Help Me Upgrade My Power Mac G4 Digital Audio

DeChache

DeChache

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 30, 2005
Messages
7,087
I recently decided to get back to the mac side of things and try out OS X. I haven't had a mac since my LC580 way back when.

I recently bought a dual 533 G4 at my universities surplus store for cheap. Upped the ram to 768 megs and I am think about maxing it out to 1.5 gigs.

I have it running Tiger and its running fairly well. But I'm considering a cpu upgrade but am a little confused with the options, from what I've been reading I can't just buy any G4 cpu and drop it in.

If somebody could lend some advice I would be grateful. I've been googling but I'm still confused. If its just a lost cause and not worth dumping money into it let me know and I'll start saving up for something better. (I've always wanted a G5).
 
I just purchased a PowerMac G4 867MHz system for $135. I was planning to buy a 400MHz system, but decided not to, because I heard that you can't just pop another G4 in the system, and that 867 MHz is the minimum for Leopard. I think that your only option is getting another system. The G4's with the higher clock speed are very affordable now. (I got mine off of eBay)
 
Stop now and save your money. Don't bother with the PPC series of Macs, just save up for a low-end/used C2D iMac for $750 if you can. The reason I suggest avoiding the PPC Mac's is because if you really want to get back to Mac, why not try out the stuff that will be supported instead of a dead platform?
 
Well, 450 made a valid point, but for obvious reasons, you may not want to spend $750+ on a Mac. You can't just drop any G4 CPU in, but there are CPU upgrades out there, however, if you want to spend a lot of money, please just save up and buy something a little faster. I'd recommend an iMac G5, as they can be purchased very inexpensively. I would recommend looking up the Low End Mac Swaplist. If you do a Google search for LEM Swap, you should find it easily, but I'm on my iPod, so I can't do links. The G5 iMac is a good start, and won't lose it's value quickly, so therefore, if you like the Mac operating system, you can resell it on Craigslist or eBay for almost what you paid for it. Take a look on your local Craigslist section, because you might find some good deals much like I have. If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me at: [email protected]
 
I'm not looking to spend a lot of money maybe a 100 bucks max. But if the common thought is to get something better I'll start saving. I saw a few G5 Power Macs on ebay for 4-500. I really don't have room for a Imac and I already have 2 good screens.
 
If you're tight on space, maybe a Mac Mini would work well?
 
Yeah, for $100, you definitely aren't going to get a CPU upgrade for a G4 DA. I'd sell it on Craigslist or eBay etc. and then buy a G5 tower, if that's what you're looking for, but for similar money, you could probably find an Intel Mac Mini.
 
Space really isnt a problem i just really dont want another screen on my desk(iMac) I'd rather just have a tower. I looked at the minis but IONO kinda like the big towers better. Thanks for the help. Just out of curiosity what would it cost to get a decent CPU for the G4
 
Just to get a decent CPU upgrade for the G4, assuming that you want to buy new, it can cost you anywhere from $150ish up. Other World Computing sells their Mercury Extreme lineup for G4s, and the 1.2Ghz upgrade costs $199+shipping. A 1.5ghz upgrade will run you about $260.



These are actually fairly inexpensive Mac CPU upgrades. I have never done a CPU upgrade in a Mac myself, because I never thought it was worth it. For around $300 now, you can buy a single 1Ghz G4 if you look hard enough, and an original Apple G4 will probably be faster than some third party vendor, but that's just a guess, seeing that I've never done one before. So, if you really want to stick with the Digital Audio, the $199 1.2Ghz G4 will be a heck of an upgrade, but my point is, why would you want to?
 
Yea I agree for the money I'm just going to move up in the world and use my G4 as is in the mean time. Thanks for the advice. The last post was more a curiosity thing than anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top