Making an Informed Decision When Purchasing a Mac G4 Processor Upgrade

Upgrading your G4 Macintosh can be somewhat confusing. The purpose of this guide is to help you determine what type of G4 Processor upgrade is compatible with your G4 Mac and hopefully help in deciding which is right for your needs. We're going to explain the differences between the types of upgrades and give you some information which may assist you in saving money when you finally reach your decision on which upgrade to purchase.

• There are two (2) different types of G4 Processor upgrades, those made for the original G4s (a.k.a. Yikes! or PCI Graphics G4s) which had PCI-based video card, and those made for the later G4s (a.k.a. AGP Graphics G4s, Sawtooth, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio, Quicksilver or Mirrored Drive Door). The latter came with an AGP-based video card. When it comes to telling whether you have either a PCI or AGP video card is to look at the card itself. Most generally, an AGP video card has a small hook-shaped section on the bottom facing the front of the Mac, while the PCI video cards do not.

• If you have a Sawtooth Mac, be sure it is Dual Processor compatible before you purchase a Dual Processor upgrade. All G4 Macs with AGP graphics cards produced after the Sawtooth (with the exception of the Mirrored Drive Door Macs) are compatible with Dual Processor upgrades. These models include Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio, Quicksilver and Quicksilver 2002 Macs.

• Be sure that the applications you're working with are capable of activating the second CPU in a Dual Processor upgrade. With the advent of later versions of OS X 10.3, the system itself can take advantage of dual CPUs. This can speed the system up, but individual applications are not enhanced by Dual Processors unless those particular apps activate the second CPU. Most generally, these applications are "professional" audio, video and graphics applications. E-mail, web browsing and other "non-professional" apps will see no speed improvement from a Dual Processor upgrade. Therefore, it would be more cost effective to just go with a Single Processor upgrade.

• If you have a Mirrored Drive Door Mac (characterized by shiny, silver doors that cover the optical drive bays on the front of the Mac), you'll first want to check with the manufacturer or seller of the upgrade to make sure the upgrade you're interested in is compatible. Most of the newer G4 Processor upgrades are NOT compatible with Mirrored Drive Door Macs.

• If you are doing your work with applications that require additional hardware to be installed internally in your Mac (e.g., additional video cards, audio cards, etc.) you'll want to purchase a G4 Processor upgrade with some flexibility when it comes to voltage regulation. The additional PCI cards may require enough electricity to operate that they pull too much power away from the CPU. When this happens, you could experience anything from crashing, freezing, kernel panics or the Mac just not starting up at all.

• Be sure your Operating System (OS) is compatible with the upgrade you're purchasing. For example, some upgrades require Mac OS 9.2.2 and/or OS X 10.3.5 in order to function. Other upgrades require Mac OS 9.2.1 and/or any version of OS X. Most generally, you can tell which is which by whether the upgrade has what is known as Level 3 (a.k.a. L3) cache.

GMSTech KC has furnished this guide to help people in the market for Macintosh G4 Processor upgrades make informed decisions about their purchase. All information included in this guide is current and correct to the best of our knowledge. Corrections and updates may occur without notice. If you would like to contact us with new information, find a discrepancy in any of the statements above or would like further information, please contact us via eBay's messaging system.