How to Upgrade Your Power Mac G3 Blue and White
Upgrade your RAM., G4 Upgrade Card., Video Card., Be sure that you add Bluetooth/SATA/USB 2.0/WiFi., Add a DVD Drive., Put in a faster and bigger drive., Upgrade to Tiger.
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Upgrade your RAM.
If you only have a few bucks, this is the first component you should upgrade.
Opt for 1 Gb or SDRAM (the max that the motherboard can support).
If you are not running OS X, you can squeak by with 512 Mb.
Price: $15-$30 -
Step 2: G4 Upgrade Card.
After that, trash the original CPU.
Most likely, it is 300 Mhz... need I say more? Even if it is a higher-end model (i.e. 400 Mhz), that still sucks pretty badly.
Solution? A G4 ZIF upgrade from Sonnet or XLR8.
A simple ZIF card like the Encore series from Sonnet delivers a huge performance boost
-- up to 1 Ghz.
That still sounds pretty crappy.
However, keep in mind that PowerPC is different from x86-64.
In PPC, 500 Mhz is equivalent to ~
1.2 Ghz on an Intel Pentium III processor (also now you have AltiVec velocity engine).
Apple switched to Intel because they were cheaper than PowerPC.
Anyway, since most companies no longer sell ZIF upgrades, you should scrounge around on eBay for a good deal. *Note:
Any speed over 700 Mhz will downgrade the bus speed to 66 Mhz! I recommend you opt for a 600 Mhz XLR8 chip, because that keeps the original 100 Mhz bus which is much faster.
Price: $50-$150 , The PMG3 B&W only has a PCI video slot... just warning you.
The stock 16 MB ATI Rage 128 Pro is fine for Classic OS, but OS X users should move to an ATI or nVidia PCI card that is built to run on a Mac.
An example (and best card probably) is the nVidia FX5200.
This is the only card that supports Core Image and Quartz Extreme.
Price: $50-$100 , Not gonna go into a whole lot of detail here, but you can get upgrade cards that fit into empty PCI slots.
Knock yourself out.
Price: $10-$50 per card , You can add one :) The Apple drives are recommended, but I am using a Samsung DVD-ROM just fine. , The original 6 Gb 4200 RPM drive fails for OS X.
Opt for a 7200 RPM drive with at least 40 Gb.
Caution: you may need a special driver for drives or 128 Gb. , Finally, the OS X
10.4 operating system makes the most out of any G3/G4 Mac.
Even if you still have a 300 Mhz processor, the Tiger OS is much faster than
10.2 or
10.3.
OS 9 technically is quicker, but seriously? OS X
10.4.11 is still supported by Apple, and is cheap to obtain.
Most apps run on
10.4, and will not run on anything earlier. -
Step 3: Video Card.
-
Step 4: Be sure that you add Bluetooth/SATA/USB 2.0/WiFi.
-
Step 5: Add a DVD Drive.
-
Step 6: Put in a faster and bigger drive.
-
Step 7: Upgrade to Tiger.
Detailed Guide
If you only have a few bucks, this is the first component you should upgrade.
Opt for 1 Gb or SDRAM (the max that the motherboard can support).
If you are not running OS X, you can squeak by with 512 Mb.
Price: $15-$30
After that, trash the original CPU.
Most likely, it is 300 Mhz... need I say more? Even if it is a higher-end model (i.e. 400 Mhz), that still sucks pretty badly.
Solution? A G4 ZIF upgrade from Sonnet or XLR8.
A simple ZIF card like the Encore series from Sonnet delivers a huge performance boost
-- up to 1 Ghz.
That still sounds pretty crappy.
However, keep in mind that PowerPC is different from x86-64.
In PPC, 500 Mhz is equivalent to ~
1.2 Ghz on an Intel Pentium III processor (also now you have AltiVec velocity engine).
Apple switched to Intel because they were cheaper than PowerPC.
Anyway, since most companies no longer sell ZIF upgrades, you should scrounge around on eBay for a good deal. *Note:
Any speed over 700 Mhz will downgrade the bus speed to 66 Mhz! I recommend you opt for a 600 Mhz XLR8 chip, because that keeps the original 100 Mhz bus which is much faster.
Price: $50-$150 , The PMG3 B&W only has a PCI video slot... just warning you.
The stock 16 MB ATI Rage 128 Pro is fine for Classic OS, but OS X users should move to an ATI or nVidia PCI card that is built to run on a Mac.
An example (and best card probably) is the nVidia FX5200.
This is the only card that supports Core Image and Quartz Extreme.
Price: $50-$100 , Not gonna go into a whole lot of detail here, but you can get upgrade cards that fit into empty PCI slots.
Knock yourself out.
Price: $10-$50 per card , You can add one :) The Apple drives are recommended, but I am using a Samsung DVD-ROM just fine. , The original 6 Gb 4200 RPM drive fails for OS X.
Opt for a 7200 RPM drive with at least 40 Gb.
Caution: you may need a special driver for drives or 128 Gb. , Finally, the OS X
10.4 operating system makes the most out of any G3/G4 Mac.
Even if you still have a 300 Mhz processor, the Tiger OS is much faster than
10.2 or
10.3.
OS 9 technically is quicker, but seriously? OS X
10.4.11 is still supported by Apple, and is cheap to obtain.
Most apps run on
10.4, and will not run on anything earlier.
About the Author
Angela Kim
A passionate writer with expertise in home improvement topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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