PowerMac G4/400/agp Upgrade Suggestions?

Hello! The slowness is most likely the anemic processor. I personally prefer Sonnet's processors such as THIS one if the machine supports it. Many others prefer ONE FROM OWC. You can easily add a larger hard drive up to 120 gigs but your machine probably won't see a larger ide drive. If I intended to use the machine and start using it for a lot of music and photos then I'd probably add a Sonnet SATA card and use a 300-750 gig drive. Tom

I am definitely going with that last user's comments. You would notice a HUGE 3-4 times the speed difference depending of course on what processor you got. Just one note however...you probably will not be able to upgrade to a dual processor with the model you have, but you can get some extra performance increases if you can find a processor with an L3 cache (like OWC's 1.2Ghz-1.5Ghz). I think the Sonnet one may have an L3 cache as well. Anyway, happy uprading! 🙂

I started with your basic machine and have been upgrading over a few years. The extra memory you added was the right start. Next you need (as previously said) a faster processor. I have the OWC 1.2 GHz and it has been rock solid for 2 years.

Once you have these upgrades, you will probably want a 120 GB hard drive since,with the extra speed, you will be creating and wanting to store much bigger files. These drives are pretty inexpensive now.

G4 400 Sawtooth Mac OS X (10.4.8) OWC Mercury Extreme 1.2 GHz Upgrade, 1.25 GB Memory, 2 x 120 GB Drives

Hello!

I have the same machine - with the standard processor and video card, I find that Panther (10.3) runs (much) faster and feels smoother than Tiger (10.4), although with a 1.2 GHZ processor, it probably won't make that large a difference. If you don't have a copy of Panther around, and/or buy a faster processor, then it makes sense to stick with Tiger. Finally, if you have a copy of OS 9, and the need to use it, it will run very well on your Mac!

I've noticed a particularly large difference between OS 10.3 and 10.4 in (somewhat older) games like Quake 3 - under Tiger, it's difficult to run moderately large maps (in Quake 3) at more than 640x480 and moderate-low graphics quality without dropping frames. Under Panther, I can run it at 800x600, with high quality graphics, and it runs quite well - even more smoothly than under Tiger, in fact. This with the stock 400 mhz processor and 16 MB Rage 128 card, with 768 MB of RAM.

If you want to use all of Tiger's power, you'll definitely want to upgrade your video card as well - specifically, the video card needs Quartz and Core Image support. I'm not sure about the exact models that work with the G4, but there are many users on this forum who do.

Another good upgrade idea would be a USB 2.0 PCI card - USB 1.1 is SLOOOOWWW.... These generally run $20-30, so they're not bad at all!

-Dan

Hi-

Being able to do the flash yourself really helps keep the cost down.
A flashed ATI 9800 would really make you notice how nice Tiger really is. A Mac version is nice, but twice the price (at best), and almost impossible to find.

For card advice (check the buying guide) and flashing instructions, as well as ROM's, go to Strangedogs:

http://strangedogs.wikispaces.com/

BTW, my 9800 is a flashed PC version.......good stuff!



G4AGP(450)Sawtooth, 2ghz PowerLogix, 2gbRAM, 300gbSATA+160gbATA, ATI Radeon 9800 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Pioneer DVR-109, ExtHD 160gb x2, 23"Cinema Display, Ratoc USB2.0, Nikon Coolscan

Hi-

Like I said, go to strangedogs.com.
The above link is for their Wiki, and has buying advice, flashing resources, and ROM's.

9500/9700 Graphics Cards
http://strangedogs.wikispaces.com/fbg_9700

For more details on other cards, go to:

http://strangedogs.proboards40.com/index.cgi?action=logout

Setup an account (free) and check/post the forums there. Make sure you read the FAQ before posting......

G4AGP(450)Sawtooth, 2ghz PowerLogix, 2gbRAM, 300gbSATA+160gbATA, ATI Radeon 9800 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Pioneer DVR-109, ExtHD 160gb x2, 23"Cinema Display, Ratoc USB2.0, Nikon Coolscan

The Strangedogs site and wiki are moving.
http://themacelite.com/forums/index.php
http://themacelite.wikidot.com/

Thanks Dave!

Things change while a guy is away.......

G4AGP(450)Sawtooth, 2ghz PowerLogix, 2gbRAM, 300gbSATA+160gbATA, ATI Radeon 9800 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Pioneer DVR-109, ExtHD 160gb x2, 23"Cinema Display, Ratoc USB2.0, Nikon Coolscan

Good to hear!

Let me know if and when you have success with a 256mb card........

BTW, most anything is better than the Rage128!

G4AGP(450)Sawtooth, 2ghz PowerLogix, 2gbRAM, 300gbSATA+160gbATA, ATI Radeon 9800 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Pioneer DVR-109, ExtHD 160gb x2, 23"Cinema Display, Ratoc USB2.0, Nikon Coolscan

Hi Allen,

You definitely are on the right track!

I have upgraded to the hilt my Gigabit (originally 450, now a dual 1.2 Ghz thanks to PowerLogix). The two upgrades I noticed that had the most impact in performance were:
1)The processor. Hands down.
2)Switching to SATA. I did it before upgrading the processor, and I saw an incredible boost in speed. I was already using a new ATA 120 Gb ATA drive, which is still much better than the stock (smaller and slower) drive, but there's no comparison to SATA speed, even if it has to go through the slow PCI bus. HD size also matters: the bigger, the better.

You already got the RAM and the video card out of the way. I have no flashing skills, so I settled for a decent ATI 9000 Pro, but I'm sure you'll do much better than that.

Peace,

F

eMac, iMac, PowerBook, Power Mac Gigabit (running Tiger, Panther, & 9.2.2) Mac OS X (10.4.9)