Powermac G4 upgrade possible?

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Hi,

I've bought me a Powermac G4 AGP Graphics (400 Mhz/100Mhz bus). As 400mhz is a bit short for what I want with it I'd like to buy me a cheap upgrade.
A lot of processors to be found on f.e. eBay, but I don't know which I can or can't use.

I know I can use the Sonnet Encore and Newertech MAXPower but they're SO expensive (not worth the money for me).

Can I also use the 1GHz MDD version processor on this machine although the bus speed is 133MHz in stead of 100MHz? Or any other processor upgrade that's not like 200$ or more?
 

dtravis7


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MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
A CPU from an MDD will not work at all. You need an upgrade CPU from Sonnet or one of the other companies. Try finding a used one on Ebay.

I went with a used Giga Design and since they are out of business now, you might find one even cheaper. Anything that works in a AGP Graphics (Sawtooth), Gigabit Ethernet will work. There are some you can jumper for either 100Mhz or 133Mhz Bus and they will work in a Digital Audio and Quicksilver as well as your AGP Mac.
 
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So apart from the original single 500 mhz (G4 AGP was shipped with 350/400/500 for as far as I found) there is no original Apple CPU I can use?
What I want to do is:
Webbrowsing, audio mastering (T-Racks) and webcam streaming (through a Flash website, very simple). I think 400MHz is a bit short for this, running OSX 10.4?
 

dtravis7


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Here is one upgrade CPU that might work. The seller has no docs. I will check in it later.

There was a 450Mhz G4 also in that lineup for the AGP. Check the specs on Low End Mac. I believe the CPU's that came with the Gigabit Ethernet will work also but nothing else. You will be better off with a used Upgrade CPU as it will be a lot faster.

OWC 1.2 Ghz Single PowerPC G4 CPU Upgrade for PowerMacs - eBay (item 110375619473 end time Apr-17-09 16:00:39 PDT)

This looks interesting also.

Sonnet Encore G4 1ghz CPU-1.2gb RAM-32mbVideo+PCI Cards - eBay (item 320359173231 end time Apr-18-09 09:28:13 PDT)
 
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The 1st only ships to US (I'm in Europe) and I've seen the 2nd one, very interesting, but I think it will get too expensive anyway. Who would want to sell this stuff for $75 or something, I guess no one ;)
Anyway, I'll keep looking, at least I now know what I'm looking for :D
 
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I just recently did an upgrade my G4 AGP to a dual 500 mhz. With an original for the G4. I believe it came from a Gigabit Ethernet model.
If going this route be sure that you get the heat sink with it. They are of course quite larger and made to fit the dual processor. The heat sinks for the dual processors are terribly hard to find by themselves. I got mine off of e-bay but it did take a while to find one with the heat sink included. The dual is lots faster than my old single.
 

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