Building an Unreasonably Fast Power Mac G4

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I'm finally doing it - upgrading the computer that I used to use daily way back when... to an absolutely unreasonable level. We're talking 2GHz on a Graphite G4 Power Mac!
LINKS:
🍎 Sorbet Leopard: macintoshgarden.org/apps/sorb...
🍎 PPC Minecraft: macintoshgarden.org/games/min...
🍎 Brian's Computer Retreat: / @brianscomputerretreat...
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#PowerMac #G4 #Overclocked

[@TheRadmin1724]

I love how you censored applying the thermal paste so people wouldn't talk about how you put too much or less compound.

[@livefreeprintguns]

This man is not an amateur confirmed.

[@wolfnation100]

glad you explained, doc

[@OptieEm]

It's too much obviously, mans insane with those amounts!

[@wusher1986]

Not his first rodeo

[@ajaxsakaraplayz4070]

I mean it's better to put alot then put less from how others say it

[@rayproductionsbackupchanne3862]

hey sean! thanks for trying out my minecraft 1.8.9 "PORT" to power pc. hope you enjoy it.. but it seems like someone lifted my release from the vintageapplereddit and put it onto the garden though :( but yeah the missing texures. no idea why some textures dont want to work. the 1.6.4 port (not released yet) does not have any issues with the new textures like horses

[@solarstrike33]

How were you able to get past the Java 6 limitations of 1.6? Were there any major challenges you had to deal with?

[@thomasandrews9355]

I appreciate the homestar runner reference...Consumate vs! The s is for Sean...I mean sucks.

[@mato_oppita3167]

I tried it on my iMac G4 and on servers it’s actually very playable at 40/50 FPS

[@rayproductionsbackupchanne3862]

@@mato_oppita3167 yeah it's quite neat the 1.6.4 for whatever reason no game audio.. Besides that 80 fps on a dual cpu 2 ghz g5 single player.

[@jfidel3943]

You made that port? Awesome! I use it on my G5 to play LAN with friends, works great!

[@MrBreadoflife]

Your thermal compound wasn't pixelated enough...needs more pixelation for proper cooling.

[@coolmeloprotogen]

i did 69

[@stitchfinger7678]

I've seen MODERN computers run MC less stably than that, lol Incredible upgrade

[@eduardoavila646]

Dude, my 2010's HP mini, ran way worse than his STOCK 1999 g4 mac processor. Not even talking about the crazy upgrade. It's just crazy how these machines are nice, and intel atoms are the total opposite of it

[@stevearkwright]

@@eduardoavila646: Yeah, in fairness the Atom “processors” were nasty, cheap and atrociously underpowered, though. Intel really shamed themselves with that one.

[@irrigamii]

@@stevearkwright indeed, my 1998 k6-2 desktop had better performance than my 08 atom netbook

[@howaboutsomesoyfood]

@@eduardoavila646 IMO the Atoms were pretty much manufactured E-waste.

[@dungeonseeker3087]

I miss Druaga. Ian, whatever you're doing ATM I hope you're well. KZbin hasn't been the same since you left.

[@jonasdatlas4668]

Heh, I love these old Power Macs. So much tinkering to be done to them!

[@atemoc]

Can be said with many popular old PCs, they're all fun! When they don't break (heck, even when they do break!)

[@ilcool90]

@@atemoc Which makes modern macs even more depressing because they can’t be tinkered with at all

[@atemoc]

@@ilcool90 That's true for most modern electronics :-(

[@TurdInternational]

@@atemoc shhhhh we dont talk about that on the internet. Apple bad, "10 year old ASUS PC that sounds like a prop plane on takeoff, but i can totally fit a 3080 in there way cheaper bro" good.

[@meowcula]

When I was young, I owned a PowermacG4, gigabit ethernet though. I upgraded it from 400Mhz, to a dual 1.2Ghz and I used it regularly up until 2011, then sporadically after that. Its mobo finally died only in late 2020, just after it turned 20 years old. These were amazing machines and I did a lot of high end work and play on it back in the day. I still have plans to resurrect it, I have a new mobo for it, just haven't got around to dealing with it.

