Making PowerPC G4 faster.

[mzs.112000]

I have been looking all over the interwebs lately, and I have found some ways to make PowerPC G4 systems faster, and better.
This is a compilation of all of the things I have found, some of it may have been stated elsewhere before.

NOTE: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, NUCLEAR WAR, OR YOUR MAC RUNNING AWAY BECAUSE OF ANY SOFTWARE PROGRAM

1.) Install an SSD, IDE SSD's are faster for random reads, and writes.

2.) Max out the RAM, a PowerBook G4 can use up to 2GB of RAM(Unless you have a Titanium PB, they can only use 1GB).

3.) Use Monolingual or XSlimmer to remove any craptel(intel) stuff.(Monolingual can trash some apps)

4.) Disable Flash, and use HTML5 instead.

5.) Install some performance tweaks for TenFourFox, or AuroraFox(just look up firefox performance tweaks, they should all work).

6.) Use NoScript, it will stop JavaScript, among other things.

7.) Use the MVPS hosts file, it gets rid of all ads.

8.) Run ATIccelerator, It can overclock the GPU on most PowerPC Macs.

9.) Disable the dashboard.

10.) Disable the 3D dock(I don't know how effective it is because I have not done this, I like the 3D dock).

11.) Disable Spotlight.

12.) Switching to a mobile user agent, mobile sites are lighter and will render faster on a G4

 

[Gamer9430]

Rabidz7, you've returned again... Can you just get out of here already. We all know your tricks. No MR noobie made in the last will be coming directly for the PPC forums to post a generic thing on how to make your system faster. We aren't stupid here...

 

[mzs.112000]

Rabidz7, you've returned again... Can you just get out of here already. We all know your tricks. No MR noobie made in the last will be coming directly for the PPC forums to post a generic thing on how to make your system faster. We aren't stupid here...

I may be a "MR noobie", but I have been using a PPC for a long time, and am using all of these tweaks. I posted a "generic" thing on how to make a system faster because, I used those tips and wanted to share them.

 

[Gamer9430]

I may be a "MR noobie", but I have been using a PPC for a long time, and am using all of these tweaks. I posted a "generic" thing on how to make a system faster because, I used those tips and wanted to share them.

I like how you didn't object to me saying your Rabidz7... If you aren't him, my sincere apologies and welcome to MR, however, it's a large chance that's it's you so...

 

[desantii]

They do seem like valid recommendations though...

 

[Gamer9430]

They do seem like valid recommendations though...

Yeah, as much as they are valid, something's off...

 

[eyoungren]

I have been looking all over the interwebs lately, and I have found some ways to make PowerPC G4 systems faster, and better.

NOTE: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, NUCLEAR WAR, OR YOUR MAC RUNNING AWAY BECAUSE OF ANY SOFTWARE PROGRAM

1.) Install an SSD, IDE SSD's are faster for random reads, and writes.

2.) Max out the RAM, a PowerBook G4 can use up to 2GB of RAM.

3.) Use Monolingual to remove any craptel(intel) stuff.

4.) Disable Flash, and use HTML5 instead.

5.) Install some performance tweaks for TenFourFox, or AuroraFox(just look up firefox performance tweaks, they should all work).

6.) Use NoScript, it will stop JavaScript, among other things.

7.) Use the MVPS hosts file, it gets rid of all ads.

8.) Run ATIcellerator, It can overclock the GPU on most PowerPC Macs.

1) forums.macrumors.com/threads/1870561/
forums.macrumors.com/threads/1860289/
forums.macrumors.com/threads/1810580/

2) forums.macrumors.com/threads/1091765/
forums.macrumors.com/threads/1860941/

3) https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/17543303/
forums.macrumors.com/threads/1106693/

4) forums.macrumors.com/threads/1496149/

5) forums.macrumors.com/threads/1838393/
forums.macrumors.com/threads/1496149/

6) forums.macrumors.com/threads/1838393/

7) Ever hear of AdBlock Plus, BluHell Firewall, Glimmerblocker, etc?
forums.macrumors.com/threads/1838393/

Leopard Optimization: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1723868/

The search feature here is quite powerful.

Now, what else do we not know already?

----------

They do seem like valid recommendations though...

Sure. They are all valid recommendations.

OP just assumes that this has NEVER been covered or mentioned here at all. A search would have turned up everything OP mentions and then some.

In short, the OP is giving us information we know already (because it's been discussed to death here) or SHOULD know already.

 

[MagicBoy]

Go away Rabidz.

 

[redheeler]

I have been looking all over the interwebs lately, and I have found some ways to make PowerPC G4 systems faster, and better.

NOTE: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, NUCLEAR WAR, OR YOUR MAC RUNNING AWAY BECAUSE OF ANY SOFTWARE PROGRAM

1.) Install an SSD, IDE SSD's are faster for random reads, and writes.

2.) Max out the RAM, a PowerBook G4 can use up to 2GB of RAM.

