Imac G4 apart/upgrade

[tom vilsack]

found this 17" 1.0 G4 on craigs for $75...how could i pass...

installed 256 ddr sodimm i had (now total 512)...wiped default 10.2.3 (jaguar) off it,and installed leopard...still to slow and noisy...read this link about opening it up http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/iMac_g4/imacg4_takeapart.html...dust dust and more dust (pic below even after hand picking tons off)...clean clean clean (i forgot to take pic after)... i took out default 256 ddr pc 2100 and replaced with 512 stick...put back together (20-30 min latter and water pouring down my back (why is it always easier to take things apart)...booted up and it still works (phew)...so i now have 768 ram total and a whole lot quieter imac! and really not all that bad running leopard....im going to replace the 256sodimm with 1 gig, but thats simple replacement (just remove bottom medal shield)...

 

[VanneDC]

nice and white that one, no yellowing that i can see, good job.. Might wanna swap out the original HD for something quicker/bigger

cheers

 

[tom vilsack]

yes it looks like new...all white no yellowing

as for hd..it's a 80gig 7200rpm so not really that slow,and dont need the extra room....although a ssd might find it's way in the future ;-)

 

[fhall1]

I don't think you can replace the 256MB SODIMM with a 1GB....I think the max that machine will take is 1GB total (two 512GB sticks) , but you can check to be absolutely sure. I keep thinking about putting a SSD in mine to see if it makes it really "zippy" or not.

 

[Tyroler]

Daystar Technology has cut prices on its CPU upgrades for flat panel iMac G4 systems,............ http://www.macworld.com/article/47512/2005/10/daystar.html
http://daystartechnology.com/Apple_...h_Products/Mac_CPU_G4_Upgrade_iMac_FP_PS.html

http://www.barefeats.com/imup.html


Or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOm4hS_bvEA

 

[fhall1]

Nice....except those products were end of lifed several years ago

 

[AdrianK]

I don't think you can replace the 256MB SODIMM with a 1GB....I think the max that machine will take is 1GB total (two 512GB sticks) , but you can check to be absolutely sure. I keep thinking about putting a SSD in mine to see if it makes it really "zippy" or not.

According to the wiki, all >=1GHz models support up to 2GB.

256MB of PC2100 (266 MHz) DDR SDRAM
Expandable up to 2GB via one factory installed memory module in a 184-pin DIMM slot and one 200-pin user-accessible SO-DIMM slot (officially only 1GB is supported)

I believe that's actually something you told me a while back

 

[tom vilsack]

http://lowendmac.com/imacs/17in-imac-g4-1-ghz.html

"RAM: 256 MB, expandable to 2 GB using one user accessible PC2100 SODIMM (up to 1 GB) and one 184-pin DIMM (also up to 1 GB) - only officially supported to 512 MB modules by Apple."

 

[fhall1]

According to the wiki, all >=1GHz models support up to 2GB.


I believe that's actually something you told me a while back

Hahahaha....it's tough getting old!

 

[MacPig]

I've had one of these since new and it has 1.25gb ram and the bigger screen and a 120gb hdd. Any idea what its worth?

 

[fhall1]

If the case is still pretty white and LCD still looks good I'd say between $120 and $150

 

[tom vilsack]

question:

i notice in both leopard and tiger (split partitions so running both) that internet pages lagg while scrolling.(doesn't matter the browser)...right now i have 768 ram (512 inside...256 sodimm) if i do up the sodimm to 1 gig (total then 1536mb) would this help with scrolling lagg..or is that more a condition of 1.0 GHz ppc cpu?

 

[surroundfan]

Go into Activity Monitor - if you've got lots of Pages Outs and a large Swap Used figure, that means you're running out of RAM. Otherwise it'll be the processor.

Having said that, RAM's so cheap now that you may as well up your Mac to 2GB and be done with it...

I'm keeping a close eye on this thread because I know of an old unused G4 15" gathering dust that I'm hoping to obtain, bump up the HDD, DVD, RAM and OS (to Leopard), add some Audioengine 2s and use as an iTunes jukebox in my bedroom to replace a dying mini CD system.

I've thusfar got a 1/2 AA battery, Torx 10 and 15 screwdrivers, thermal paste, network cable, old 160GB HDD, old DVD burner and Leopard. Just got to convince my friend to part with their old 'puter now and buy the right RAM for it... ;-)

 

[Hrududu]

I've got 2 of these same iMacs. One is running Tiger with 1GB of RAM and the other is Leopard with 2GB. Tiger with a full GB does feel smoother with web page scrolling and within the Finder as a whole. Those CPU's just don't take to Leopard so well. I've run Leopard on several G4 systems. A 500MHz Cube, 867MHz PowerBook, 1GHz eMac, 1.5GHz PowerBook and the only one I felt ran it very well as the 1.5GHz PowerBook. If you want the best "feel" then Tiger is your best bet. Even with 2GB of RAM, I can tell you Leopard won't feel as fast as it should on there.

