help me identify this mac / speed quick please

[part12studios]

I have someone selling this for a good price locally and i've been looking to find something that's a significant jump from the 450mhz g4 sawtooth I have.. this guy is selling this



https://www.dropbox.com/s/4tbr3by1h5s1vba/Screen%20Shot%202019-04-06%20at%206.43.32%20PM.png?dl=0

+100 cool points to anyone that could help me effectively identify the clock speed of a mac of this generation.  i'm hoping its at least in the 800mhz range, but would love if it's faster than that..

I was debating getting a mirror door mac, but this is going to be $100.. and it comes with more stuff than just this..  but i need to know it's a decent increase in speed because I'm beginning to feel the ceiling of Digital Performer + using too many reverbs and compressors.. etc.

Time is of the essence as I'm trying to go see the guy tomorrow and seal the deal. 

Thanks!
Caleb

[part12studios]

Ok I see there is a "quicksilver" mac that this must be..  i also see some boards on ebay saying they are 933mhz.. but also some say 733mhz..  would it be easy to upgrade a slower quicksilver machine to a 933 mhz machine?   i'm seeing boards going for like $30 so on top of the $100 or so this all seems fair to get a 933mhz macine

Also could anyone tell me if in reality i could tell a difference in speed?  was the architecture improved beyond raw CPU speed?   faster ram?   

[part12studios]

I'm also seeing links like this showing a 1ghz version and an 800mhz version.. so that's the main thing.. wasn't sure if there was a way i could have him identify the speed without booting it up.. maybe a s/n or something on the back that might give me some sense of what's inside. 

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/specs/powermac_g4_1ghz_dp_qs.html

i would be willing to settle with a 1ghz cpu vs a 1.25ghz mirror model even if it's a little slower at this price point..

i think the biggest question after "what is it"..   is "how easy would it be to upgrade a quicksilver model to the fastest speed it could handle and what is that speed 1ghz? 

[FdB]

Not without a peek inside or a look at the label as you've mentioned (similar to the one pic attached). It IS a Quicksilver, beyond that anything else would be a complete guess. Now, if it's dirt cheap ($25.00 or less) might be worth it for parts. Hopefully, it's a bootable, running machine.

No cool points for me.

[part12studios]

you get ALL the cool points!     My own replies don't earn points.. and you confirmed what I wasn't sure about

It boots as far as I could tell from the pic..   does OS9 "about this mac" give the same kind of details OSX does?  I'd check with my G4, but its downstairs inaccessible at the moment. 

So you're saying to tell the CPU I have to open the case to find that number? 

I'm going over there tomorrow to look at it. 

[refinery]

the identification label is on the back, directly underneath the power plug. they didnt move those labels to the inside of the chassis until the G5s.




the one thing to watch out for with these machines, if its a 733mhz, is that its not an 820-1976-A motherboard. Those have an ATA controller chip from a prior generation that does not play nice with drives over 128GB. Even the regular ones though have some caveats when it comes to using larger drives.

[FdB]

With OS 9, the processor specs are noted under Hardware in the Apple System Profiler. (And yes, what refinery said…)

Here’s an “A” board from an 867 MHz QS pictured at the bottom here.

This is a “B” board.

Some other examples… a Dual Processor 800 MHz QS

“B” board noted far left side, near center here - just under that silver screw.

1 GHz Dual Processor?

Label says 1 GHz Dual Processor but that’s a 1.67 GHz G4 Sonnet Crescendo processor (purple heatsink).
Also a “B” board. If you see this purple inside, maybe time to get a little excited.

867 MHz Single Processor

The 867 MHz single processor with an “A” board.

And yes, you can buy “B” boards to replace the A’s. Good luck with that QS. Happy hunting!

[part12studios]

ok thanks a lot.   so i have this 450mhz sawtooth.   my plan would be to just move the HDD from my existing machine to the new one?  Would it be like crossing the streams?  Or is OS9 indifferent to the hardware and able to adapt to whatever it's in?   I know OSX is from my experience with macbook pros.. to an extent.. 