[@mjenkinson]

Loved the Digital Audio PowerMacs. I upgraded mine with a dual 1.8Ghz Sonnet Card, and it was great, albeit running a bit unstable at that speed. Like you, I sold mine, and am filled with regrets. Would be a great addition to my current collection.

[@jordanplays-transitandgame1690]

I had two of them I trashed them cuz they would not sell lol

[@stevearkwright]

@@jordanplays-transitandgame1690: Oh, no! How could you? What a dreadful and, as it turns out, shortsighted thing to do. Hopefully, someone else retrieved them and gave them upgrades and TLC. Lots of upgrades and TLC!

[@jordanplays-transitandgame1690]

@@stevearkwright Someone took one of them lol. Hopefully he does something better!

[@EasyHeat]

I have one of these w/ an old beige Mac external mass storage unit tucked away in a closet. It was given to me years ago by a professional musician friend who was clearing out old gear. I've literally never even set it up and turned it on. This vid has definitely peaked my curiosity. I've also got a dual CPU G5 tower (no HDD) w/ matching 20" cinema display given to me by another friend, as well as my 1st ever computer... A Rev-B original Bondi Blue iMac w/ maxed ram. Ha! All three crammed into an apartment closet. Well, not the cinema display. I'm actually using that with a 2013 (i7-4770/GTX-750M/256gb NVME) iMac that I got "as is" for $50 and refurbished/upgraded myself for audio production (Catalina). I'm also running a maxed out 2008 iMac as a breakout VST instrument/ Retro Nintendo (NES/SNES/N64) gaming emulator! "NeRd!!!" LMAO!

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

Say it with me fellow Home improvement fans "More Power!!"

[@muffinposter]

More power?

[@staticziao]

More Powwaaaa

[@appleinfl]

*Aggressive Grunting*

[@martyp2138]

aurgh aurgh aurgh!!

[@kramerdesign9443]

*Looks over fence*

[@emmabentley7945]

G4 MDD 1,42 is my dream collectors item. Wanted it for 20 years now.. love the video Sean ❤️

[@TheDuumiMuumi]

I had one of these G4's back in the day! It was actually my first touch to the Mac world, it had 800MHz G4(managed to modify it to run at 866MHz) and 1.5GB of RAM.

[@monkeyman767]

My dad had one of those G4's when I was a kid. Like you, it's one of my all-time favourite designs, there's just something so sleek about it, even today. It's only narrowly beaten out by the G4 iMac, that things still futuristic looking even today Also, the Druaga1 references always make me laugh

[@minty_Joe]

"Hey there, shmokerz, druaga1 here..."

[@BrianJones-wk8cx]

G4 glory days are both yesterday and today, love it! Thank you for your work!

[@Larslegos]

It's a shame Apple didn't keep going with PPC, but look at them now.

[@josephkarl2061]

13:43 The ghost of the Verge haunts everyone 🤣🤣

[@aswxwing]

Awesome work Sean, I love watching your videos. I used to be a machead? back in the early 2000s as well. My daily driver was a 1.25ghz MDD. Awesome machine. I have so much love for the G4 platform, it's where I transitioned from being a teen playing games, to creating content and getting involved in the community online here in Australia.

[@macguru9999]

Inspired by your videos, i took a 1999 g4 400 tower that i inherited after a data recovery and fitted 2 internal drives: a 120gb ssd through an ide/sata bridge to the mobo ide (128 limit) and i took an ide/firewire bridge left over from an external case and wired it up, fitting a 500gb ide drive to the internal firewire port. good fun :)

[@Kspcs909]

Before discovering this Channel i hated old Macs..now i have to admit this Is a very interesting world! Nice vid as always

[@ToucheFarming]

2:22 I grew up with a few older macs, like the eMac, iMac G3, and a few others when I helped my grandpa at his old photography studio when I was young. I found a deal on this same exact max that I also grew up with and won the auction, so I am the same way

[@_sabot]

I've a very similar graphite Power Mac laying around, didn't know such insane tuning was possible nowadays. Great Video!

[@cprogrck]

One of my favourites too!!! I had a used g3 that I ran my first Apache server on in HS. Web based VNC to read hackaday on the schools's computers 😎

[@changeofspace85]

"It is a good day to be a G4 fan!" 19:32 lol

[@musgawp]

Love the pixellation on cpu cooler installation. Though I can’t imagine anyone criticizing you!

