Upgradeing PowerMac G4 Processor

Question

Level 1

0 points

Upgradeing PowerMac G4 Processor

New to the post as well as power macs. My last mac was a imac and ibook g3. I came across a power mac G4 450Mhz, 128mb RAM, 40gb Hard drive, and a 64mb video card. Since I got it i have upgraded to a gig of ram. Now I am wondering if it is possible to upgrade the processor without buying one of the after market ones. Those seem to be a little out of my price range. I was specifically wondering if i could buy one out of a quick silver, such as a 1Ghz or 1.25hz? Also, mine is a single core, so is it possible to install a dual core? Thanks
-Devin

PowerMac G4 450Mhz, 1gb Ram, 40gb HDD, 64mb mx 400, Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Jan 15, 2009 5:20 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Jan 15, 2009 6:33 PM in response to MontroseGeek

If it has a Uni-N revision of 7 or higher, it can use a dual processor.
http://www.macbidouille.com/downloads/UniNorthASICChecker.sit

The 100MHz bus speed will make a processor from a 133MHz machine slow down by 25 percent. This can be corrected by doing some modifications on the processor.
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/DACPU_in_Sawtooth/DA_CPUmods.html

Also, a Quicksilver processor requires 12 volts to be applied to its 4th terminal.
http://homepage.mac.com/josephk/G4pics/12V_connector.jpg

Reply

Answer 2

Mar 26, 2009 10:26 PM in response to Dave Hamilton

Here is another link for the Uni-north ASIC Firmware Checker Software
http://www.newertech.com/downloads/UniNorthASICChecker.sit

Reply

Answer 3

Mar 26, 2009 11:02 PM in response to Mark Hermsen

Thank you for the updated link.

Reply

Answer 4

kmac1036

Level 4

2,370 points

Apr 3, 2009 8:35 AM in response to MontroseGeek

Well, if you go after a used dual, you are going to pay dearly for that too. what price range are you looking to spend?

watch this page with an eagle eye: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/bargains/

Reply

Answer 5

Apr 3, 2009 9:46 AM in response to MontroseGeek

Hi
i Have a G4 Powermac i picked up from work for nothing.
its a DA 466mhz which i have now upgraded and is running OSX 10.4.11 with a QS Dual 800mhz ( i was running Leopard, ok but slow!)

if you look on ebay there are plenty of Apple G4 daughter cards out there, just a case of finding the correct one, like me i think the highest you can go is the dual 1 Ghz from a QS, but you will still need to run a 12v line to the 4th mounting post, check xlr8yourmac.com for step by step instructions, works fine for me.

my only problem now is to enable the L3 cache for the Dual 800mhz.
tried Sonnets software, didnt work. the OWC CPU director is unavailable.
i have L3Enabler from Till Wimmer who wrote his own .kext file to enable it but i cant get it to work!
im not so sure about using terminal or that im inputting the correct commands
as when i follow the instructions and reboot i get an error message that the .kext file was not properly installed and cannot be used.

anyone shed any light on this for me?

Thanks

Reply