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OS X on iMac DV 400?
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Join Date: Aug 2002
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My girlfriend has a Tangerine iMac DV (G3 400). We're thinking of installing Jaguar on it (I already have OS X.1.5 on my G4 733), but are a bit uncertain regarding speed and memory issues.
Does anyone know how much memory you can install on this machine? Currently it has 192 Mb (a 64 and a 128 DIMM). She's going to install all the Macromedia MX stuff on it to learn Flash and Fireworks, but otherwise uses the iMac for WP/web/email (no games).
Also - can anyone comment on what the speed is likely to be like? If you have a G3 400 Mhz iMac, what would you do? Stick with OS 9 or move up to Jaguar? If we move to Jag, how much memory should we install?
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Join Date: Nov 1999
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Originally posted by Octafish:
My girlfriend has a Tangerine iMac DV (G3 400). We're thinking of installing Jaguar on it (I already have OS X.1.5 on my G4 733), but are a bit uncertain regarding speed and memory issues.
Does anyone know how much memory you can install on this machine? Currently it has 192 Mb (a 64 and a 128 DIMM). She's going to install all the Macromedia MX stuff on it to learn Flash and Fireworks, but otherwise uses the iMac for WP/web/email (no games).
Also - can anyone comment on what the speed is likely to be like? If you have a G3 400 Mhz iMac, what would you do? Stick with OS 9 or move up to Jaguar? If we move to Jag, how much memory should we install?
I'd move to Jaguar and take the memory up to 256Mb at a minimum. I used the same machine quite happily with OS X 10.1.5 and 256Mb. Just passed it on to a friend and moved to a 17-inch flat-panel iMac, but you'll be OK with that spec.
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He that will eat the kernel must crack the nut.
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That's great - thanks. Any idea what the max memory you can install in the G3 400 Mhz iMac is?
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Originally posted by Octafish:
That's great - thanks. Any idea what the max memory you can install in the G3 400 Mhz iMac is?
You know, I can't remember offhand -- likely as not 1024Mb, but you should do a Google search to be sure.
Basically, though, the more memory the better. SDRAM's nice and cheap these days, so if you can get 384Mb or even 512Mb in there, go for it.
The only thing that's going to hold you back a bit is the video card, which probably has only 8Mb of VRAM -- you're not going to see the benefits of Quartz Extreme.
While your machine isn't going to be a speed demon, it should work just fine for what you need.
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He that will eat the kernel must crack the nut.
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Apple says you can install a maximum of 512 MB, but I've read that people are installing 1 GB with no issues.
I'd suggest at least 256 MB, more if you can afford it. I have 384 MB (with an iMac DV, btw) and I avoid Classic as much as I can. It just eats my RAM or something, because it becomes too slow with Classic running.
As for OS X performance, I find 10.1.x to be quite acceptable. It should also be noted that my only other comparison is a 733 MHz G4 tower running 10.0.x. If that says anything.
Brad
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I'm adding 512MB RAM to my iMac DV 400 as soon as it arrives in the mail (probably Wednesday). I've also ordered Jaguar.
From what I've read, it will be completely usable, but don't give me that. OS 10.0 was perfectly fine on my iMac DV 400, 10.1 was wonderful, and Jaguar will run like a dream.
Granted, I'm not a power user or anything, but this little thing chugs along nicely, even when using iMovie and such.
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Join Date: May 2000
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Octafish, I believe the video card in your iMac DV 400 has 8Mb. Apple stated a minimum of 16mb is needed for Quartz Extreme. Not sure how that would affect performance but the purpose of Quartz Extreme is to put the load of operating the Desktop on the Video Card to free up the processor. If you aren't in the position to get a new Mac go ahead and buy Jaguar. If you see getting a new Mac in your near future I don't know that I would spend the money to get Jaguar since it would come with a new Mac. You would then end up with a useless copy lying around.
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You won't be able to use Quartz Extreme (it requires a Radeon or Nvidia video card as well as 16 MB memory) but the consensus is that even without QE you will see performance gains over 10.1.x because of the recompiled code. Plus you get the added features (better Mail app, Address Book, the search function in the Finder, etc.).
