dual 867 MHz MDD maxes out at 2 GB. I purchased a 2 GB set for my dual 1.42 MDD from ramjet (samsung chips I believe). Others have had good luck with Crucial (Micron ram), which makes a good USA product in Boise Idaho - MR's has a link at the top of pages for crucial, I believe. More RAM will help a lot. I have found that the prices are fairly low, so it's not to difficult to max out your RAM and get every benefit you can there.

There are also processor card upgrades. See http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/g4reviews.html These as you would expect can make a big difference - See http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G4CARDS/powerlogix_dual_g4_7447_7457/index2.html for some bench marks of 1.2 to 1.8 Mhz G4 upgrades to a 733 MHz Quicksilver.

In addition to more RAM, adding a new video card, and adding a processor upgrade card, a faster HD couldn't hurt. As with any component, verify that your G4 has the correct interface.

Some general G4 trouble shooting tips that might help you in your upgrade adventures at: http://www.power-mac-g4.com/

Have fun.

 

[dmurray14]

There's also...

http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

It sounds like your video card doesn't support Quartz Extreme. Click on the Apple then About this Mac. In "About this Mac" click on More Info. System Profiler should pop up and tell you more about your Mac. Under Graphics/Displays it'll tell you if your card supports Quartz Extreme or not.

Which 867Mhz model do you have:

The quicksilver: http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=g4_quicksilver&performa=off&sort=date&order=ASC
OR
The Mirrored Drive Doors ("MDD"): http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=g4_mirror&performa=off&sort=date&order=ASC

Both of these were 4x AGP machines. Either the 128 MB ATI 9800 Mac Edition (but not the special edition which is 8x AGP) (Ah, here's a 256 9800 4x AGP/non-special edition for the G4: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ATI Technologies/100435058/) [UPDATE - after seeing the 256 4x 9800 card, I investigated a bit and found that the special edition / non-SE had both been discontinued and now there is the 258 that will support 4x AGP - here are some benchmarks: http://www.barefeats.com/rad4x.html) or the ATI 9600 256 MB video cards would be a way to upgrade the ram. I've seen the 256 MB 9600 from between $180 and $200.

The single 867 Mhz quicksilver maxes out at 1.5 GB of ram and the dual 867 MHz MDD maxes out at 2 GB. I purchased a 2 GB set for my dual 1.42 MDD from ramjet (samsung chips I believe). Others have had good luck with Crucial (Micron ram), which makes a good USA product in Boise Idaho - MR's has a link at the top of pages for crucial, I believe. More RAM will help a lot. I have found that the prices are fairly low, so it's not to difficult to max out your RAM and get every benefit you can there.

There are also processor card upgrades. See http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/g4reviews.html These as you would expect can make a big difference - See http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G4CARDS/powerlogix_dual_g4_7447_7457/index2.html for some bench marks of 1.2 to 1.8 Mhz G4 upgrades to a 733 MHz Quicksilver.

In addition to more RAM, adding a new video card, and adding a processor upgrade card, a faster HD couldn't hurt. As with any component, verify that your G4 has the correct interface.

Some general G4 trouble shooting tips that might help you in your upgrade adventures at: http://www.power-mac-g4.com/

Have fun.

Thanks to both of you!

I have the quicksilver model.

I just checked, and it says Quartz Extreme is supported, however Core Image is not.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[dmurray14]

Thanks to both of you!

I have the quicksilver model.

I just checked, and it says Quartz Extreme is supported, however Core Image is not.

Thanks,
Dan

Another question - would the standard card from a G5 2.0 Dual work in my quicksilver? My buddy has an extra...

Also, could core image be my problem?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[law guy]

Another question - would the standard card from a G5 2.0 Dual work in my quicksilver? My buddy has an extra...

Also, could core image be my problem?

Thanks,
Dan

Dan - do you mean the video card? The short answer is no, the G5s used 8x AGP cards from inception. BUT... I've read one write up about a certain ATI fire GL card having certain connectors covered with tap to get them to work in a 4x slot, but that's an iffy proposition at best. HOWEVER... There are cards that work in either 4x or 8x slots - the new ATI9800 that replaced the two different 4x and 8x specific card that I have a link to above is the only one that comes to mind immediately. If the card was designed to work in either, then okay. So, find out what sort of card it is (the OEM nVidia?) and check the manufacturer specs. If it is specified as 8x AGP only, I would guess no for your 4x machine.