Breathing new life into a Quicksilver

[stoid]

Since the family tower has since come back to life. it is time to resume plans to upgrade it a bit. It is finally to the point that it is noticeably lagging during everyday usage, and is no longer classified as 'snappy'.

First, the specs:
733 Mhz Quicksilver
80GB 7200 RPM internal HD
384MB of RAM
GeForce 2MX


Obviously, the RAM is going to be the first investment, but I feel that it probably needs just another little kick to make it run a little nicer. I'm thinking that with the Tiger Core Image/Video, it would be great to have a new video card. Furthermore I know that in many machines the bus architecture is such that a faster CPU isn't too noticeable. The HD is an upgrade from the original config.

What is the cheapest way to upgrade the components, and can I install them all myself? With the video cards - we are using a VGA monitor and have no intention of getting a monitor from Apple. Do we still need to get the Apple version of the card, or can we get any regular PC compatible card?

 

[Dreadnought]

Well, I have a dual G5 with its stock ram (512 MB) and it is sometimes really slow! A bit more of ram in it ( 1GB more) should make a big difference. The same is with your machine. I hear a lot of people say that there Mac's fly when you put more then 1 or 1,5 GB of RAM in them, especially with os X.

Second, a new or second hand video card would be nice, the 2mx is pretty outdated, especially for everyday use. You can get normal vid cards, but they don't always work with a Mac. Make sure you can flash them, so that the firmware on it works with the Mac. Or spend a bit more money and get a Mac vid card.

The HD is pretty fast already, no need to change that, unless if you are out of space. Just plug in another one. And last but not least, and the most expensive thing: upgrade the processor. You can put a 1.4 ghz maximum (I believe) in it. Very important to look how much of L2 and L3 cache the upgrade card has, this makes a world of difference!

Good luck!

 

[yellow]

I upgraded my 867HMz Qwoosh '01 from it's original specs.

Other World Computing was the way to go.

Now:

Dual 1.4 GHz G4s
1GB SDRAM
nVidia GeForce 4 Ti
Sonnet ATA6 PCI card
2x80GB Seagates
2x120GB Seagates

Now I need to build a sound proof box. It's so freaking loud.

 

[cluthz]

All the things you are mentioning is user upgradable on the QS.
I think the 733 mhz G4 QS is a L3 cacheless machine.
Even a 1 GHZ upgrade with 2 mb L2 cache would boost the speed.
I would go for atleast 1.2 GHZ if i were upgrading.

If the computer isn't used for gaming or other heavy graphical use, you will get more speed for the $$ if you are investing the money in memory and CPU upgrades.

Ofcouse, don't spend too much money on upgrades, because the QS has decent resale value and the new iMacs are pretty cheap.....