Re: Upgrading a G4

Pokerskatershark <pokerskatershark@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Here is the memory. Sorry, I forgot that part.

DIMM 256M
Dimm2 Empty
Dimm3 Empty

It is the G4 2.1 (what it says in the profile)

That's probably a G4 processor revision number, which doesn't help
narrow down which model it is, as several models used the same CPU.

From the evidence you've given, it sounds like you have either of the
following two models:

Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver)
Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002)

The middle model of the original QuickSilver was 867 MHz, and there was
an "Education Only" release of an 867 MHz QuickSilver 2002, with an
unusually small hard drive and a CD-RW drive (which can't even read
DVDs).

Both these models have a "Model ID" of "PowerMac3,5".

Your hard drive size makes the earlier model seem more likely.

The exact processor model might give a clue: if it is "PowerPC 7450 v2.1
(G4)" then it is probably the older QuickSilver. If it is "PowerPC 7455
v2.1 (G4)" then it is probably the newer QuickSilver 2002.

The serial number should help to narrow it down.

The serial number is of the general form YM1234ABCDE. The third
character (always a digit) is the year of manufacture (1 = 2001, 2 =
2002); the next two digits are the week of the year.

The QuickSilver was sold from July 2001 to January 2002, so I except its
serial number would be in the range xx120xxxxxx to xx152xxxxxx.

The QuickSilver 2002 was sold from January to August 2002 (and the
educational 867 MHz one may have been available after August), so I
expect its serial number would be at least xx144xxxxxx (late 2001) or
xx2xxxxxxxx.


Assuming you you have a "Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver)":

That model supports two parallel ATA hard drives using the built-in disk
controller, but the disk controller is limited to 128 GB per hard drive.
You can add a PCI card which supports larger hard drives (SATA is your
most flexible option, but parallel ATA would also work; SCSI is an
unreasonable expense for a model that old).

If you have a QuickSilver 2002, the only difference is that it may
support hard drives larger than 128 GB on the built-in disk controller
(mine does, and MacTracker says that this applies to the whole series,
but Apple's official word is that it isn't supported).

The PCI slots support standard PCI cards (32-bit or 64-bit, 33 MHz), and
some "PCI-X" cards will also work (best to limit yourself to suppliers
who know whether a particular card works in the PowerMac G4).

The video card can probably be upgraded: some ATI Radeon 9000 series AGP
cards will work, as well as some NVIDIA cards (GeForce 4MX, for
example). In either case you need a Mac-specific card, so it is best to
buy from a Mac-aware supplier. You can also add PCI video cards if you
want more than two displays connected.

The optical drive can be upgraded to one which can burn DVDs (later
model Pioneers should be OK), but you might need an OS upgrade to
support it.

Maximum memory is 1.5 GB, using three 512 MB PC133 SDRAM DIMMs.

Maximum operating system is Mac OS X 10.5 (current) as that model just
meets the minimum specification (you will need more RAM first), but it
won't perform all that well, and some features aren't available unless
you have a faster Mac.

You might find that 10.4 (second hand) is a better match for the
computer, and it is still well supported.

Even 10.3 is a big step up from 10.2.8 in terms of operating system
performance, usability and application availability.

Check out http://www.macsales.com (Other World Computing) for various
hardware upgrade options.

--
David Empson
dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
.

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