[haggy]

Hi all - I am new to the forums and to the MAC world. I have given up on microsoft and PCs for the time being except for a couple games and the work laptop.

I have a G4-450mhz that was given to me. I was thinking of upgrading the processor but am not all that familiar with the mac world. I have found a G4 mainboard with dual 500mhz processors for a low price but I have also seen some 1.2ghz G4 boards. Which one would be better? Does it matter based on the case I have?

I mainly want to use this for video and photo work and get familiar with everything before I spend a lot on a new imac.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Haggy

[reader50]

Your model may not be dual-CPU compatible. See this page for the details and a test.

We generally buy CPU upgrades rather than swap factory CPU cards because there are some compatibility issues. The later CPUs (generally 533+ MHz) went from 100 MHz FSB to 133 MHz FSB. Unless you change the (soldered) multiplier resistors on the CPU card, the faster OEM cards will operate at 75% of rated speed in your model.

Also, Apple did some layout changes to the inside of the G4 case, and reconfigured the CPU heatsink to match. Putting a newer OEM card into on older case can require hacksawing the newer card's heatsink to make it fit. Finally, Apple had a habit of moving the backside ports around, which greatly complicates motherboard upgrades.

We usually get 3rd party CPU upgrades. They go higher than the OEM cards did, and fit the machine they're intended for. Usually, they fit a range of machines.

Assuming your G4 is a Sawtooth 450, you can see available CPU upgrades here.

Note that your system is old enough that substantial upgrades to multiple systems is not economic. ie - the onboard ATA controller is affected by the 128/137 GB size limit. See the Storage FAQ thread for the details, but the short version is you'd need to buy something in order to take advantage of bigger HDs. Also, the factory video card is considered impossibly lame by today's standards - the machine is 6-7 years old by now. And shipped standard with 64 or 128 MB of RAM.