I assume the ram is different?  i have like 700ish ram in mine which is plenty.  i imagine the new machine has about as much if not more, but if it didn't..  i'd love to not have to buy anything if i can bring it from the Sawtooth. 

I forget what size drive i have in my G4, but i'm sure it's under 128gb..   but if it is that older model..  can it be upgraded?  I see some inexpensive boards on ebay that claim to be like 933mhz and such for $30 or so.. i'd be willing to put that into it if i did hae a 733 mhz machine, but maybe this isn't possible? 


BONUS QUESTION: Also, do you know if there are any ways to get a SSD drive in one of these?  I'm thinking of age of drive and noise (doing music)..

[FdB]

I’ll take Quicksilvers and Sawtooths for the whole amount, Alex.

HD should move right into the QS (if the OS 9 “is strong with this one” ). If it then will not boot from it afterwards, or is in anyway problematic… maybe it can then be jumpered and used as a second or Slave drive - retaining the programs and data already on it? Cross that bridge, later.

Quicksilvers reportedly can use either PC100 or PC133 RAM. Wouldn’t mix these / cross those streams (but I have)… and new or used RAM for these can now be found cheap anyway.

Many A boards have been changed to B’s and processors themselves have also been upgraded to faster ones. See the 1.6 GHz purple Sonnet in a 1 GHz machine example above. (HD size is restricted by A or B board types.)

SSD either via a simple adapter (ADP-06) or there are some supposedly made for direct plug-n-play. And without me running up and down the stairs here again… there is a better adapter than the ADP-06 but we can review that after you get a QS home.

It's coffee time.

[part12studios]

Ok so I got the unit home and checked it out.  here are the details..   so it was a lot of hardware.. a variety of things that came with it.  One item is really odd.  I know what it is, but funny I can't find a scrap of info about it. 

it's a 867mhz / 640mb ram..   i don't know where to look to find out of this is upgradable.  My hope is that maybe for not a lot of money get it up to 1ghz - 1.25ghz..  i guess faster speeds are possible, but I'm trying to keep it simple with OS9.. not looking to have to get into hacks / workarounds to push the unit faster..  so i'm seeking the fastest "vanilla" upgrades possible for this..

I also likely need to change the clock battery for it so I need to figure out what kind of battery it is.  I had to do this for my G4 Sawtooth. 

mystery audio / video capture / playback device.  has a dedicated card inside the mac too..
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t61ohy8wy7ipdvo/IMG_1191.JPG?dl=0

pci card slots outside
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mcqw6hjqa2325uw/IMG_1197.JPG?dl=0

s/n stuff
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t463l2zrkikgj9m/IMG_1198.JPG?dl=0

firewire port section
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ycobyfewjffieyj/IMG_1200.JPG?dl=0

view of the machine with the screen it came with
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2nlbn2dy9wbtvjs/IMG_1215.JPG?dl=0

about this mac
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ifqfzfsxwdx2bs/IMG_1216.JPG?dl=0

hardware overview
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4gfixmdzupm173/IMG_1217.JPG?dl=0

ata info
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ebtgpkmv725g8x7/IMG_1218.JPG?dl=0

inside case
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u6r4ydbvs6st8xu/IMG_1220.JPG?dl=0

battery mystery
https://www.dropbox.com/s/49ptabm1lwngagb/IMG_1221.JPG?dl=0

G4 Sawtooth (bringing hard drive over)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vs6phks5z9zlg7d/IMG_1224.JPG?dl=0



Thanks,
Caleb

[refinery]

im pretty sure that's a media 100 capture card system. if that thing is working with its software that would be pretty rare i think. the other guys here like DieHard probably can tell you more about it.

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=957.0

[part12studios]

yea that's cool.  i never did video back then.  (audio only hardware was already price inhibitive)  yea i'll try that thread. 

I haven't hooked it up to test yet, but i will soon, maybe this evening.

Thanks,
Caleb