3.) Use Monolingual to remove any craptel(intel) stuff.

4.) Disable Flash, and use HTML5 instead.

5.) Install some performance tweaks for TenFourFox, or AuroraFox(just look up firefox performance tweaks, they should all work).

6.) Use NoScript, it will stop JavaScript, among other things.

7.) Use the MVPS hosts file, it gets rid of all ads.

8.) Run ATIcellerator, It can overclock the GPU on most PowerPC Macs.

Thanks for compiling this information from different threads. Most of them are fairly obvious but #8 is one that's new to me.

A couple more optimizations would be to disable Dashboard and switch to the 2D dock in Leopard.

 

[mzs.112000]

Thanks for compiling this information from different threads. Most of them are fairly obvious but #8 is one that's new to me.

A couple more optimizations would be to disable Dashboard and switch to the 2D dock in Leopard.

Ok cool, I will add them to the list.
I have disabled the dashboard already on my PPC, but I like the 3D dock.

 

[MysticCow]

You forgot ShadowKiller. That one amazing little tool needs to be placed as a startup item to disable drop shadows and give a noticeable speed improvement.

Or you can 100% forgo OS X and return to OS 9, which makes G4's wonderfully snappy.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

First, mzs.112000, welcome to MacRumors.

Excuse our hesitance and skepticism. We have a person who regularly gets banned from these forums and comes back under a new name; most often proposing outlandish ways to speed up and improve PowerPC systems. So because your first post is "how to speed up and improve a PowerPC system," many people are going to jump to the conclusion that you are that person, back under a new name.

Assuming you are not the person we are worried about - just stick around, contribute to other threads, and once we're comfortable you're not the person we're worried about, you will be more than welcome here.

If you are rabidz, go away, we'll figure it out for sure soon enough.



Edit: Based on some quick searches, there is a user named mzs.112000 who seems to have a good track record, and a completely separate online profile from rabidz. At this point, I feel comfortable that mzs.112000 is a honest-to-goodness new user.

 

[mzs.112000]

You forgot ShadowKiller. That one amazing little tool needs to be placed as a startup item to disable drop shadows and give a noticeable speed improvement.

Or you can 100% forgo OS X and return to OS 9, which makes G4's wonderfully snappy.

Ok, I will look in to ShadowKiller. However I will not use OS 9, because I can't get anything done on it(web browsers wont render most pages, WPA WiFi wont work, can't watch youtube).

 

[redheeler]

Rabidz7, you've returned again... Can you just get out of here already. We all know your tricks. No MR noobie made in the last will be coming directly for the PPC forums to post a generic thing on how to make your system faster. We aren't stupid here...

Go away Rabidz.

Making such assumptions when all the OP is trying to do is compile useful information for the PPC community. I'm sure Rabidz7 would be proud at what an impact he has made.

Ok cool, I will add them to the list.
I have disabled the dashboard already on my PPC, but I like the 3D dock.

Check out some of the threads that eyoungren linked to, he is pretty much the optimization expert around here. I haven't done much optimization on my PPCs (except for YouTube videos, which are pretty much unusable in the browser even with HTML5 instead of Flash). I do prefer Leopard Webkit over TFF on G4 systems running Leopard for reasons of speed.

 

[eyoungren]

OP, I make no claim that you are anyone else than who you claim to be. And I appreciate your desire to share information with the community.

That said, you are going to find that a lot of what you have brought up has already been discussed. It's not new ground for any of us.

I don't mean to dissapoint or discourage you, but rather to save yourself the time and trouble in what is looking to be yet another "optimization" thread.

We have the FAQ, which is the top most post in this forum that covers just about 95% of what you covered just as an example.

Please note that ATI Accelerator can make your system unstable so be careful with it's use. You can burn out cards with it as well.

 

[Gamer9430]

First, mzs.112000, welcome to MacRumors.

Excuse our hesitance and skepticism. We have a person who regularly gets banned from these forums and comes back under a new name; most often proposing outlandish ways to speed up and improve PowerPC systems. So because your first post is "how to speed up and improve a PowerPC system," many people are going to jump to the conclusion that you are that person, back under a new name.

Assuming you are not the person we are worried about - just stick around, contribute to other threads, and once we're comfortable you're not the person we're worried about, you will be more than welcome here.

If you are rabidz, go away, we'll figure it out for sure soon enough.



Edit: Based on some quick searches, there is a user named mzs.112000 who seems to have a good track record, and a completely separate online profile from rabidz. At this point, I feel comfortable that mzs.112000 is a honest-to-goodness new user.

I, too, would like to apologize for my rudeness. I'm beginning to disbelieve in my original thought. I hope your introduction to the community will not be tainted to our actions. Also thanks to Anonymous Freak for clarifying our skepticism.

 

[poiihy]

I have been looking all over the interwebs lately, and I have found some ways to make PowerPC G4 systems faster, and better.

