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Upgrades for iMac G3 600MHz

MacintoshMaster

MacintoshMaster

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Hi there,
Here is the iMac that I just bought:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....91488&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_1063wt_1139


I want to upgrade a few things on it, like HDD etc... It comes with os 9.2 and 10.1 at the same time - 1. how is this possible? 2. Does having 2 os's slow the computer down?

I have Tiger CD's and Mac OS 9.1 CD's - could I put these 2 on the iMac G3?

Here is the long list of questions!

1. Will this hard drive work:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....077755&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_2814wt_914


2. What is the max ram?

3. What DVD drive would work?

3. Could I fit a G4 Processor and motherboard?

4. What is over clocking and how does it work?

5. What is the best processor I could fit it?



Thankyou very much!
John.
 
congrats to to new iMac g3 🙂 i love these little buggers , and they are nearly indestructible i have 2 of them one with 600mhz like yours and a graphite one with 700mhz
so to your questions

1.
the iMac g3 can only see 128gb hdd internal so buying the 500gb for inside would be wasted money , but you can buy a external firewire enclosure and use the hdd in there
2.
the max amount of ram is 1 GB (2x512mb pc100 , pc 133 should work as well as its backwards compatible )LOW DENSITY RAM is the important factor there , means high density ram is a NO NO despite cheaper but high density is for servers only , means its more likely that you have won in the lottery last saturday without playing ,then find a computer that works with high density ram
best source on ebay i found in the uk is a company called "global memory" they only ship after you told them your model of computer and if the ram you are bidding at/buying is really suitable
3.
dvd slot drives are availble on ebay marked as suitable for iMac g3 , or a firewire external dvd drive will work
4.
there had been upgrade boards available with G4 550 mhz , they ship to uk too but its quiet expensive , and only brings a advantage if the app's can make use of the velocity engine of the g4 processor
http://fastmac.com/imacslot.php
5.
overclocking is not recommended , but you could if you are very good with soldering and know what you are doing overclock to 900mhz , but fitting a extractor fan is recommended then as there is no fan inside the iMac g3 slotty

and keep in mind the iMac g3 has only usb 1.1 so best to buy everything as firewire as the firewire 400 in the iMac g3 is in real life faster then usb 2.0

here is a nice website dedicated to the iMac g3
http://imacworld.110mb.com/index.html
 
That hard drive wouldn't work. It uses the interface SATA, and those iMacs use anything that says IDE or PATA. And like what MacHamster68 said, the max ram is 1gb low density PC-100 or PC-133 SD-RAM.
 
the iMac g3's are still great computers, and you can always count on them ,when all the intel Macs are long gone to landfill sites the iMac g3 will still work 🙂
keep in mind to get a pram battery (3.6volt half AA type) , they last long but after 9 years its about time to change the little battery (you can spot it if you open the ram flap at the bottom )
 
Max out the RAM to 1GB as that will give a substantial performance boost but I wouldn't bother with a G4 upgrade, this machine isn't worth spending that kind of money on, also forget overclocking unless you are very familiar with Mac motherboards and soldering irons. Best DVD drive to get would be an external FireWire as you can switch it between various machines if needed. Once you install OS X it is worth installing something like Shadowkiller to increase GUI Finder speed, this is totally graphics card dependent and the iMac GPU is an antique and can't be upgraded.
 
MacHamster68 said:
keep in mind to get a pram battery (3.6volt half AA type) , they last long but after 9 years its about time to change the little battery (you can spot it if you open the ram flap at the bottom )
Click to expand...

Haha 🙂

I know a 11 year old iMac G3 400 mHz whose battery still works.

These things are unkillable😉
 
yes they last loooong , but not all funny enough the one in my iMac g3 600mhz still works , but the one in my 700mhz iMac g3 gone dead 3 month ago , but they are easy to get anyway , ebay is full of them 🙂
 
You should download the program "MacTracker." It's a great app that shows specs on virtually every Apple product since the original Macintosh. The app is really easy to use and is organized very well. I use it all the time when I'm curious about max ram, cpu speed, etc. on a certain Mac. Check it out.
 
"I want to upgrade a few things on it, like HDD etc... It comes with os 9.2 and 10.1 at the same time - 1. how is this possible? 2. Does having 2 os's slow the computer down? "

1. If it has OSX and OS9 installed at the same time, it means you can boot into either OS by holding down the option key on startup, AND, you can use 'Classic' when using OSX. Classic allows you to run OS9 apps inside OSX 😀

2. Having two operating systems doesn't really slow the computer down. But it will take up more hard drive space. And if there is a lot of other stuff on the hard drive too, and space is valuable, it could slow the computer down. If you are only planning to use one operating system, it might pay to get rid of the other.
 
MacHamster68 said:
yes they last loooong , but not all funny enough the one in my iMac g3 600mhz still works , but the one in my 700mhz iMac g3 gone dead 3 month ago , but they are easy to get anyway , ebay is full of them 🙂
Click to expand...

Nows the time to buy, as the iMac G3s were used a lot in schools, and the schools are now upgrading computers. And since the schools just want to get rid of the iMac G3s, they sell em' on eBay for $5-$10 😉
 
MacHamster68 said:
5.
but you could if you are very good with soldering and know what you are doing overclock to 900mhz
Click to expand...

I've OC'ed my Snow 600 to 700 MHz with no probs. Not tested higher freqs yet. IIRC max freq for 750CXe is 800 MHz. Do you know any confirmed 900 MHz overclock?
 
MacHamster68 has got it pinned down

not much you can do aside from maxing RAM, really. Run Tiger. as a day to day PC, iMac G3's are pretty well done mate (I have one too)
 
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