[@soberlife]

Definitely becoming my favorite retro computer KZbin show!

[@BurleyBoar]

I like these videos you do just for your own fun and what you find important to yourself.

[@TravisBHartwell]

My first laptop was a Powerbook Pismo. Loved that machine. Ran PPC Debian on it for years.

[@hackintoshslovakia368]

amazing upgrade, thanks

[@brydon10]

This is exactly the type of channel I was looking for. Awesome man.

[@RonLaws]

@actionretro I know this video is a year old, but I just dusted off my own 24yr old Sawtooth. it's the first iteration with 4 ram slots, and oddly has a 500Mhz PowerPC? i think it was maxed out by its previous owners in the day before it fell in to my hands. Amazingly, it's in basically mint condition, save for some minor exterior case grime and I had the foresight to remove the PRAM Battery before putting it in storage some years ago so the board has no damage at all. it also has the ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card (16MB) and it still works! it fired up and ran. The hard drive did however complain and show signs it was about to fail, so I've since replaced the disk and copied OSX 10.4 over to it, it's still working but it is sadly by today's standards dog slow. I am looking for ways to make it a little more usable for retro shenanigans.

[@2048Megabytes.]

You are literally the best vintage computing KZbinr I've ever seen!

[@NoTySir]

Love this type of video! I know you have an affinity for Power PC architecture, but any interest in doing a similar “max upgrade path” in some of the initial intel product offerings from Apple over the years? Something like the Core line of the Mac mini’s, etc. Thanks for the awesome content!

[@indy1725]

oh man you're making me want to reacquire all the old Macs I used to use and just maxxing them out to unreasonable levels.

[@stephenroberts7554]

I have 4 older macs like this I have that very Mac as well and a newer version that has dual processors in it also have a quicksilver version at 867mhz and finally a original G3 Mac running at 380mhz with slight overclocks 😎

[@eDoc2020]

The performance you're getting on this 2001 machine is almost as good as my 2008 workstation laptop.

[@lakojake4215]

I'm just gonna do something before I watch this video so I enjoy it 420% more.

[@detecta]

weed

[@lepidotos]

Honestly, I think the Gigabit Ethernet would have been a better pick for this. Sure, the bus speed is slower at 100MHz as opposed to 133, but you can shove an extra 512 stick in there for the full 2GB, which makes a difference for stuff like browsing and Minecraft.

[@ericbauer4559]

Nice as always! I have a custom dual 1.4ghz in my DA.

[@dgurevich1]

Nicely done. I have one of these upgraded to 1.5ghz maxed out memory and for some reason I decided to run a radeon 9800 on it. And got the same problem with the power supply. It runs 10.4 well enough, but when I boot in 10.5, it crashes after 5 minutes. Now, I remember hearing that it is possible to adapt a standard ATX power supply to work on the mac, but for the life of me I couldn't understand it or make it work. I'd be thrilled if you made a video about this subject. I really want to make mine work.

[@zoopercoolguy]

The first new Apple I ever purchased was a PowerMac G4 533DP, so this video immediately caught my eye.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

thank you for another great video this video makes me want to upgrade my G4 😀

[@ayanjaved322]

bro you have so much good memories of this PowerMac G4

[@frankgrimes7210]

I love the Drauga1 reference! I've been watching his videos since 2008

[@mato_oppita3167]

Hi, I love watching you videos, and I have something to ask: These processor upgrade cards are available for buying or are available on request?

[@conza1989]

Very cool video, was sent to me by the algo, subbed and looking forward to seeing more in the future.

[@alkibtech]

Good move installing that cooling fan on top of the passive CPU cooler.

[@aytviewer2421]

Indeed, it is a good day to be a G4 Fan. (I still have my original G4 400 Mhz that I purchased back in 2000. Though, I have not turned it on for man than a decade now. Hard to believe because that was my daily driver from 2000 till I bought my 24" Intel iMac (white) back in 2006. Man, I loved that iMac too!