NOTE: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, NUCLEAR WAR, OR YOUR MAC RUNNING AWAY BECAUSE OF ANY SOFTWARE PROGRAM

1.) Install an SSD, IDE SSD's are faster for random reads, and writes.

2.) Max out the RAM, a PowerBook G4 can use up to 2GB of RAM.

3.) Use Monolingual to remove any craptel(intel) stuff.

4.) Disable Flash, and use HTML5 instead.

5.) Install some performance tweaks for TenFourFox, or AuroraFox(just look up firefox performance tweaks, they should all work).

6.) Use NoScript, it will stop JavaScript, among other things.

7.) Use the MVPS hosts file, it gets rid of all ads.

8.) Run ATIccelerator, It can overclock the GPU on most PowerPC Macs.

9.) Disable the dashboard.

10.) Disable the 3D dock(I don't know how effective it is because I have not done this, I like the 3D dock).

11.) Disable Spotlight.

You can also overclock the processor to make it faster.
Yikes!: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G4ZONE/G4YIKESOC/
Sawtooth: http://power-mac-g4.com/g4clockup.html
Digital Audio: http://power-mac-g4.com/g4digitalaudioclockup.html
Quicksilver: http://power-mac-g4.com/g4quicksilverclockup.html

 

[Gamer9430]

Making PowerPC G4 faster.

I feel like a formal apology is in order as well as a proper welcoming into MacRumors and the PowerPC sub-forum.

I'm sincerely sorry for assuming you were Rabidz7. I hope this did not tarnish your MacRumor's experience. I would like to say on behalf of the PowerPC section, we are a kind and welcoming community. However, it really bugs all of us when people try to ruin the fragile balance in the sub-forum. Thus when a user like Rabidz7 gets in here and starts to annoy us, it messes up the peace and quiet here.

Now then, I'd like to take the time to give you a heads up on some members who are important here. First (In no particular order accept for Intell being first) is Intell. Intell is our king, who knows all there is to know about PowerPC macs. Second is Bunnspecial, who is the largest collector here and can often offer insight on a certain problem or on a hardware question. Next is eyoungren. He good guy who also has a fairly large collection of PPC macs. He mostly can offer insight on software and laptops. Next we have Gavinstubbs09. Gavin is the host of a large archive of PowerPC apps, which I highly recommend checking out. He is usually busy, so he rarely posts, but he is also very wise and knowledgeable. These are the most active and helpful users on the forums. There are also several other users who are helpful and are active like iModFrenzy, 128keaton, Altemose, bulbfreak, Surat, and myself. Besides those I mentioned, everyone can help in their own way with their knowledge of a certain subject or issue, I just happened to know these users' names off the top of my head.

Thus, welcome to MacRumors, and also a great big welcome to the PowerPC community. If you have any questions or info you would like to share, please feel free to post them in the forums. Once again, I feel really bad for wrongly accusing you and hopefully you can forgive me and some other users and start fresh.

PS: I would have PMed this to you, but your PM settings are turned to off.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

You can also overclock the processor to make it faster.
Yikes!: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G4ZONE/G4YIKESOC/
Sawtooth: http://power-mac-g4.com/g4clockup.html
Digital Audio: http://power-mac-g4.com/g4digitalaudioclockup.html
Quicksilver: http://power-mac-g4.com/g4quicksilverclockup.html

Oh no, poiihy has been taken over by rabidz7! (Just injecting some humor, folks.)

 

[iModFrenzy]

Gamer pretty much summed everything up

-

I'll be sure to try these out, may I ask what "craptel" is on Leapord? Like drivers?

 

[mzs.112000]

Gamer pretty much summed everything up

-

I'll be sure to try these out, may I ask what "craptel" is on Leapord? Like drivers?

Craptel is the word I use to say Intel(the pc company)

 

[iModFrenzy]

I know, I meant what Intel files are in Leapord.

 

[mzs.112000]

I know, I meant what Intel files are in Leapord.

The system files contain Intel code, even when installed on a PowerPC computer. These Intel files take up lots of space on a PowerPC system and are not very useful on a PowerPC system.

Oh and when Leopard is installed on a G4 system it also includes files for the G5, which take up more space, and are not very useful on a G4.

So by removing these files, you save space, and speed up the system.

 

[tevion5]

Yeah, as much as they are valid, something's off...

It's like going on a vintage car forum for the first time and talking about how everybody should wash their car regularly and check the oil when appropriate -_-

Note: Only seeing OP is genuine now. In that case welcome!

 

[Beavix]

The system files contain Intel code, even when installed on a PowerPC computer. These Intel files take up lots of space on a PowerPC system and are not very useful on a PowerPC system.

Oh and when Leopard is installed on a G4 system it also includes files for the G5, which take up more space, and are not very useful on a G4.

So by removing these files, you save space, and speed up the system.

Unless you have a very, very small hard drive filled with lots of data, removing those files do not help speeding up the system.