[cspuryear]

I used to have the (now-defunct) service manual and accidentally deleted it. But here's my question...

I currently have an iMac G4 1.25ghz w/ the 80gb drive and 768 mgs of ram. I can't justify buying a new iMac for the photo and home video work I do, but this iMac is starting to slow.

SOOOOOOOOOO......is it fairly easy to upgrade the internal system ram on these iMacs? I've built computers in the past so I have thermal paste, etc., but I know the internal guts of these iMacs are touchy. Has anyone had success doing this? and if so, is worth the $200 to buy 2gigs of ram and upgrade it?

[sparhawk]

cspuryear

I belive the max you can put in any iMac G4 is 1GB. There is only two slots a user sodimm and the other you have to open up the machine which is a regular dimm.
All the sites that sell ram for that machine state the max is 1GB. So is it worth it to buy a new 512 stick and crack open your iMac for 256MB increase is the question you have to ask yourself. Is it easy the answer is yes I just did a pioneer dvd burner cause my drive took a dump for you it is about 10 screws and you are done.

Good Luck

[cspuryear]

sparhawk -

Thanks for your reply. I read in a few places that each of the slots could take 1gb. I wonder if that was a mistake?

[Dave B]

You can definately put a 1 GB PC2700 DIMM (333 Mhz) in that iMac. A friend of mine has an older
1 Ghz iMac which had a 512 MB SODIMM in the user-slot along with the original 256 MB DIMM inside.
I replaced the internal stick with 1 GB PC2700 (approx. $80), although his iMac calls for 266 Mhz PC2100.
He now has 1.5 GB RAM. While I was in there, I replaced the original 80 GB Seagate with a 250 GB Seagate.

Since you are already familiar with thermal paste cleaning and application, the one thing
you should watch for is to make sure you lay the imac flat on its back, and then very carefully
rotate the bottom cover toward you from the top down. This is the best way to avoid stressing
the the drive-carrier ribbon(s). The other important note is that the service manual calls for 18
inch-pounds on the 4 bottom cover torx screws, which ensures solid mating-contact of the heat
pipe surfaces. The manual warns that failure to properly tension these screws can cause the
processor to overheat (with predictably disasterous results).

There are photo-documented, step-by-step intructions on XLR8yourmac.com and elsewhere
for taking apart G4 iMacs, along with things to watch for. Also, the service manuals can be found on-line.

Good luck!

[sparhawk]

You are correct Dave B
Sorry CSPERYEAR some sites say 1GB others say 2GB. I guess it depends on what size sticks they stock. If you can do 2GB that would be sweet and probably would make it very snappy.

[chipchen]

You are both right... Apple technically only supports 1GB total... but the machine will take 2GB.

[Eriamjh]

I've got 1GB in my wife's iMac G4 20" in the internal slot. I haven't justified buying the 1GB SODIMM for the lower slot yet (she doesn't complain).

The 20" iMac G4s WILL take 2GB total. Believe it.

XLR8YourMac has a good take-apart page.

[WOPR]

I've just changed my 512mb for a 1gb chip to give me 1.25gb of RAM in my 17". I can't really say I've noticed much difference but it will increase it's ebay value I guess.

[cspuryear]

Originally Posted by Dave B

There are photo-documented, step-by-step intructions on XLR8yourmac.com and elsewhere
for taking apart G4 iMacs, along with things to watch for. Also, the service manuals can be found on-line.

Good luck!

Dave - this was the "manual" I was referring to. I thought that site had been forced to pull all of that stuff off?!?!?!

[sparhawk]

I was just wondering if you were going to do it now that you have the info?
If so let us know how well it preforms for you after