[@therobb5738]

This is one of the very machines I learned and used HTML on, Privilege Escalation (before I ever knew that was a thing with a term), and in high school, wound up taking down half my high school's student accounts BY ACCIDENT because they hadn't configured the privilege right correctly in the G5 lab. Never had the chance (or the thought) of seeing inside thee machines. Graceful they are.

[@cathrynm]

That CPU upgrade card is a pretty slick install there. (power cables aside.)

[@Gbriel1234567890]

Well done on the thermal paste application...

[@kenbmiller]

Great video! I think the G4 tower series were the best pro Macs ever made. Could you imagine a modern Mac that didn't require you to remove a single screw to open it? I have a Digital Audio that I bought in 2001, and I absolutely loved that machine, even when I was getting kernel panics with OSX 10.0 and trying to use the buggiest SCSI adaptor in the world so I could use my old devices. It was my main computer until 2009, when I upgraded to an Intel 24" iMac, but I still have it running with a 1 Ghz upgrade card, even though it's gone through 3 power supplies. Replacing the hard drive in my iMac last week reminded me of why I loved the G4 tower so much.

[@DanaDoesStuff]

I love the hasty jump cut after the creeper took you down to 3 1/2 hearts! And I’m sure Jay absolutely loves the LED fan solution. 😉

[@NaoPb]

Cool build! You've inspired me to continue playing with my Mac Mini. I need to upgrade it from an intel core solo to a core duo. Hopefully the best possible without mods. Then see what OS will fit best. OS X or maybe Linux... or Haiku?

[@alextirrellRI]

In late 2004 I bought a Sawtooth G4 and proceeded to upgrade the hell out of it. I still have it in storage, but I have a Dual Mirror that gets more love because it's newer/faster.

[@frigusoris]

Love the thermal compound scene haha

[@QuadroNVS]

I remember upgrading my old dell dimension desktop from an Intel Celeron to a Pentium 4. I think their was a 400 Mhz difference between the two chips, but wow, the performance difference was night and day. Halo and Half life two never looked so good and windows movie maker rendered much faster than I had ever seen before! You just gave that PowerMac G4 a new lease on life.

[@anasevi9456]

I had a Dual 1.8GHZ sonnet 7447 upgrade in my DA G4. Was great, tried the powerlogix 7448 dual upgrades, but they were not stable at the clocks that made them worth the price bump.

[@philmunoz9269]

I have that exact model. I got it as a graduation present in 2003. I wish I could still run it as I am still using software for OS 9.

[@joltdude]

Love the Eizo panel.

[@95Comics]

get your tools sean,i lost an awesome mac collection in a fire! if i can get them back it would be great content and id be so thankful, i have no macs today and i had almost 75!

[@meokater]

Hi Sean: as for small fans I would like to suggest the little Noctua ones. While these aren't cheap they are almost silent and put a lot of air in the case. Keep it up.

[@chrisstech]

Finally thank you very much

[@CRYPTiCEXiLE]

nice mac computers awesome video!

[@OhMyPoBoy]

It’s cool that you can still download the latest updates for as far back as 10.4 even for powerpc

[@illsmackudown]

That is so cool!

[@knoxduder]

For my IIGS, do you recommend the Apple Squeezer or new Transwarp? Please advise (to the guy in the back by the board whom was living in a box) .

[@PearComputingDevices]

I had a 733 DA, I still own a dual 1 ghz qs and a 1.25 ghz MDD. The very last G4 that can nativity boot Mac OS 9 out of the box. Besides a much faster IDE drive and memory, it's fairly still stock because upgrading it would very potentially break Mac os 9, the sole reason for keeping such an old Mac to begin with. I also have a dual core G5 too, but that one like my QS is mostly just for looks since it's case is in mint condition. It's just too nice to part with. Well, for right now anyway.

[@spottedtauren]

Same here, I have (“dual 1 ghz qs and a 1.25 ghz MDD. The very last G4 that can nativity boot Mac OS 9”). I find it strange and pointless to upgrade G4 macs with the intention of running any version of OS X because there is no point or advantage to running OS X on a G4; when it can be run much faster and for less money with G5 or above.

