I've been looking at 17" G4s on ebay and noticed the majority have the lower res screen, is it possible to upgrade to the high res screen or do they use a different connector?
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PowerBook G4 17" High Res Upgrade
- Thread starter benwild_33
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It's 100% possible to replace the standard resolution screen for the high-res display. Same connector, just a different LCD.
Thanks, looking at one that needs a replacement screen so good to know that's an option.
FWIW, not only are the computers themselves harder to find, but so are replacement screens.
There are enough upgrades ASIDE from the screen in the A1139 model that, IMO, it's well worth waiting for one to become available rather than putting a hi-res screen on an earlier PB.
There are enough upgrades ASIDE from the screen in the A1139 model that, IMO, it's well worth waiting for one to become available rather than putting a hi-res screen on an earlier PB.
I'm currently looking at a 1.67 that needs a new screen, it's cheaper because of that so if I could get a high res screen cheaply enough surely it would be worth it, what differences were there? I'm assuming the gpu was different.
The biggest difference is that A1138 and A1139 have a faster system bus and use DDR2 RAM. There are some SMALL changes, but this makes them feel appreciably faster than the early 2005 models with DDR1.
The difference between the two apart from the resolution is the later model has faster RAM, Dual Layer drive and extended battery life.
I'm not sure but the last 17" and 15" might be alone in having the automatically frequency scaling G4 too.
I'm not sure but the last 17" and 15" might be alone in having the automatically frequency scaling G4 too.
I completely missed the part about DDR2 Ram on everymac, I will be fine without the dual layer drive though.If I can get this one cheaply enough I'll go with it, if not I'll look for a late DDR2 model although they seem to go for quite a bit more money. I'm going to be running 10.4.11 anyway and it will won't be used for anything too demanding.
One other question, is the 1680x1050 Macbook Pro 17" display the same? they seem a bit more common on ebay. I'm guessing size wise it is the same but I'm not sure about the connectors.
One other question, is the 1680x1050 Macbook Pro 17" display the same? they seem a bit more common on ebay. I'm guessing size wise it is the same but I'm not sure about the connectors.
Well I won the 17" 1.67 early G4 that needs a new screen (the common lines down the screen issue), when it arrives I'll start a thread build thread for it. I'm pretty excited, I've always liked the 17" Powerbooks.
The MBPs are totally different-there's zero compatibility between the screens.
Although the bodies look similar, they were "squashed" a bit and are thinner and wider.
Although the bodies look similar, they were "squashed" a bit and are thinner and wider.
Will do, I'd been having a look through there earlier today!
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Thanks for clearing that up, so the actual panel is a different aspect ratio? I wasn't referring to a lid swap as obviously the Macbook Pro has a webcam and larger top and bottom bezels making it a bit taller. I was just thinking that is they are both 1680x1050, the aspect ratio must be the same and the connectors looked similar.
After doing a bit of searching I can see as mentioned above that the 15" G4 and MacBook Pro indeed have different screens, but...for the 17" models the resolution appears to be the same, does anyone on here by any chance own an early MacBook Pro 17" and a 17" G4? I would be very grateful if you could confirm whether the screen sizes are physically the same. This would mean I could get a 17" MacBook Pro panel instead as they are supposed to be slightly brighter and they're a lot cheaper.
I have the A1013 and a 2006 17" MBP. Physically there's a slight difference as well as the top of the bezel being larger to accomodate the iSight.
But I don't know if the LCD connector is the same or not.
My understanding was that the DDR2 400Mhz RAM clocks down to 333Mhz, which is the same speed as the standard res model. And both machines had the same 128MB ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 GPU.
I don't believe there is much difference from a performance perspective between the two, but can somebody post benchmarks showing this?
Once parts arrive (hopefully this week), I'll get my Standard 17" 1.67 back up and running with an SSD and post a Geekbench + XBench score.
[doublepost=1505087253][/doublepost]Also, the CPU in the standard 17" is reported by Mac OS X as a 7447A, but my unit has "7447B" stamped on the CPU die. There are mixed reports that the DL Hi-Res model shipped with the elusive 7448, which was more advanced in terms of stepping and heat/efficiency.
I don't believe there is much difference from a performance perspective between the two, but can somebody post benchmarks showing this?
Once parts arrive (hopefully this week), I'll get my Standard 17" 1.67 back up and running with an SSD and post a Geekbench + XBench score.
[doublepost=1505087253][/doublepost]Also, the CPU in the standard 17" is reported by Mac OS X as a 7447A, but my unit has "7447B" stamped on the CPU die. There are mixed reports that the DL Hi-Res model shipped with the elusive 7448, which was more advanced in terms of stepping and heat/efficiency.
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Not too terribly long ago, someone came on here claiming to have a 7448-equipped A1139, although their die shots were out of focus and very obviously edited(there are differences between the 7447 and 7448 aside from the markings).
Every DLSD, both 15 and 17", I've personally examined had a 7447B.
