Upgrade Quicksilver (733Mhz) video card

Hi, hopefully jmac or others eill drop in, but until then...

See japamacs page here on the best AGP cards for G4s & G5s...

http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/4B4B7BA2-7ABB-47F1-87AC-B03D379 42BEE.html

Hi-

The 733 MHz processor may ultimately prove to be the weak link in your machine.
Upgrading it to a 933 MHz QS processor will be like night and day to you.
Get a used processor and heatsink from eBay, and it is a plug and play upgrade.

As for graphics, get at least a Radeon 9800 Pro, with a flashed Radeon 9800 XT, Geforce 6800 GT, or Geforce 7800 GS as high performance options.
The 6800 GT is an excellent choice.

Any card must be stated as Mac/OS X compatible in the description.

Hello Roadspnr,

If you're upgrading on the cheap, get a 933MHz CPU - a used pull, not new, and from a seller who specifically states it has the 2MB L3 cache. The new ones are overclocked 733s with no L3 cache.
As to video cards, be aware there is currently a price war going on between two eBay purveyors of flashed Radeon 9800 cards, so the time seems right. Both the 933MHz CPU and the Radeon 9800 card are eminently satisfactory and will let you see an enormous improvement. Remember on eBay to read the fine print, and also to remember that things occasionally go awry and you have to return stuff that doesn't work right.

If your budget is more generous, get a Quicksilver dual 1GHz CPU and one of the fancier cards. Japamac's web site (and advice) is invaluable.

Jon

I agree with everything said thus far. Flash makes heavy demands on both the CPU and the video card and the 733 may very well be your weakest link.

For now, until you make your upgrades, if a particular video is worth the download, you should already have what you need to provide good enough hardware support for Quicktime to get 30 fps.

My particular favorite for downloading YouTube videos is MacTubes:

http://brpg.hp.infoseek.co.jp/mactubes/index_en.html

I'm still able to watch pretty good quality video on a Sawtooth (running a 733 DA module) in this manner.

Pssst. Just came across this on OWC's clearance page:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/AGPQS933/

(*) Apple G4/933MHz Processor Daughtercard with 2MB L3 for Apple Powermac G4 'Quicksilver' models - GREAT upgrade for QS 733MHz or 800MHz models which have no L3 Cache! System Pull, Tested Good, 60 Day OWC Warranty. (APLAGPQS933) Same Day $99.00

This is the module recommended above by japamac. Although you might be able to get a little more bang for your buck on eBay, OWC is always a safe bet. Be sure to also get some thermal compound if you go this route.