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Worth upgrading G3 to G4?

halfprep455

halfprep455

macrumors regular
Original poster
Would a G3 b&W run significantly faster if I replaced the 350mhz G3 cpu with a 500mhz G4? The RAM has already been maxed out but 10.3 seems to still be running slow. I also put a Radeon 7000 64mb graphics card in it.
 
You wouldn't notice too much... Instead, I think that adding a ATA-66 IDE card to control the hard drive would be the best way to speed things up quite a bit. That can aid in seek times on the drive.
 
Rather than spending the money on a G4 processor upgrade, you may be better off finding a PowerMac G4 on eBay. The Quicksilver ones (733MHz-1GHz) go for a song these days.
 
Nah, you won't notice a big difference. A powermac g4 is a good idea, but might not be cost effective. I considered a low quicksilver (733) as a stopgap before i can afford a mac pro, but ebay prices are at least $250 without much ram/hdd/video, so $250 plus 110 for a gig of ram, $50 for a sata card to use a modern HDD, plus $70 for a 250gig hdd, assuming you're ok with the video you're still out $480. Not what I want to spend for a 6 year old computer, and getting awfully close to a refurb mini.

DA g4 733s or dual 533s are a little cheaper, but I don't think the ebay market will get you any great deals. schools are getting rid of this era powermacs, sometimes they'll unload them cheap, or maybe someone in the marketplace here has one. If not, stick with a slow G3 for now if it gets the job done, or save for a mini or the best deal in macs at this time, G5 powermacs. For around $1000 you can get a decently equipped and almost modern dual 1.8 or 2.0. For that money you could also get a base refurb C2D macbook though.

sorry, that got long because i'm at work!
 
Thank You for your help. I just have one more question, I put a USB 2.0 PCI card in and the computer dosent seem to recognize it. Is there a firmware update I have to do or something?
 
Overclock it to 400-450, stuff it full of RAM, and get a big 7200rpm hard drive. We did that to my friend's B&W and it was like a different machine. It's now almost as snappy as my eMac 800mhz for most day to day tasks.
 
Thank You lot. It is running much faster now! The only problem it still had is the PCI to USB card. The computer dosent seem to recognize anything that is plugged in to it.
 
halfprep455 said:
Thank You lot. It is running much faster now! The only problem it still had is the PCI to USB card. The computer dosent seem to recognize anything that is plugged in to it.
Click to expand...
The problem with PCI Extreme that it does unlock Quartz Extreme on the PCI bus but it WILL effect other cards on that bus. Some cards might be unrecognizable and others might suffer degraded performance due to heavy bus saturation for video.

I was able to use a wi-fi card simultaneously with PCI Extreme. No word on if your USB PCI card will work with PCI Extreme enabled.
 
halfprep455 said:
Would a G3 b&W run significantly faster if I replaced the 350mhz G3 cpu with a 500mhz G4? The RAM has already been maxed out but 10.3 seems to still be running slow. I also put a Radeon 7000 64mb graphics card in it.
Click to expand...

"Significantly" is a relative term. It will run noticeably faster. But I'll ask you what nobody else has asked:

(1) How much will you pay for the G4 upgrade?

(2) How long do you expect to keep the Mac?

(3) What are you using it for?

All of these factors come into play whenever you evaluate the value of an upgrade. My general feeling is that if you're hoping to keep this Mac useful for at least another year or so, and the cost of the upgrade isn't much over $100, then it's worthwhile.

nazmac21 said:
It's a good deal, but I recommend a G5 processor if you going to spend that money.
Click to expand...

Good luck finding a G5 upgrade... since AFAIK, none were ever made.
 
Unless you buy the G5 Processor directly from IBM or get a G5 from a friend's or neighbors' PowerMac G5.
 
Sure, I am that person that likes to give ideas that nobody tried before. Also, add more fans to that PowerMac once you get the G5.😀
 
I Wouldn't Spend Another Dime On That Old Shoe

You know, any of these minis would be such a much wiser investment, especially if you can wait until Leopard and iLife '07 ship with them in a couple more months.

Refurbished Mac mini 1.5GHz Intel Core Solo
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
60GB Serial ATA hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
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Price: $479.00
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Refurbished Mac mini, 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
60GB Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
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Price: $519.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
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Refurbished Mac mini 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
80GB Serial ATA hard drive
Double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
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Price: $649.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
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Refurbished Mac mini, 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
80GB Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-loading SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
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Price: $699.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
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IJ Reilly said:
And you could just shove one of them right into a B&W G3? First I've heard of it.
Click to expand...
I seriously doubt it. Even if the pin configuration on the CPUs were the same (unlikely), the motherboard would probably not support it. And, you would need to get some serious cooling on it 😀
 
Go for it

Just do it on the G4 upgrade, if the G5 upgrade is not possible. G4 is still not that bad of a chip. You'll see better perfomance than the G3.
 
Wait until you have enough money to spring for a refurb mini. You will get a MUCH faster system capable of anything Apple has to put out for a long time.
 
nazmac21 said:
It's a good deal, but I recommend a G5 processor if you going to spend that money.
Click to expand...

nazmac21 said:
Unless you buy the G5 Processor directly from IBM or get a G5 from a friend's or neighbors' PowerMac G5.
Click to expand...

Nope...although in your other thread I covered what I think your doing.



Either way, OP, DON"T BUY A G5 chip 2nd hand...you'll be out money. Look at a Intel Mac Mini or Used Power mac G4
 
Ill probably sell this b&w on ebay and buy a used g4 or intel mac mini. What ever comes to mind. I looked into upgrading the RAM and CPU and it seems like its a better idea to just get another machine. Would I get more money if I sold the computer as a whole or selling the individual parts?
 
halfprep455 said:
Ill probably sell this b&w on ebay and buy a used g4 or intel mac mini. What ever comes to mind. I looked into upgrading the RAM and CPU and it seems like its a better idea to just get another machine. Would I get more money if I sold the computer as a whole or selling the individual parts?
Click to expand...

I thought the RAM was already maxed out. That's what you said.

Just sell the thing as-is. Parting out is a pain in the neck.
 
The RAM is maxed out. I was looking to see if I could upgrade it beyond 1gb. Its running itunes and firefox ok but other then that, it doesn't seem very useful for to much else. I think I'm going to either buy a refurb mac mini or see if I can find a G4 for a good price. I got this B&W for free and I was using it to see how macs handle. Seens so much better then my PC already. lol. Does anyone know where I can get a used G4 for a good price besides ebay?
 
Multimedia said:
You know, any of these minis would be such a much wiser investment, especially if you can wait until Leopard and iLife '07 ship with them in a couple more months.

Refurbished Mac mini 1.5GHz Intel Core Solo
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
60GB Serial ATA hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
Learn More
Price: $479.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
Free Shipping


Add
Refurbished Mac mini, 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
60GB Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
Learn More
Price: $519.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
Free Shipping


Add
Refurbished Mac mini 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
80GB Serial ATA hard drive
Double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
Learn More
Price: $649.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
Free Shipping


Add
Refurbished Mac mini, 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
80GB Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-loading SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote
Learn More
Price: $699.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
Free Shipping


Add
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac mini (w/ or w/o Display)
extends the complimentary coverage on your Mac mini to three years of world-class support and service.
Learn More
Price: $99.00
Estimated Ship:
Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
Click to expand...

What website did you find those mac mini's?
 
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