[@PearComputingDevices]

@@spottedtauren I definitely agree, I would say the g3 wpuld be the ideal cpu for newer Mac OS classic versions, say like 8.6, but anything newer a higher end g4 just makes sense and Mac OS X works so much better on the G5s.

[@XbotcrusherX]

I used to play Beta 1.7.3 on my Dual 500Mhz G4 tower. It was more or less playable. As a tip, it runs way better playing on a server. Offline play is far more intensive because you're actually running all the game logic locally.

[@lampiaio]

Been watching this channel for a while now, so I gotta ask... just what region is his accent from? It's SO good to listen to, such a fun cadence to it!

[@chumbusthings]

Now I have to listen to the Totally not Cringy Emo Band

[@mahler2112]

I put a sonnet G4 card in my Blue and White G3 back in the day. With the LVD SCSI drive it was the fastest computer I've experienced to this day. It's a shame it wasn't stable I sent the card back. It was a gen 1 motherboard on the G3.

[@Thaleios]

OMG I miss all my old G3 and G4 macs. I lost all of them in a large move about 10 years ago. ;(

[@Null42x86]

Playing minecraft on a old LCD monitor is oddly nostalgic

[@channelite]

Really cool video. I want to upgrade my G4 AGP 400 with an ssd or something modern. Would the Kingwin SSD/SATA to IDE Bridge Board Adapter in your amazon link be a good choice?

[@bluephreakr]

If you like Minecraft, consider Vintage Story. It's a bit more involved, gameplay-wise, takes awhile to go from survival to mining with the best tools, but it's more rooted in reality, save for that lovecraftian twist as you discover the quirks of its world. But here's the best part of all; it's an _independent_ block game that doesn't try to moderate its player base. It's just some company making a really cool game. And its terrain generation is rumoured to be the impetus of Minecraft's Caves & Cliffs update. Modification is available off-the-hop with no loader necessary. Both it, and the mod scene for it are improving with time and commits from others.

[@johnmiic]

So are these upgrade parts still available? Where does one go to buy the cards?

[@warpigroadkill]

I miss old modular Macs, and having choices for internal components. They even made a lot of games for these systems. Now it's just locked down and no one supports it gaming wise etc. Being able to tinker with the hardware was a big part of being a MacHead.

[@arrangemonk]

i always preferred sata adapters that plug into the ide interface on the mainboard so i only had to deal with sata cables (and molex to sata power adapters)

[@ethanlittle776]

If it wasn’t for zoom and teams during Covid I’d still be on my PowerBook g4 as my daily. These things go on forever. Grew up modish these things in like 2014

[@bomberfish77]

I’m really interested in the full whiteboard guy lore.

[@DavidRavenMoon]

I had exactly the same G4. I ended to putting a new CPU and graphics card in it. The ironic part of it being the “Digital Audio” model is it has no audio inputs! Just a digital audio power amp. I installed an M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 sound card so I could use it for recording. I replaced it with a MDD a friend gave me.

[@mstrjon32]

It was called "Digital Audio" as the CD audio no longer was routed via a separate analog audio cable, but rather through the ATA cable, digitally.

[@zoomosis]

A modern M-Audio M-Track Solo or Duo audio interface should still work on the G4 over USB without needing drivers. Though from memory these old Macs only had two USB ports so you might need a powered USB hub. Plus the ports only run at USB 1.1 speeds. That's probably fast enough for 16-bit 48 KHz audio though.

[@DavidRavenMoon]

@@zoomosis Yeah, depends on the OS. I had a FireWire Solo for a while (used with my early 2009 24” iMac) and after Avid sold M-Audio they never updated the drivers. Obviously for whatever OS the G4 would run you could probably still get drivers.

[@ozzyp97]

I still run an Audiophile 24/96 in a dual 450 Gigabit Ethernet, mostly for the midi interface. It's a good card, but somehow M-Audio managed to botch the last OS9 drivers, and of course that's the only version still up on their website.

[@DavidRavenMoon]

@@ozzyp97 I used it until I sold my G4. Then I had an M-Audio FireWire Solo. But when Avid bought, and then sold M-Audio, they kept all the drivers as their own IP. So my interface became a paperweight. And that’s likely what happened to the 24/96 drivers.