I remain thoroughly unconvinced that any DLSD(A1138 or A1139) left the factory with a 7448. Everymac.com has finally at least changed their description back to reflect that it contains a 7447-series processor. I won't quibble too badly over them listing it as a 7447a, although I d believe all shipped with a 7447b.
EDIT:
Thread with tear-down photos
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2ghz-powerbook.1977301/
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Well that sets my mind at ease and backs up what I was saying about the only real world difference between the PB 17" from early '05 and the late '05 unit is a higher res display and the DLSD itself. Performance is likely to be an equal match. Can anybody who owns both machines comment on this?
Can there be any actual gain in using DDR2 RAM which clocks down to match the speed of the previous revision?
Thanks for that, that is very useful, it looks as I thought, the lid size is different between the two models but the actual panel is the same height, I've seen a 17" MacBook Pro going for parts that I might take a chance on. Worst comes to the worst that way I can just resell it if it doesn't fit. The connectors on the early MacBook pros look the same as the g4 ones, it changed when they moved to an LED backlights which obviously wouldn't be compatible.
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I'm hoping the one I've bought doesn't have this issue, the seller says it has 1GB of ram at the minute.
I know someone who actually put a FullHD LCD (early MBP) into a 5.9, so yeah it works.
He even got one of the MorphOS-devs to add support for that unusual config.
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I've only come across this issue with 5.6 and older 15".
Out of the dozen or so 17" I rebuild back 5 years ago, none had a problem tacking 2 DIMMs.
5.8/5.9 can be maxed out with a single 2GB DIMM.
He even got one of the MorphOS-devs to add support for that unusual config.
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I've only come across this issue with 5.6 and older 15".
Out of the dozen or so 17" I rebuild back 5 years ago, none had a problem tacking 2 DIMMs.
5.8/5.9 can be maxed out with a single 2GB DIMM.
Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for, I'm on the lookout for a 17" MacBook Pro that's going for parts at the minute. I probably won't go for the full HD ones as I guess they will hold the same kind of price tag as the high res g4 screens and may cause me compatibility issues.
the 7448 DLSD is one of those misnomers that just wont die LOL no Production DLSD ever came from Apple with 7448s they all shipped with 7447Bs (the 7447B being a slightly revised 7447A that can hit higher clocks (or lower clocks with better power draw), another example of one of these "Rev B" PPC CPUs is the 7455B found in some MDDs like the 1.42GHz configurations and other high clocked 7455 machines (think of it like a B3 vs G0 stepping Xeons in a Mac Pro 1,1)
In regards to upgrading the LCD screen, I do remember reading of someone who used MBP parts and a 1920x1200 panel and was able to fit this setup to his machine with some hardware and software hackery, But I dont recall which 17 inch PB G4 this was.
I will mention that the 17 inch early 2005 (SLSD) PB G4s did have an issue of lines appearing on the LCD screen much like the same issue that plagued the iSight G5s and early poly carb Core Duo and Core 2 Duo iMacs
while the DLSDs do use DDR2 RAM it has pretty much no benefit to performance, since the DDR2 RAM in a DLSD is running at 333Mhz and the G4 has a very outdated bus that is a massive bottle neck to the rest of the system
a clear example of this is how a Mac Mini G4 overclocked to 1.67Ghz vs a DLSD scored exactly the same in GeekBench 2 (it tests both CPU and memory performance)
https://browser.geekbench.com/geekbench2/2630434 DLSD
https://browser.geekbench.com/geekbench2/2601067 Mac Mini
In regards to upgrading the LCD screen, I do remember reading of someone who used MBP parts and a 1920x1200 panel and was able to fit this setup to his machine with some hardware and software hackery, But I dont recall which 17 inch PB G4 this was.
I will mention that the 17 inch early 2005 (SLSD) PB G4s did have an issue of lines appearing on the LCD screen much like the same issue that plagued the iSight G5s and early poly carb Core Duo and Core 2 Duo iMacs
while the DLSDs do use DDR2 RAM it has pretty much no benefit to performance, since the DDR2 RAM in a DLSD is running at 333Mhz and the G4 has a very outdated bus that is a massive bottle neck to the rest of the system
a clear example of this is how a Mac Mini G4 overclocked to 1.67Ghz vs a DLSD scored exactly the same in GeekBench 2 (it tests both CPU and memory performance)
https://browser.geekbench.com/geekbench2/2630434 DLSD
https://browser.geekbench.com/geekbench2/2601067 Mac Mini
Do you know of any means to read out the CPU speed on the DLSD? Because of the frequency scaling, the output from the menu meter is meaningless ie it may read 80% but 80% of what speed?
EDIT: I know it can be done in Terminal in Linux but OSX...
The lines on the screen is the exact issue the one I bought has, I guess that's why nobody else bid as to someone who doesn't know about the screen issue it would look like a failed GPU.
I'm going to avoid the 1920x1200 as I'm aiming for it to be as plug and play as possible and 1680x1050 is plenty for me.