02-08-2010, 06:22 PM

Hello all,
Got my first ever mac , an imac G3 700MHZ,
previous owner upgraded ram to 512,
i was thinking of upgrading HDD from 60 GB to say perhaps 500GB,
do i then also need to upgrade processor and also upgrade ram to 1GB,
or would i be as well to add an external HD through firewire or USB ???
many thanks in advance

02-08-2010, 09:13 PM

That's a nice iMac you got there...the 700mhz was the fastest version in the G3 iMac series!

Some info for you:

- you're limited to a maximum of 128 megabyte hard drive...so no 500 gig....sorry.
- you cannot upgrade the processor on an iMac.
- you can attach an external hard drive.
- max ram is 1 gig as you mentioned.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

02-08-2010, 10:19 PM

I would leave the boot drive alone. If you change it you lose the firmware and would have to put it back on the clean drive. This means original OS boot disc and starting with OS 9.2.2 and updating the boot rom to 4.1.9 in order to install OS 10. Just use a large external for your storage and save yourself a lot of pain.

02-08-2010, 11:02 PM

And a firewire, or combo fw/usb external drive at that - to answer your question . I agree with MacSK, if the present internal drive is functioning normally, leave it be.

That iMac was the last of the G3 line, the 700 MHz is relatively rare (at least here in NZ). By all means take the RAM further to 1 Gb (2 x 512), the iMac will run really well with that, especially if you're operating OS X. Be careful to get the right sort of RAM, not the cheap high density PC modules.

Tiger is the last OS for the G3 iMac, but personally I'd stay with Panther, just my preference, having tried both with my G3 600.

02-09-2010, 07:56 PM

Hello all, Thanks for the replies,

Have decided to go ahead with upgrading the ram and using an external HDD
any recommendations on the external HDD and will i have to use mac specific ram chips,
thanks, simon

02-09-2010, 08:30 PM

External HD - go for the better-known brands like Hitachi, Seagate, or Western Digital - and read reviews of them! You'll get lots of opinions here, independent reviews are better.

RAM - the best place for Mac-friendly components has to be OWC Performance Upgrades; FireWire USB SATA Storage; Memory, more at OWC. I know, there's newegg and craigslist in the US, and they're cheaper, but even from way out here in NZ, I buy from OWC. I know I'll get the right stuff from them.

You should also consider getting the hard drive enclosure from OWC, with or without the hard drive included. Enclosures with the Oxford chipset are better with Mac, but you'll pay more.

02-09-2010, 09:44 PM

Don't buy the modules from a PC shop as PC memory is normally high density and your iMac uses dearer low density modules. Do as hughvane suggests.