Questions Re Performance

Questions About System Performance

Hello all:

My first post - so be gentle.

I have the chance of inheriting my wife's iMac (800 Mhz Power PC G4). It has a 75 Gig drive with 768 megs of DRAM - running OS-X version 10.4.10.

I am considering using this machine as a multi-media device.

Uses would be:

• iTunes
• Torrent downloads
• And watching videos

My initial testing finds the machine to be somewhat sluggish as compared to my newer laptop (it's a PC -sorry).

I'd appreciate comments on the configuration and suggestions on what to do to speed things up a bit. I find that even downloaded videos are clipping at times. Also, apart from usability, is there any reason to upgrade to Leopard?

Any suggestions / advice would be appreciated.

Welcome to Mac-Forums, joomlales.

Keeping in mind that you are comparing a recent computer with the iMac which was introduced in July 2002 (so almost 5 and a half years ago), no way you'll get the same performance as your Win Notebook.

For one thing, online videos have become much more elaborate and heavier in almost 6 years!

And that iMac model won't make the cut for Leopard: here are the system requirements for Leopard. For a G4, the slowest CPU that is supported is 867MHz.

It certainly couldn't hurt to upgrade it to 2GB of RAM which will be about $150.
It will handle what you want it to do but it will always be sluggish.

Bryan, can you really upgrade the iMac 800 Mhz Power PC G4 to 2GB of RAM? I thought the max was 1 GB (and this is stretching it because the factory installed module has to be pulled out by a tech and changed with a 512MB module).

Got this from OWC.



Edited to add:

This is what LowEndMac has to say:

RAM: 128/256 MB, expandable to 1 GB using one user accessible 144-pin PC133 SODIMM (up to 512 MB) and one 168-pin PC133 DIMM (also up to 512 MB)

Click to expand...

Sorry about that. I am on my phone and don't have access to Mactracker. I assumed it took PC2100 memory or something not PC133. Man, Apple used that RAM in the iMac?

Unfortunately, there's very little that can be done to speed that machine up. Compared to today's computers, the PPC G4 is very outdated, and very slow. And on that model, it's soldered to the board so there's no way to upgrade it.

There are two upgrades that you can make-both of which will help-but neither one of them is going to transform the system into some blazing fast machine. One is to max out the RAM at 1GB, the other is to upgrade the hard drive with a newer, faster drive. Upgrading the drive will require disassembling the computer, and depending on how the 768MB is installed (e.g. if the machine was bought with 512 and a 256 was added or if it was bought with 256 and a 512 was added), that will also require disassembling the computer.

bryphotoguy said:

Sorry about that. I am on my phone and don't have access to Mactracker. I assumed it took PC2100 memory or something not PC133. Man, Apple used that RAM in the iMac?

Click to expand...

Well that was almost 6 years ago, Bryan!

MacHeadCase said:

Well that was almost 6 years ago, Bryan!

Click to expand...

Yeah, I know you said it was introduced in mid 2002. A PC I built then used PC2100.

USB Port Question

Hi,

I have just acquired an iMac from my wife (Power PC G4 - 800 MHz).

The machine works quite well. However I find that the USB port is extremely slow. I am transferring her data to a LACIE portable drive and it is taking forever (hours) to copy 8 gigs of data. The transfer rate when I connect the USB drive to her new machine is quite fast. So I am left to believe that my USB port on the iMAC is old and slow. When I look in the System Profiler I can get details on the port. But they mean nothing to me.

Can anyone tell me how to interpret what I see in the profiler and if there are and suggestions on how to speed up the port?

Many thanks!

Les

I would assume the imac version you have is USB 1.0 / 1.1

This was the first generation of USB. USB 2.0 is much faster and thats why its faster on the newer models.

christm said:

I would assume the imac version you have is USB 1.0 / 1.1

This was the first generation of USB. USB 2.0 is much faster and thats why its faster on the newer models.

Click to expand...

I agree - even though the System Profiler does not explicitly state that. Any suggestions on "options"? Has anyone heard of a way to get a USB 2 LACIE drive to connect to a Firewire port? The iMAC has 2 of those!

Thanks for the feedback.

Les ;D

All PowerMac G4's had USB 1.1. It supports up to 10kbps. USB 2.0 (400kbps) or Hi-Speed USB (what you're used to) wasn't introduced until the G5 PowerMac.
To make the PowerMac USB 2.0 complient, you need to buy a PCI card. If your HD supports FireWire, use that anyways. It is a faster connection than USB 2.0.

