PowerMAC G4 and G4 QuickSilver

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Level 1

99 points

PowerMAC G4 and G4 QuickSilver

Hi,

Could someone tell me the difference between the PowerMAC G4 and the G4 QuickSilver with the same processor installed on each....??????

I have been looking for one on ebay and the cases etc look the same.

Are they......?????

Thanks
Dennis

Beige G3 DT Mac OS 9.2.x

Posted on Dec 11, 2006 3:47 PM

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Answer 1

John Huber1

Level 6

17,745 points

Dec 11, 2006 4:24 PM in response to Dennis Ahyee

Hi Dennis,

A Quicksilver is a Power Mac G4. There are 9 different models of Power Mac G4s with variations within each model line. With some you can tell what the model is by the case but at times different models used the same case.

Download Mactracker or visit http://www.Apple-History.com to compare different models.

http://www.mactracker.ca/

John

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Answer 2

Dec 12, 2006 12:46 AM in response to Dennis Ahyee

Hi, Dennis -

You are probably looking at the G4 (Digital Audio) 733MHz and the QuickSilver (01 - the first series of the QS models) 733MHz models - those are the only models which have the same processor speeds between QS and pre-QS models.

There are some differences -

The G4 (DA) 733MHz was the top-of-the-line model for its series, and the QS 733MHz was the bottom-of-the-line model for its series.

L3 Cache -
G4 (DA) 733MHz - 1MB
QS 733MHz - none

Power Supply -
G4 (DA) 733MHz - 338W
QS 733MHz - 360W

Minimum OS -
G4 (DA) 733MHz - Model-specific OS 9.1.1
QS 733MHz - Model-specific OS 9.2
either can use a retail OS 9.2.1 Install CD

Other than the above and the graphics cards, for which there are too many choices for each to list, the machines' specs were much the same.

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Answer 3

Dennis Ahyee Author

Level 1

99 points

Dec 12, 2006 5:48 AM in response to Don Archibald

In your opinion, which do you think that I should purchase, bearing in mind:

1) I am on a student's budget

2) Future MAC OS Upgrades

3) Purchase would probably be from Ebay

Thanks
Dennis

Beige G3 DT

Beige G3 DT

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Answer 4

Dec 12, 2006 6:52 AM in response to Dennis Ahyee

Hi, Dennis -

I would suggest getting the QuickSilver, provided it is less than about $50 more than the G4 (DA) model.

Reasons -

• The QS has a 4x AGP slot compared to the 2x AGP slot of the G4 (DA) (a difference I failed to note above). This means there are more choices for better graphics cards.

• At some point future versions of OSX will probably not be installable on early G4s; the QS machines should last longer in this regard than G4 (DA) and earlier models.

• The QS machine has a slightly more robust power supply. This could be of advantage should you add PCI cards, extra internal hard drives, and/or a processor upgrade at some point.

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