I'd also recommend at least 256 MB. I also have an iMac DV 400 and I have 640 (512+128), so you should be able to slap 1024 in there if you wanted.
I definitely plan on buying Jaguar for my iMac this weekend at my local Apple store.
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Thanks for the help guys. This was my first post to the forum - great to have so many helpful replies. No chance of getting a new Mac, so I'll put in an order for a 512 DIMM to Crucial (who seem to offer the lowest prices in the UK) tomorrow.
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X.2 on a 400Mhz G3 will be grand.
--------------------
iMac DV
400Mhz G3
512MB RAM
40GB 7200RPM
Blueberry
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AIM: bmichel5581
MacBook 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB RAM
160GB
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Join Date: Mar 2000
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X.2 on my 400Mhz G3 is grand.
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iMac DV
400Mhz G3
256MB RAM
60GB 7200RPM
(Sometimes it's slow with apps which realy needs lots of RAM...)
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-noliv
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Originally posted by Octafish:
That's great - thanks. Any idea what the max memory you can install in the G3 400 Mhz iMac is?
You can go up to 1 gig of ram.
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20"iMac intel 2.66 Duo: 4GB RAM : OS 10.6.6
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Grand...
...the deed is done. Just ordered 10.2 and a 512 Mb DIMM. (Hmm, I hope my partner appreciates all this, and doesn't display her customary reluctance to upgrade.)
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I've an iMac DV 400 w/512 MB of memory and use 10.1.5 daily at work. Once I tied to tax it till fail: tar-zipped a 700MB file in terminal+burn a CD in Toast+copy 3 GB of files from my Irix server (via NFS)+watch a movie preview from Apple's QuickTime site+print a 150 page PDF.
I watched the progress via 'top' (any other input at this point would be useless--the mouse barely tracked)- the pageouts mounted at a quickening pace, but not one app locked or failed.
While OS X might not be as "snappy" as 9, it's quicker, at least for me, because I can do so much more simultaneously. Not having that "stop and wait" feeling from OS 9 while copying or printing or stuffing a file took some getting used to--not as many coffee breaks.
Anyway, after all that, OS X and iMac 400 works great.
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I am stupidest when I try to be funny.
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Join Date: Jun 2001
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10.1.5 on my DV 400 runs quite nicely. I have 1GB of RAM - so I know that works (got it when it was cheap about a year ago - it was worth doing and I'm glad I did). I debated about whether I need X.2 - hopefully I'll be shopping for a new Mac in about 6 months or so (probably 17 in iMac, maybe eMac), but based on all the reviews I think it will be worth it.
With 10.1.5, there are a few things that 'feel' a bit slower than OS9 on this machine, but it's definitely workable, and the stability and integration of the iApps and everything is worth a slight cut in speed to me.
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I have an iMac G3 400 DV running Jag it is great. It's like it frees up 50 MB of RAM(wich I have 384 MB of btw). Everyone should swich to jag as long as they atleast have a G3 and 125 MB of RAM
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Music, to revitalisze mind. Computers, to get music. Food, to revitalize body and mind. Computers, to research food. Science, to improve to comfort of mankind. Computers, to store, research, and share that science. History, to learn from mistakes and never make them again. Computers, to store, research, and share that history. God, to guid us through it all.
Comp: iMac DV (version = 83.0) / Processor: 400 MHz PowerPC G3 / HD: 12.75 GB / Memory: 384 MB SDRAM / Video Card: ATY,Rage128VR; 8 MB Memory / OS: Mac OS X 10.2.1 (6D52) (Jaguar) / Kernel: Darwin Kernel Version 6.1 /
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Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2000
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I to have a DvSe 400 with 384 mb of ram and it seems to be running fine here too.
It's my first taste of OSX so can't compare with other versions.
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Mac Enthusiast
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Jaguar has been fine on my 400mhz DV (with 384 meg of RAM), but I've experienced an unusually long startup time -- like two and a half minutes or so. I have no idea why; of course the only reason I've been restarting the machine at all is because I'm installing sofware.
Anybody else experience longer-than-usual startups? Would be grateful to know either way.
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On my iMac DV 400, 10.0 was lousy, 10.1 was pretty good but significantly slower than 9, and 10.2 is not really any faster than 10.1 except that it stalls a lot less.
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