Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Daniel's Advice

Upgrading a First Generation Power Mac G4

Evan Kleiman - 2003.02.03

The G4 processor is the pinnacle of processing power. The whole time it has been around (since August 1999) it has been the best of the best compared to competing processors. However, many of the original G4s no longer seem the speed-demons they used to be.

Is it time to replace these 350 and 450 MHz computers with new ones? Of course not! This is Low End Mac!

Let's get started renovating your former PIII wreckers into the PC eaters they should be.

Processor speed is probably the biggest concern for speeding up these computers, and it should probably be the major concern for anyone upgrading. Companies such as XLR8 and Sonnet make upgrade cards for the Power Mac G4, some running as fast as 1 GHz! Low End Mac has an excellent page where you can find an upgrade card to suit your needs.

Memory is another big concern for those using an older G4. They originally came with only 64 MB in the lowest models, but they can hold up to a half-gig. Adding on memory will definitely help. The PC100 SDRAM that the G4 uses can be found on the cheap. A quick look on eBay shows 256 MB sticks going for as little as US$30.

The next G4 slowdown is the video card. The original PowerMac G4s had two different configurations, each with a different type of video card. The "Yikes!" model, with a 350 or 400 MHz processor, supports PCI video cards, just like the Blue and White G3 it was based on, so card choices for this computer are rather limited today. There are a few Voodoo cards that will work with the PCI version, however, you might be better to spend your money on other upgrades for this computer, which we'll cover later. Adding a second video card, instead of replacing the one you have, will add the capability for multiple monitors, which is a whole other topic.

The "Sawtooth" version of this computer came with a 2X AGP port. AGP is another way of connecting a video card to a computer. It is much faster than PCI. For this computer, there is a plethora of available video cards. There all kinds of ATI cards that can be had very cheaply from after-market vendors, eBay, or even places like CompUSA.

Lastly, the 10 GB hard drive found in these Macs seemed huge three years ago. However, with MP3 and video editing an everyday use for many Mac users, a larger hard drive may be needed. The Power Mac G4s all use some flavor of an Ultra ATA drive (33 on the first Yikes, 66 thereafter). These drives are the cheapest to find. 60 GB 7200 RPM drives can be found for less than US$90.

For true speed-demons, a SCSI drive can be installed, too. However, since an additional SCSI card needs to be installed, prices can really climb here (in addition to the cost of the card, SCSI drives cost more than IDE drives), and since we're trying to stay under the price of buying a newer Mac, this probably isn't the best solution. Also keep in mind that some SCSI cards have problems with Mac OS X, so if you're running or plan to run OS X, do your homework.

Why buy a new computer when you can easily upgrade yours? There's no reason, especially with great resources such as eBay. Low end isn't necessarily slow.

Evan Kleiman has been writing for Low End Mac since January 1999. He also runs his own site, Evansite. Evan uses an iMac, along with some vintage hardware. You can read more about his computing experience in The Many Macs of Evan Kleiman.

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.

Recent Mac Daniel columns

WiFi Hardware Compatible with Desktop Macs Running OS X, MetaPhyzx, 03.11. USB, ethernet, PCI, and other wireless hardware compatible with Mac OS X.
WiFi CardBus Adapters Compatible with PowerBooks, MetaPhyzx, 03.11. CardBus hardware and drivers compatible with PowerBooks running Mac OS X.
WiFi PC Cards Compatible with PowerBooks Running OS X, MetaPhyzx, 03.11. PCMCIA/PC Card hardware and drivers compatible with PowerBooks running Mac OS X.
WiFi PC Cards for PowerBooks Running Mac OS 9, MetaPhyzx, 03.10. PCMCIA cards and drivers reported to be compatible with PowerBook running the Classic Mac OS.
More in the Mac Daniel index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: 17" MacBook Pro Core Duo, Apr. 2006 - The top-end MacBook Pro includes a 1680 x 1050, 2.16 GHz Core Duo CPU, and supports Apple 30" Cinema Display.
Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best iPod nano Deals, 11.25. Refurb 8 GB 4G nano, $99; new, $126; refurb 16 GB, $129; new, $150; new 5G/8 GB, $134.60; 16 GB, $161.12. Shipping included.
Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 11.25. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.25. Used 1 GHz Combo, $400; 1.5 GHz SuperDrive, $449; 1.67 GHz hi-res, $600.
Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.