MisterAndrew
macrumors 68030
It looks like eBay is the wrong place to buy these if you’re looking for a deal. They sell for around $25 from thrift stores, garage sales, random auction houses, etc. I think eBay is where people flip them.
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What is happening with Mac mini G4 pricing?
- Thread starter WindowsXPuser
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aurora72
macrumors regular
Last week I bought another Mac mini G4 1.25GHz in Turkey for $25 shipping included. It had no built-in Wireless card but came with the 1GB RAM installed. The TechTool Pro 6 reported it as manufactured in Czech Republic which is suprising. I found later in a chat with the Gemini that its serial number which begins with VM529, is the code for the Foxconn plant in Pardubice in Czech Republic.
MisterAndrew
macrumors 68030
I actually ended up buying one on eBay after a seller accepted my offer for $75 on a 1.5GHz silent upgrade model. I figure it’s okay to pay a little extra for that one. Although if I find it has too many issues running OS9 natively then I’ll use it for OSX and I’ll get an early one for OS9.
aurora72
macrumors regular
Those 1.5GHz G4's were never sold in Turkey because I never seen any 1.5Ghz in Turkey. Even the 1.42GHz ones are hard to come across, usually the basic 1.25Ghz ones are found here and nearly all of them are without the AirPort 🙂Fortunately, after I found about the board resistor modification, I upgraded all of them from 1.25 to 1.5GHz. It can easily achieve 883 on GeekBench.
MisterAndrew
macrumors 68030
I read the 1.42 & 1.5 GHz models have a different heatsink than the 1.25 & 133 GHz models, so you may want to upgrade the heatsink when doing that.
MisterAndrew
macrumors 68030
I ended up paying too much for a 1.42 GHz model from Goodwill. $86 with shipping. I got caught up in the excitement of bidding! If anyone here was also bidding on it I'm sorry! Better luck next time! 🙂
davecom
macrumors regular
There are definitely different stock heatsinks out there. I'm not sure if it's related more to expected heat output, or just manufacturing variances/suppliers.
aurora72
macrumors regular
Yep there's a rumor going around that 1.42 & 1.5GHz models have an upgraded heatsink but I think they are not necessary really as the machine works just as fine witn the 1.5Ghz speed, no noticable overload on the fan whatsoever. Actually it feels better than the 1.25Ghz. Note that those CPU's have the natural speed of 1.5Ghz, all other speeds 1.25, 1.33, 1.42 are merely for the marketing purposes.
The prices are driven by nostalgia. Think of it, young people who first used these machines have come into their own as consumers. Those warm feelings drive prices higher for all sort of period merchandise as these people mature into their 30's and 40's and have lots of disposable income. Happens with every generation, generally on a rolling 20-25 year cycle.
Haa! That was probably me. Serves me right bidding with time left 😉 enjoy!
MisterAndrew
macrumors 68030
I got lucky with that one. It’s the high-end SuperDrive model and it looks like it’s never been opened. Whoever donated it didn’t wipe the drive and it had Leopard on it with some personal files. There was a resume on the desktop I peeked at and a couple photos, but I stopped there since I don’t want to invade someone’s privacy. They had an impressive 3.9 college GPA. Before I reformatted the drive I looked them up online in the off chance they’re someone famous which could make the computer valuable. Nobody I recognise, but they are an executive at a very large company.
It looks like the computer hasn’t been used since 2009 because I didn’t see any files newer than that. In the trash bin were restore files for the original iPhone.
I put OS 9 on it, but it’s having some errors so the hard drive is probably on its way out. I’ll get an SSD and cut up the old drive.
It looks like the computer hasn’t been used since 2009 because I didn’t see any files newer than that. In the trash bin were restore files for the original iPhone.
I put OS 9 on it, but it’s having some errors so the hard drive is probably on its way out. I’ll get an SSD and cut up the old drive.
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Certificate of Excellence
macrumors 68020
davecom
macrumors regular
Yeah I've unfortunately been forced to raise prices both on os9.shop and on eBay because A) component prices have gone up (mSATA SSDs, mSATA->IDE converters, RAM) as well as B) the prices of raw untested Mac mini G4s. You used to be able to easily find Mac mini G4s untested without power supplies on eBay for $40. Now they are more like $60-$80. Which leaves me basically no margin for this restoration hobby business at the prices I charge... of course I mainly buy them in bulk but it's getting harder and harder to find bulk sales of them. By the way, if you know of any folks trying to sell 20, 30, or even more Mac mini G4s that would otherwise end up in ecycling, send them my way.
MisterAndrew
macrumors 68030
That’s gotta be rough. ~$80 for a mini + $20 for a power adapter + $45 for an Ableconn Msata adapter + ~$75 for a new Msata ssd + ~$10 for thermal paste & battery + $20 for 1 GB memory (if not already) = ~$230-250. Definitely doesn’t seem profitable, but it’s a fun hobby.
Bug-Creator
macrumors 68000
Well being "silent upgrade" means they were never sold anywhere it's just that you bought a 1.42GHz/32MB Mini and somehow got one running at 1.5GHz with 64MB of VRAM 😎
MisterAndrew
macrumors 68030
Has anyone tried using a Thermal Grizzly KryoSheet for the G4 CPU instead of thermal paste? I noticed the repair manual says to only use a thermal pad and not paste, but I think that's for the GPU on the bottom case. However, testing shows the thermal pad for the CPU results in lower temperatures than paste.
Also, someone on iFixit suggested a Gelid GP-Extreme Thermal Pad for the GPU in 0.5 mm thickness. I think I'll try both of those and see how it turns out. I think a 24x12mm KryoSheet would work for 2 CPUs. I wasn't sure what size for the bottom pad. I ordered an 80x40mm. Hopefully that works for 2.
Also, someone on iFixit suggested a Gelid GP-Extreme Thermal Pad for the GPU in 0.5 mm thickness. I think I'll try both of those and see how it turns out. I think a 24x12mm KryoSheet would work for 2 CPUs. I wasn't sure what size for the bottom pad. I ordered an 80x40mm. Hopefully that works for 2.
ervus
macrumors 6502
There are plenty of test reviews out since last year. From what I can see, it marginally (<1ºC) outperforms leading pastes at low to mid temps and does a little better (4ºC) at high temps. It is expensive so I think I would stick to paste where the gap between processor and heatsink does not warrant a pad.
Unlike Grizzly's pastes, its pad don't dry out so should have better endurance as some of Grizzly's offerings are only rated for a year or two before repasting is needed.
MisterAndrew
macrumors 68030
Hopefully that will be great for the mini since ideally you don’t want to have to open it up again.
Also a new SSD should be preferable to a used one, but there aren’t a whole lot of new msata ones left out there. I went for a Toshiba 256 GB one on eBay advertised as new. I think those were originally supplied to Dell. I’ve had a good experience with OEM Toshiba SSDs.
Lite-on and Intel are other ones I’ve seen that should be good also. There are Samsung ones, but I’ve read the OEM Samsung drives aren’t so great and a reviewer on Amazon for the Ableconn adapter said they had issues using it with an 860 EVO.