So my PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics/Sawtooth model only has a 500Mhz CPU and I've been looking for an upgrade that won't cost me my wallet. Is there any site I can go to that sells at least a Ghz CPU upgrade for cheap?
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PowerMac G4 AGP/Sawtooth CPU Upgrade?
- Thread starter Lyokokrill
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The 1.6GHz upgrade for $159 that you will find in the link above that Nameci provided will be a huge boost over your 500MHz. You will really notice a difference in everything.
Maxing the RAM (if you haven't already) will help performance a lot also. Even a new 7200rpm HD for it will also really ad to the performance. If you combine the CPU, RAM and HD upgrades together it will be a good 20-30% faster than just upgrading the CPU.
Cost breakdown:
CPU upgrade - $159
RAM - $70-120 for 4x512MB depending on if you buy new or used
HD - $40-60 for the 80-160GB PATA drives still on the market
If you decide to buy used RAM I highly recommend an ebay seller I have bought from many times named "tubabug". Here is his ebay store:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/tubabug/m.html
I did try eBay, but a lot of sellers sell CPUs from other models rather than the Sawtooth, or just lower than what I have now.Try eBay
I've seen them, just wondering if I could find anything cheaper.
I've already upgraded my RAM to the max 2GB limit buying from that same exact seller for dirt cheap. My HD is an 80GB Western Digital, not sure at how fast it is though. I guess I'll get to upgrading once I have some money to splurge. Thanks!
Save up you will never regret it. It is like bringing an old mustang to life.
Old school but can make heads turn....
Old school but can make heads turn....
macsales.com
I was going to upgrade my G4 from there, actually, then realised that a single 1.6GHz G4 processor upgrade would actually cost me more than a secondhand dual 1.8GHz Power Mac G5.
I'd still say that any G4 would be more reliable than any G5 though...
I was going to upgrade my G4 from there, actually, then realised that a single 1.6GHz G4 processor upgrade would actually cost me more than a secondhand dual 1.8GHz Power Mac G5.
I'd still say that any G4 would be more reliable than any G5 though...
I wouldn't touch anything with a G5 chip with a 10 foot pole. As a Mac tech I have seen more die than I can count. The PowerMac and iMac G5 are without a doubt the most sketchy unreliable systems Apple has ever made.
Out of all the G3 and G4 systems Apple ever released only the MDD had reliability issues and even it was far far below any issues the G5 Macs had. The G5 chip and all it's supporting hardware is a flat out embarrassment to the PowerPC architecture.
UPDATE:
Checked my HD again and found out what kind it is:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo
Always wondered why the thing was so snappy! Anyway, guess I just need that CPU upgrade now!
Checked my HD again and found out what kind it is:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo
Always wondered why the thing was so snappy! Anyway, guess I just need that CPU upgrade now!
UPDATE:
Checked my HD again and found out what kind it is:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo
Always wondered why the thing was so snappy! Anyway, guess I just need that CPU upgrade now!
That is exactly what you can currently buy and is a good drive. So yes.. all you need is the CPU and you're good to go. So only 159.99 + about 15 shipping and you're done.
I would also highly recommend a USB 2.0 PCI card for much faster USB if you do happen to use USB for more than just the keyboard and mouse. The 2.0 will make a night and day difference with iPod's or external drives. I bought a 6 port card on ebay for $12 + shipping. Most with NEC chipsets will work great.
What video card do you have and what OS do you run? If you run OS X 10.4+ you can really benefit from a core image capable GPU. These video cards can be as cheap as $40 if you buy an x86 card and flash it yourself. I have a Geforce 6200 256MB low profile card made by XFX and it works perfectly. Pretty decent for PowerPC era games also.
That USB upgrade sounds interesting. I'll look into that. The video card I have in there now is an ATI Radeon 7000 with 64MB VRAM. Was WAAAAAY better than the Rage card that was in before!
The 7000 will be somewhere in the middle of the stock Rage 128 and a Geforce 6200. It has quartz extreme support but not core image. Certainly an upgrade from the stock card.
If you don't want to spend that much on the processor upgrade from OWC, you can wait and see at ebay. Probably you can snag a much better deal. But the dual processor upgrade is really tempting if not for the price, ayt?
Hey Zen, yours is a sawtooth am I right?
Hey Zen, yours is a sawtooth am I right?
I'm sorry did not read sig.
Anyway, I am done with my dual core G5 and I have nothing more to do with it. It seems my hands are itching for another thing. I am thinking of getting a QS or a Sawtooth just to experience what satisfaction will it give me upgrading it.
Is that 7448 really hard to come by?
By the way to the OP, the G4 7448 is also a very good upgrade on a sawtooth.
Anyway, I am done with my dual core G5 and I have nothing more to do with it. It seems my hands are itching for another thing. I am thinking of getting a QS or a Sawtooth just to experience what satisfaction will it give me upgrading it.
Is that 7448 really hard to come by?
By the way to the OP, the G4 7448 is also a very good upgrade on a sawtooth.
You will only be able to find used 7448 upgrades now. NewerTech stopped making them in late 2010 because of low demand. The 7447 upgrades have always been much cheaper and in turn have sold much better.
The Quicksilvers are a good tower but the deal breaker for me is that it along with the Digital Audio only allow 1.5GB RAM vs. 2GB in the rest of the G4 tower lineup. In my experiences the extra 512MB RAM helps more than the slightly faster system bus and AGP. Keep in mind I sold 2x MDD in favor of a Sawtooth FrankenMac project simply because of how stable and capable a Sawtooth is.
A used 1.3GHz+ 7455 upgrade would be about 5-20% faster than a 1.6GHz 7447 so thats an alternative if you can't find a 7448. Thats an option for the OP to consider also. The 7455 upgrades never went above 1.5GHz. They are one of the 2 G4 chips with L3 and the same CPU found in the MDD's.
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