Power Mac - Upgrading a power mac G4, WITHOUT upgrading RAM or processor!

ijiskimg · ijiskimg #1 (**permalink**)

12-06-2007, 02:39 PM

Hi everyone, basically what i want to know is how i can take the strain off my dual 866mhz powermac with 1gb of ram without upgrading either cpu or memory. I know that that would make a big difference, and that the towers are very expandable, but i plan to do that at a later date.

I run Logic express 7, Ableton live 6, Reason 4 and Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended. I also plan to run two of the apple cinema 20" displays but appreciate that this will add intense strain on the graphics card, and ultimately the processor; however, i don't know what type of card it is (probably agp)...

So please, all help would be appreciated, Ijjy.

harryb2448 · harryb2448 #2 (**permalink**)

12-06-2007, 02:58 PM

Sounds similar to that ancient King Canute emptying the ocean with a spoon.

Seriously, leave the CPU as is, MDD CPU upgrades are a ridiculous price, saw one last week in Oz to 1.25 for AU$499.00 second hand! Leopard will install on the 867 as it meets the specs.

You certainly should max the RAM out to 2GB, install a 7200 RPM 8MB cache HDD if not one installed already, and updating the graphics card to say an ATI Radeon 9800 MAC PRO, and maybe a PCI card to run the second display.

ijiskimg · ijiskimg #3 (**permalink**)

12-06-2007, 03:16 PM

Ok, thanks a lot.

Are there only certain graphics cards that work with macs?

harryb2448 · harryb2448 #4 (**permalink**)

12-06-2007, 09:02 PM

You have a choice of nVidia or ATI Radeon Graphic cards. From memory, I think the 20"Cinema Display is ADC (Apple Direct Connect) which carries power, picture and USB all in one cable,. Isd that is so the ATI Radeon 9000 MAC PRO is about the fastest but will not show all Leopard's eye candy features.

If it ias DVI/VGA connection, there is a much wider choice of cards. Do a Google search and see what comes up.

ijiskimg · ijiskimg #5 (**permalink**)

12-07-2007, 02:28 PM

yeah, i know but isn't there a converter available, i just really like the look of those apple monitors!

dtravis7 · dtravis7 #6 (**permalink**)

12-07-2007, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ijiskimg

yeah, i know but isn't there a converter available, i just really like the look of those apple monitors!

There is but it's expensive. Apple appears not to make it anymore but you can find one on ebay. Here is one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-DVI-to-ADC...QQcmdZViewItem

I have a G4 Digital Audio with 1.8Ghz G4 and ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. I had to purchase one as I love my 22" Cinema Display and love it.

ijiskimg · ijiskimg #7 (**permalink**)

12-07-2007, 04:07 PM

thanks. would i need to purchase 2 to run 2 monitors?

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ijiskimg #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 06, 2007 Posts: 10	12-06-2007, 02:39 PM Hi everyone, basically what i want to know is how i can take the strain off my dual 866mhz powermac with 1gb of ram without upgrading either cpu or memory. I know that that would make a big difference, and that the towers are very expandable, but i plan to do that at a later date. I run Logic express 7, Ableton live 6, Reason 4 and Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended. I also plan to run two of the apple cinema 20" displays but appreciate that this will add intense strain on the graphics card, and ultimately the processor; however, i don't know what type of card it is (probably agp)... So please, all help would be appreciated, Ijjy.
	QUOTE Thanks

harryb2448 #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 28, 2007 Location: Nambucca Heads Australia Posts: 14,058 Mac Specs: iMac i5 2.7GHz OS X.8.3	12-06-2007, 02:58 PM Sounds similar to that ancient King Canute emptying the ocean with a spoon. Seriously, leave the CPU as is, MDD CPU upgrades are a ridiculous price, saw one last week in Oz to 1.25 for AU$499.00 second hand! Leopard will install on the 867 as it meets the specs. You certainly should max the RAM out to 2GB, install a 7200 RPM 8MB cache HDD if not one installed already, and updating the graphics card to say an ATI Radeon 9800 MAC PRO, and maybe a PCI card to run the second display.
	QUOTE Thanks

harryb2448 #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 28, 2007 Location: Nambucca Heads Australia Posts: 14,058 Mac Specs: iMac i5 2.7GHz OS X.8.3	12-06-2007, 09:02 PM You have a choice of nVidia or ATI Radeon Graphic cards. From memory, I think the 20"Cinema Display is ADC (Apple Direct Connect) which carries power, picture and USB all in one cable,. Isd that is so the ATI Radeon 9000 MAC PRO is about the fastest but will not show all Leopard's eye candy features. If it ias DVI/VGA connection, there is a much wider choice of cards. Do a Google search and see what comes up.
	QUOTE Thanks

ijiskimg #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 06, 2007 Posts: 10	12-07-2007, 02:28 PM yeah, i know but isn't there a converter available, i just really like the look of those apple monitors!
	QUOTE Thanks

ijiskimg #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 06, 2007 Posts: 10	12-07-2007, 04:07 PM thanks. would i need to purchase 2 to run 2 monitors?
	QUOTE Thanks

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