Mac Daniel's Advice

Upgrading a Blue and White G3

Evan Kleiman - 2002.07.17

Now that the blue and white G3 (a.k.a. Yosemite) is several years old, many owners are wondering how exactly they can upgrade this computer to really run with all of today's newer technologies and programs. Today I'll help you pick out the right upgrades to make your computer still run with the big dog G4s!

Hard Drive

Since many people want to run OS X on their Mac, hard drive space is probably one of the top concerns. To run OS X and all of its huge applications comfortably, you want at least a 20 GB hard drive - and they're cheap enough right now.

There's also a large debate going on right now asking whether hard drive speed makes a difference. 7200 RPM drives cost more than 5400 RPM one, and there are other Yosemite factors that influence disk speed, too, such as the drive's onboard cache. However, it is my belief that you should just go out and spend the extra few bucks on a faster 7200 RPM drive, as I've noticed a very large difference in OS X disk access time, etc.

Memory

Unless you got a special deal, your b&w G3 probably came with only 64 or 128 MB of memory. To run OS X, or even OS 9 for that matter, you'll need a lot more. And, thankfully, just like hard drive prices, memory prices are almost at an all time low as well. You can pick up an extra few hundred megs very cheap. Some people have upwards of a gigabyte of memory (the highest a blue and white G3 can support), but you probably need only between 256 and 512 MB to get your work done efficiently.

Also, since the memory used by the G3 is the common PC 100 68 pin sticks, you can get it easily, not to mention cheaply. (Visit ramseeker.com for current prices. As we posted this article, the lowest shipped prices were $25.19 for a single 128 MB module and $35.23 for 256 MB)

Speed

Another large concern for Blue G3 owners who wish to make their computer more compatible with OS X is speed. So, for these people, there are several options.

Overclocking: In last week's article, we talked about how to overclock a computer, and it can be rather simple - just tweaking a few thing inside the case. The advantages of this option are that you can do this on your own, and do it rather cheaply. If you already have the parts, you can do it for free. See Yosemite CPU Speed Settings on Accelerate Your Mac for more details.
ZIF upgrades: Many companies, such as XLR8, make upgrade cards for the Blue and White G3. All you do is replace the current processor with theirs. The advantage of this option is that while it isn't free like over clocking, you can get an entirely new processor, with even the possibility to go with a G4. See Low End Mac's Guide to G3 ZIF Upgrades and Guide to G4 ZIF Upgrades for an overview of your options.
Used processor swap: Many people who once upgrade their computer with a newer ZIF card still have their older processor, and many of them sell them on places such as eBay, so you can pick one up here pretty cheap, and since it's still a stock Apple part, there'll be less chance for compatibility issues.

Other Concerns

The three things I've mentioned above are pretty much all you need to consider upgrading to comfortably run OS X. However, these aren't all you can upgrade on your computer. You can also add various types of external devices (scanners, etc.) and internal devices (SCSI cards, USB cards, FireWire cards, etc.).

Another option for upgrading is the video card. The b&w G3 came with 16 MB standard. However, many people find this not enough for such things as serious gaming and others graphics-intensive projects.

The only problem with this is that the newest cards are AGP, and the b&w G3 doesn't support them - only PCI. Check out Korin Hasegawa's article, Picking a PCI Video Card, for more on your options.

In the end, while the blue G3 isn't exactly a new Quicksilver, with the right upgrades it will be able to run the latest software and run with the big dog G4s.

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Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.

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