iMac G3 600MHz (Summer 2001) Logic Board Upgrade

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iMac G3 600MHz (Summer 2001) Logic Board Upgrade

Greetings, I have a Summer 2001 iMac G3 (as described in the title), and I'm looking to upgrade the logic board. I want to upgrade this iMac as much as possible as a little project for myself. So, I wanted to know of any compatible logic boards I can upgrade to. I'm also looking for compatible Bluetooth hardware as well as a good wifi adapter or a compatible Airport card, if I can find one.

The current logic board is based on 600MHz processor. Also, I plan on upgrading the RAM (only 256MBx2 sticks currently) to the 1024MB max, so any reasonably priced RAM would be ideal as well. Although, I have found a few food deals on eBay, it'd be ideal to have more options.

iPod touch, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 5th Generation, 128GB Capacity

Posted on Jun 12, 2012 4:09 PM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

155,816 points

Jun 12, 2012 4:19 PM in response to Xenonmagnum

The fastest of the Summer 2001 version iMacs was 700 MHz, so if you could locate one of those logic boards you would theoretically enjoy a 17% CPU speed increase. The US part numbers for that model iMac were M8510LL/A (700 MHz Graphite) and M8554LL/A (700 MHz Snow). The model designator was PowerMac4,1.

It requires PC100, 168-pin RAM. It will run Tiger quite happily.

The AirPort card is the original 802.11b variety, which requires an adapter for the iMac.

Bluetooth... not sure, but there are probably USB dongles available. It would require an appropriate driver for Tiger.

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Answer 2

Xenonmagnum Author

Level 1

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Jun 12, 2012 4:53 PM in response to John Galt

Thanks a lot for your response, I'm going to have a lot of fun on this little project.

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

155,816 points

Jun 12, 2012 5:00 PM in response to Xenonmagnum

You're welcome. As I recall you can install any size ATA/IDE hard disk but only the first 128 GB will be recognized. Have fun!

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Answer 4

Jeff

Level 6

12,328 points

Jun 12, 2012 9:06 PM in response to Xenonmagnum

In terms of speed and overall performance, I don't think an upgrade to a 700 MHz G3 processor is worth your time or money. If you really like the computer, why not give it an upgrade that would make a noticeable difference. You could buy a G4-upgraded iMac motherboard from FastMac. For some reason, they don't list the 600 or 700 MHz logic boards as candidates for this procedure, but you could undoubtedly install one of their pre-upgraded motherboards from a 400 or 500 MHz iMac in your own. I'd call their tech support and ask about upgrading your 600 MHz board. If they can and you decide to go for it, write down the motherboard's serial number and give it an identifying mark of your own, to ensure that the board you receive is your old one. After that, you could sink a little more $$ into that iMac and buy a DVD±RW SuperDrive from MCE Technologies for $149. Both of these suggestions ignore the fact that the costs of these hardware upgrades are well beyond the market value of an 11 year-old computer. Additionally, the PAV board in those slot-loaders is prone to failure at some time, depending on the mileage. If money is plentiful and you'd like to turbo-charge your iMac, then these upgrades might be worth considering.

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