Sorry, read the OP incorrectly. The iMac didn't support USB 2.0 until the 1GHz model. I don't know of a USB to FireWire adapter. The do make USB to Ethernet adapters but I don't know how that'd work.

bryphotoguy said:

All PowerMac G4's had USB 1.1. It supports up to 10kbps. USB 2.0 (400kbps) or Hi-Speed USB (what you're used to) wasn't introduced until the G5 PowerMac.
To make the PowerMac USB 2.0 complient, you need to buy a PCI card. If your HD supports FireWire, use that anyways. It is a faster connection than USB 2.0.

Sorry, read the OP incorrectly. The iMac didn't support USB 2.0 until the 1GHz model. I don't know of a USB to FireWire adapter. The do make USB to Ethernet adapters but I don't know how that'd work.

Click to expand...

Thanks this is great information. Regarding your comment:"To make the PowerMac USB 2.0 compliant, you need to buy a PCI card". Can someone tell me more about this option? Where would I even install the PCI card? This Mac looks like there is no real estate to do so.

Thanks again - Les

joomlales said:

Thanks this is great information. Regarding your comment:"To make the PowerMac USB 2.0 compliant, you need to buy a PCI card". Can someone tell me more about this option? Where would I even install the PCI card? This Mac looks like there is no real estate to do so.

Thanks again - Les

Click to expand...

Like I said, I misread your original post. I thought you had a PowerMac. You have an iMac, so all that info is useless.
Posting replies from an iPhone is a challenge (no joke.)
You cannot add a PCI card to an iMac. The 800MHz does not support 2.0 in any way I can think of.
Like I did say, I know of a USB/ Ethernet adapter. You could possibly network the HD and access info that way.

bryphotoguy said:

Like I said, I misread your original post. I thought you had a PowerMac. You have an iMac, so all that info is useless.
Posting replies from an iPhone is a challenge (no joke.)
You cannot add a PCI card to an iMac. The 800MHz does not support 2.0 in any way I can think of.
Like I did say, I know of a USB/ Ethernet adapter. You could possibly network the HD and access info that way.

Click to expand...

Got it - Thanks for the help and information. I just realized that I could use one of my old iPODs to get the data I need out of the machine using the Firewire port. It's humming along as I type this message.

L

I have recently inherited an iMAC with the following configuration:

Hardware Overview:

Machine Name: iMac
Machine ModelowerMac4,5
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 800 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
Memory: 768 MB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.4.5f3

The machine works okay. But it does bog down when I try and do more than a couple of things. I'd like to beef things up, but am unsure of my options. Are there some utilities out there that I can use to analyze the machine? Would adding more RAM help?

I use the machine primarily to download Torrents, surf the net & manage my iTunes.

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

Les

You can install up to 1GB. Only one of DIMM's is user accessible. You would have to take apart the whole machine to access the one that was installed by Apple would probably be the one you would need to upgrade.
What things are you trying to do?
Please keep in mind, this model was made in early 2003, so it's almost 5 years old. It isn't going to be the speediest computer on the block.

bryphotoguy said:

You can install up to 1GB. Only one of DIMM's is user accessible. You would have to take apart the whole machine to access the one that was installed by Apple would probably be the one you would need to upgrade.
What things are you trying to do?
Please keep in mind, this model was made in early 2003, so it's almost 5 years old. It isn't going to be the speediest computer on the block.

Click to expand...

Hey there!

Yup, I realize that this machine is older. But it is so freaking pretty! I actually gave my son a 2 year old Laptop (Windows) so I could get this from my wife (who got an iBook - where is the justice?).

I do lots of downloading. Maybe I am trying to do too much at once (surf, download & iTunes).

So it seems like my options are few and far between????

What about system tests? Is there a way to see what apps are using in terms of CPU and memory?

Thanks for the reply.

Les

It is only 800MHz and has no L:3 cache and limited memory.

Assume you are running 10.2 or 10.3 which would probably be best OS for the iMac.

Depending on the OS, go and have a peek at Activity Monitor and see what is using the RAM etc. Guess you will just have to be patient with the machine. They sure are beautiful to look at Les.

Hi Harry,

I am running OS-X (10.4.11).

Thanks for telling me about the Activity Monitor (I am a recent Mac convert). I took a look and saw 1 process in particular that I do not want running. Can you tell me where I find apps. that get loaded at startup.

Thanks for the compliment on the machine. It's a work of art.

I agree - patience is needed.

Les