upgrade iMac G4

Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
My friend just bought an iMac G4, and we were going to see if we can upgrade it. It has a 1Ghz G4, 512 MBs RAM, and a 32MB Nvidia Geforce. Now it came came pre-loaded with Tiger, would that be the best operating system to be on there, or should we go back in time a little more? Also, i'm sure if the components are soldered into the logic board, but could the processor be upgraded to a faster G4 or even a G5, and could the RAM be upped? Thanks
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
My friend just bought an iMac G4, and we were going to see if we can upgrade it. It has a 1Ghz G4, 512 MBs RAM, and a 32MB Nvidia Geforce. Now it came came pre-loaded with Tiger, would that be the best operating system to be on there, or should we go back in time a little more? Also, i'm sure if the components are soldered into the logic board, but could the processor be upgraded to a faster G4 or even a G5, and could the RAM be upped? Thanks

OS 10.4 is probably the best. No you cannot upgrade the CPU or GPU. Yes you can upgrade the ram.:)

HTH,

- Nick
 
OP
mknabster
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Alright sounds good, we'll stay with Tiger and max it out at 1GB i believe. Thanks
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Alright sounds good, we'll stay with Tiger and max it out at 1GB i believe. Thanks

Just an FYI. You could upgrade to OS 10.5...but it might be a tad slow (and expensive). You can "unofficially" upgrade to 2 gig of ram if that interests you (but it's a bit of an involved process depending on your disassembly/assembly skills).

- Nick
 
OP
mknabster
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Ooo, 2gigs might be worth the effort, are there guides online that show how to do it, like does ifixit have something for this model? Would that processor be able to handle Leopard though? I have discs for 10.4, .5, and .6 so that's not an issue.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Ooo, 2gigs might be worth the effort, are there guides online that show how to do it, like does ifixit have something for this model? Would that processor be able to handle Leopard though? I have discs for 10.4, .5, and .6 so that's not an issue.

Here's an G4 iMac take apart guide:

iMac G4 Take-apart for Drive and Ram upgrades

There are two different sized ram sticks. The upper one (harder to get to) is "officially" not supposed to be upgradeable...but it is. Each ram stick can be up to 1gig...thus 2 gig max.

As far as the OS. Your iMac meets the minimum hardware requirements for 10.5...it's up to you if the performance meets your needs.

- Nick
 
OP
mknabster
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Huh, if only my MBP has this capability with the RAM, that would be awesome
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Huh, if only my MBP has this capability with the RAM, that would be awesome

Sometimes some models can handle more ram than what "officially" Apple says. Some MBP's do fall into this category.

- Nick
 
OP
mknabster
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Do you have any ideas about which MBPs could do that? I would love to have mine accept 2 4 GB sticks, because mine is honestly slowing down.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Do you have any ideas about which MBPs could do that? I would love to have mine accept 2 4 GB sticks, because mine is honestly slowing down.

More ram (in most cases) does not solve speed issues. More ram allows you to run programs that require more ram...or open more programs simultaneously.

What exact model MBP do you have? There are more than one model 15" MBP with a 2.53ghz cpu.

- Nick
 
OP
mknabster
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Yea I know, I would just like better performance when i'm creating a large file in Photoshop and it takes forever to render or when i'm using my virtual machine and want to use my Mac at the same time.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Yea I know, I would just like better performance when i'm creating a large file in Photoshop and it takes forever to render or when i'm using my virtual machine and want to use my Mac at the same time.

Yeah...trying to render large Photoshop files...AND...trying to run a virtual machine...will really tax the hardware. If this is something you do a lot...you either:

- need to do just one thing at a time (devoting all resources to one task
- just have to deal with the performance as it is
- get a newer & faster computer

If your MBP is an older 2.53mhz model (2008/2009)...it officially has a 4gig of ram max...but "unofficially" can be upgraded to 6 gig.

HTH,

- Nick
 
OP
mknabster
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Even more ooos, I didn't know they made 3GB sticks though. Yea I have it Apple maxxed out at 4GB, it's the '08 2.5 Ghz model. yea i don't have money to buy a new Mac, but I don't do the same together, i meant separately.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Even more ooos, I didn't know they made 3GB sticks though. Yea I have it Apple maxxed out at 4GB, it's the '08 2.5 Ghz model. yea i don't have money to buy a new Mac, but I don't do the same together, i meant separately.

Hey...no one said anything about 3 gig sticks!;) You use a 4 gig & 2 gig sticks.

- Nick
 
OP
mknabster
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Oh I get it lol. I just read on macrumors that if I would put the 6GBs in, it would only be single instead of dual channel, is that correct?
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Oh I get it lol. I just read on macrumors that if I would put the 6GBs in, it would only be single instead of dual channel, is that correct?

I'm willing to bet that if you REALLY need 6 gigs of ram...6 gigs of single is better than 4gigs of dual!:)

- Nick
 
OP
mknabster
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Yea i think i'll hold off on it now, ~$90 is a good haul for a 4gig stick.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
OP
mknabster
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
894
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
15in MBP 2.5GHz Core2Duo | 1.83Ghz Dual G5 PowerMac | 2.0 GHz Dual G5 PowerMac
Yea i know lol, this might be put on the back burner for now, because i want to get an SSD and a blu-ray burner.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top