Forums | MacLife

Based on the age of the machine in your signature, I really wouldn't want to throw more money than I had to at it.  $190 is about all that Mac is worth these days.  I'm not saying G4's are worthless, they are great workhorses, but they're now several generations behind the latest systems.  Consider that you could buy two ebay boards and still pay less than the new one if the first ebay one was bad.  Also consider that you can get used first generation G5 towers for well under $1000 us. I've seen single processor 1.6GHz units going for as low as $300.  If you can't afford a brand new system, putting your $190 towards that is a far better investment IMO.

user wrote:

Also, getting the eBay board depends on how you feel about doing the job yourself. You could risk the $60 if you are willing to write off the amount if the board is bad or if you have an installation problem. If you're really broke then you may have no other alternative.

If you can afford it, though, this could be the perfect time to upgrade.

I have like a year left of high school and when I go to college id like to have the latest and greatest I guess. I feel like my computer technical skill is quite a bit above average. How hard is it to replace? I've built computers

Last edited by barrfid_od (2008-08-19 11:40 am)

If you're heading to college next year then I'd definitely wait to upgrade.  If you're comfortable working on your hardware then changing out the board shouldn't be a problem for you.  If you're like me you'll probably find it a fun challenge and you'll really come to appreciate the design Apple puts into its systems the next time you build a PC.

Never done a Quicksilver G4, but just double check to make sure you get any screws and clamps before trying to lift it off the board.  Be really gentle when removing and inserting the CPU, you don't want to bend or break any pins or you will be screwed.

barrfid_od wrote:

Any considerations when I have to take the cpu off the dead board?

reece_james wrote:

From memory there is a screw or something that will cause you grief. Just watchout.

Yup, I think on my DP500 there were 4 screws. Memory could be bad tho. If it doesn't come off easy something is still attached. I'd recommend to remove the mobo first and then cpu. That way you can see the back to make sure nothing is there. Don't lift by the heatsink or you could take it off first. Wouldn't hurt to clean it and reapply thermal compound. Pry easy and evenly around the edges. The pressure needed shouldn't be any more then what it would take to open a soda can.

Last edited by LLEVIATHANN (2008-08-20 9:46 am)

I remember when my mom caught me with my first bong, and smashed it.  That sucked.

barrfid_od wrote:

So I got the new logic board in. Fire it up the power light doesn't turn on. The fans spin up I can hear the hard disk and optical drives spin up. But nothing else.

Do you hear the bong?

What happens when you hold the P-R-Option-Command keys at the same time at startup? Do you hear bongs? (if so, hold them down until you hear 3.)

So many bong threads lately...I even made one myself a few weeks ago.

sorry to hijack a thread, but have you ever had a computer stop mid-bong?

LLEVIATHANN wrote:

barrfid_od wrote:

negative

Double check everything is seated well. Esp. the CPU and RAM. Make sure the pins on CPU didn't get damaged.

How do I know?
I am an idiot... so the ebay listing failed to mention 867 MHz support... Could it be a symptom of an unsported processor?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … amp;ih=003

Last edited by barrfid_od (2008-08-25 10:52 am)

Are they supposed to be short and stubby?

Yup they are the same length

Last edited by barrfid_od (2008-08-25 10:57 am)

Could be a dead PRAM battery?

Or it even sounds like a dead memory stick. . .