iMac Snow 600mhz G3 192mb RAM

[mokaboy]

Hello all,

i recently got hold of my first mac off a mate of mine and i love it!

Its an old one i know and its running 10.2.8 which means i cannot connect my ipod to it!

Its no where near as fast as my core 2 duo xp so id like to upgrade it as much as i can.

A few question before i go out and buy 10.3 and more RAM.

1. What is the max RAM this thing will take? It currently has a 128 and a 64 i would like to get 512mb x 2 orrrr 1gb x 2 IF it will take it... is it worth it? What benefits will i see?

2. Which OS X will it take with the new RAM upgrade bearing in mind it only has a 600mhz CPU? I thinking 10.3 then update it to 10.3.9.

3. Upgrading the CPU? What is the max CPU the imac will take and where could i pick one up? I have looked on Ebay UK and found nothing.

4. Scrolling up and down webpages lags a little which correct me if im wrong usually points to the graphics card not being powerful enough? Could i pick up a new graphics card for it? Again where?

Thanks in advance
Moka

 

[raybay]

We need to know more information about your specs. What is the exact model number, or information off the Mac label. If an iMac, what is the model posted on the bottom.
It definitely will not take 10.4 and would probably work better with a high 9.

 

[mokaboy]

I did not realise.
Model Number : m5521
More Information : Slot cd tray, Firewire...

I really would like OS X.

 

[raybay]

The M5521 is an iMac G3 600 Mhz

It will take two modules of 512 MB each, PC133, with a maximum of 1 GB or 1024 MB.

It will take up OS-X 4... I haven't tested it with Leopard... but know it cannot handle some of the features of OS-X 4 and above.

 

[mokaboy]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Ill get myself x2 512mb 133mhz sticks then.

What about the lag while scrolling up and down on any webpage and the CPU?

 

[SNGX1275]

It will run 10.4, it WILL NOT run 10.5 even with a modified install (see my post in this forum on the modified install). G3s lack specific instructions that Leopard needs, that is why it won't run.

10.3.9 is a solid OS, but I would really recommend Tiger (10.4) if you can get it. Unlike successive versions of Windows, each version of OS X through Tiger actually ran better than the previous one on older hardware (I can't actually prove this, but its all over the web - most may be just coding improvments in the OS). The reason I don't suggest 10.3.9 is because if you ever want to do anything modern with it many apps no longer support 10.3.x, and Tiger will run pretty decent on that with some more RAM.

I am not sure about the iMacs but I know some companies made processor upgrades for Macs (sonnet is one I believe), but they are pretty expensive and unless you could make the jump to a G4 it probably wouldn't be worth it (and maybe not even then).

 

[mokaboy]

ok, thanks alot for your advice.