[@TheCj71984]

I have one a dual 450 and I put a 1.8 in it works nice

[@livefreeprintguns]

This is by far my most favorite Apple tower... wish I had kept mine. 😢 EDIT: I swear I wrote this before you mentioned it was your favorite design too! 🤝

[@Vlamat67]

Hi, nice video, thank you friend. Interesting overclocking of an old G4 machine, who knows if you could use a double G4 at 2Ghz, the one I dream of for my 3 G4 MDDs. I'm looking for a "new" 7800, mine has failed because the original dissipation system was born too small and the operating temperatures are always at the limit. I asked you some time ago if in addition to games and pure calculation tests to do a test of some application, such as graphics, videos and music, just to see how these machines behave. I hope you will satisfy me. Hello and thanks again

[@fsfs555]

The DA was the model that broke the G4's 500MHz wall where they had been stuck for 2 or 3 years. Motorola had problems getting decent yields out of their chips and couldn't push the 7400 or 7410 past that in quantity. Thankfully, the 7450 (used in the DA 667 and 733MHz models) not only got them a decent CPU speed bump, but it also came with new L3 cache, and all of the DA models had that faster system bus courtesy of an updated system controller. The interposer here is mostly to interface the 744x to a 745x board. The 744x has fewer pins because it doesn't have L3 cache support, so the interposer board is needed to adapt it to the larger grid of the 745x. I should ask Herd to build me some stuff. I'd like to do it myself but proper BGA reworking gear is 5 figures. Not cheap for a hobby.

[@Da40kOrks]

When I was a teenager I was on a Tandy Color Computer 2 browsing BBS's at 300 baud.

[@therealjpster]

I’m here for the *thonk* - it amuses me greatly for some reason. The last video missed a few where you thonked the monitor.

[@ActionRetro]

😂 excellent

[@komidanohitouko]

"Nice Druaga1 Reference" I was cracking up at this lol

[@BrassicGamer]

And there was me, thinking I was cool by swapping an 867MHz CPU card from a Quicksilver into my Digital Audio so I could run Halo. Nice work. It is my firm belief that Apple's design ethos peaked with the Power Mac G4 and that it was all downhill from there.

[@ruggerogiuliani6414]

Hi, I would like to be able to update my PowerMac G4 (400 MHz) but I haven't understood how and where I can get the necessary parts. Is it possible to have a list of parts so that I can also economically evaluate this possibility? Thanks from Italy

[@keribritton4535]

Will you please guide me on how update my old server pc board to add more floppy disks driver and gaming cartridges or gaming??

[@sirena7116]

I would love for my MDD to be able to do this sort of thing.

[@stevenedwardyoung]

What does a Herd 2ghz upgrade cost? I’ve still got a (highly upgraded)launch day Sawtooth G4 that we bought new and upgraded to 1.4ghz in I think 2004. I would love to see it at 2ghz, maybe even dual processor as well, just not quite enough to hint down and pay and arm and a leg for a 15+ original upgrade card

[@pleasureme2]

I would like to actually overhaul one, with modern Apple software and hardware, any reccomendations?

[@jorenmartijn]

Just bought one of these myself. The HDD doesn’t sound too happy but it seemed like a speedy boot up otherwise. Might have to swap in a SATA SSD in there soon. Any brands of adapters I should look at? From IDE to SATA?

[@MegaManNeo]

I love such crazy upgrades just as much as time period correct hardware. Too bad you didn't show macOS 9 with that hardware boost.

[@ljkerr3]

Would you know of a way to fix a "drooping" battery on an ibook g4? Also, do you know of anyone who could repair/replace caps on a Powerbook 145b?

[@95Comics]

also i need to buy one so whats the oldest mac that could still be a daily?

[@oldestgamer]

Picked up one of these at VCF last weekend and neglected to check the PRAM, which has leaked all over the bottom of the case! Cleaning isn't too bad, but now I have to figure our how to put in the new battery holder, the + terminal goes to a diode, but the - end goes to a via to nowhere? The negative end of the diode seems to go to nowhere as well. Is there any schematics for this model available to figure out what is going on, or does anyone know? Thanks!

[@ypoora1]

I have one of these sitting in the attic... Maybe i should do something with it.