 

[tom vilsack]

Hrududu:

i have split partitions (3 partitions total) so also running tiger on it as well...tiger runs it a bit better,but still displays lagg when scrolling web pages...i did read on a google search that going from 768mb to 1 gig ram makes a big difference...so perhaps thats my issue even within tiger...maybe for fun ill try running leopard and use firefox 2.0.0.20 or camino 1.6.11...

tonight i downloaded unbuntu 10.04 and ran the live cd/dvd...i can report firefox 3.6.3 run way better! im getting almost no lagg at all (can only imagine how much better it might run if i installed to hd)...downside is graphics drivers are not all that great,and i hear getting flash to work is *****https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCDownloads

 

[tom vilsack]

update: 2.05 am (must get sleep lol)

was wondering if the 512 stick i put in internal slot was causing issue (not the sodimm slot thats easy to upgrade) so i took mac apart again tonight and replaced internal with original apple 256 stick...and keep the 256 sodimm that i added before...total 512

long story short....it still has very minor lag but is way better! both in tiger and even leopard...

-perhaps poor ram (reported fine)?
-perhaps best to not mess with internal ram?

ok now zzzz

 

[fhall1]

I doubt the RAM was your problem. RAM either works or it doesn't - it shouldn't make a system "laggy" - especially if you have more RAM as opposed to less.

 

[Hrududu]

I doubt the RAM was your problem. RAM either works or it doesn't - it shouldn't make a system "laggy" - especially if you have more RAM as opposed to less.

I'm going to have to disagree there. Faults in RAM are not light a lightbulb thats either all or none. Bad RAM is pretty easy to identify with some tests, but the effects of it are not always the same or easily apparent.

 

[tom vilsack]

tonight i put 512 ram back inside (not sodimm one...internal one) and it lagged again....back to stock 256 internal and way less lagg...so something is up with it....

either way im sticking to stock internal 256 stick and just ordered 1 gig sodimm (apple compatible) and will have by tuesday...thus total will be 1280mb

will post back with results

btw: in leopard i ran geekbench and scored 579 with 512mb ram (256 default internal 256 sodimm) in tiger i scored 571

 

[Davy.Shalom]

The bottom of those iMac G4's are so sick..I want to find a broken one and make a clock out of it.

 

[Hrududu]

tonight i put 512 ram back inside (not sodimm one...internal one) and it lagged again....back to stock 256 internal and way less lagg...so something is up with it....

either way im sticking to stock internal 256 stick and just ordered 1 gig sodimm (apple compatible) and will have by tuesday...thus total will be 1280mb

will post back with results

btw: in leopard i ran geekbench and scored 579 with 512mb ram (256 default internal 256 sodimm) in tiger i scored 571

Thats about right. Leopard on mine scored 547

 

[tom vilsack]

Thats about right. Leopard on mine scored 547

Hrududu: strange why yours is less with that much more (maxed) memory....can you tell me...with the 2 gigs when your surfing web pages ect...whats it like? any lagg in loading pages,scrolling ect? tuesday can't come soon enough for my 1 gig sodimm to come in......

note: read tonight on a google search about old thermal paste drying out from heatpipe and causing G4 imac to run hotter and louder (fan)...so once again tear it apart (im getting good at this now)...i took all the old black compound off from both ends of heatpipe and where it comes togeather at top part of dome...i then applied white thermal paste to all four parts (i use grain of rice and plastic bag tapping to spread...always works well for me) and put back togeather....running it now (posting on it) and it does seem to be running quieter and will monitor heat

 

[Hrududu]

Hrududu: strange why yours is less with that much more (maxed) memory....can you tell me...with the 2 gigs when your surfing web pages ect...whats it like? any lagg in loading pages,scrolling ect? tuesday can't come soon enough for my 1 gig sodimm to come in......

note: read tonight on a google search about old thermal paste drying out from heatpipe and causing G4 imac to run hotter and louder (fan)...so once again tear it apart (im getting good at this now)...i took all the old black compound off from both ends of heatpipe and where it comes togeather at top part of dome...i then applied white thermal paste to all four parts (i use grain of rice and plastic bag tapping to spread...always works well for me) and put back togeather....running it now (posting on it) and it does seem to be running quieter and will monitor heat

Its not smooth. Its hard to really compare it to something, but its still quite usable and trust me when I say there is more than enough RAM for Safari. There is some lag when loading and scrolling, but nothing I wouldn't expect from a single 1GHz G4 on modern web pages. A lot for the Java and Flash that you see on most sites like Yahoo, eBay etc are what make it slow. Really the only way to see what I mean would be to see it in video or in person.

As far as why my score is lower, who knows. Geekbench really doesn't care how much RAM you have, just how it can address it and how quickly so adding more really doesn't make a huge difference. Even the score between my quad G5 with 2.5GB of RAM and 6.5GB of RAM isn't much different.

 

[tom vilsack]

Hrududu: thanks for the reply...

i just put into the sodimm slot 1 gig (now total 1280) (corsair value select pc2700 ddr333 200 pin...ncix cdn $32.53)

it make a difference...much less lagg (still some)...im using camino 2.0.9 browser. (like built in turn off flash and web ads)

edit: found tenfourfox loves the extra ram in both tiger and leopard,so will use it now as my default browser...also love using these two plugins with it
-autoclose bookmarks http://www.sephiroth-j.de/1/mozilla/
-theme font size changer http://barisderin.com/?p=286

the draw back with this G4 1.0 GHz is the fact it's the model with usb 1.0 and not the faster model with usb 2.0...that being said it's now more then useable...and i could see using on a daily basis.