233Mhz bondi blue Imac needs upgrade cpu!

[Verault]

SO I have an original imac g3 233mhz bondi blue unit in the box. I was wondering if anyone had a line on an upgrade/overdrive cpu so I can actually use the internet easier on the thing. I came across this site:https://everymac.com/upgrade_cards/by_system/imac.html

It says there are g3 to g4 upgrade boards. Anyone have one to sell or have experience with one?

 

[waynestewart]

Those upgrade boards are pretty rare. It’d be easier to locate a 333mhz card.

A few people have been playing around with replacing G3 processors with G4s in various machines. Been meaning to give that a try when I have some spare time.

 

[Verault]

I did buy a 333Mhz cpu. Tested it, works fine. But were talking 33% increase in performance at best. Was hoping to find something with great results while still keeping the unit otherwise relatively stock.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

The system bus remains the same even if you find a faster G3 or G4 board, so the results won't be 1:1 with clock speed increases.

CPU intensive ops will markedly improve however. That's why I always picked paths that led to accelerator/CPU upgrades back in the day. My production processes were CPU limited. So I'm wondering where the bottlenecks would be for an iMac and if running a browser is as CPU intensive as CAD/CAM? Would an upgrade have been cost effective as compared to a machine upgrade in that application back when?

 

[Verault]

Im aware the systembus is the true bottle neck. But it would be nice to have some cpu gain so I can play with virtual systems or slightly faster games (the real downfall to the original Imac is the rage II video card)

 

[EvilCapitalist]

If you have several hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket you can pick up a Sonnet HARMONi G3/600MHz which is for sale in Japan on Yahoo Japan Auctions. 

https://www.rinkya.com/en/auction-k255290518

So far as I know this was the best upgrade available for the tray loaders because you got Firewire as well.  There were G4 upgrades too but I've never seen one come up for sale.  Really the best option would be to find a newer slot loader in a color that you like.  In the end you'll end up spending less on that than you would this and you'll get a faster machine/better graphics all in one fell swoop.

 

[Verault]

yep thats what I need, and nope thats a bit too much for my liking.. Why dont I get a faster unit? Im attached to the one I got of course

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Why dont I get a faster unit? Im attached to the one I got of course

Yep, figured that to be the case, we're all attached to whatever toys for whatever reasons. []

But my rhetorical question remains, would that 600MHz upgrade give all that much of a boost for web browsing back in the day as compared to getting a newer iMac with say a 450MHz or 500MHz CPU, an uptick of system bus speed from 66MHz to 100MHz. I'll assume higher cache speed is a wash or would go to the Sonnet?

For gaming I can see a need for CPU speed over system bus speed, doubling the clock could be a real kick in the pants for that. How processor intensive is browsing as compared to gaming and could the sprightlier system performance with a slower CPU of a later iMac have been a better buy than the Sonnet upgrade?

I'd never have bought an iMac as a production machine, but the Bondi/600MHz Sonnet could well have been better money spent than a faster iMac for my specific needs..

 

[swamprock]

Just for giggles, I’m having my Bondi CPU card upgraded with a 400mhz G4 processor and possibly an upgraded L2 cache chip (if the experiments are successful). It’s a bit costly, and I don’t know if the guy doing it wants interested parties directed his way just yet, but I’ll check with him if you’re interested. No worries about who it is, as he’s quite well-known in these circles

 

[Verault]

Swamprock, Please do! I came across many OLD OLD postings on the internet over such things and the few answers I got back were generally "we dont do that service anymore and havent in a long time" Makes sense on a 20 year old Imac I guess.

Would you mind giving a ballpark as to how much it is costing you?

trash80tohp_mini I like the bondiblue for what it is (sans running os8 on it that is), I have sold a couple g4 units that I wish I had kept, (emac, MDD, g4 tower) I was thinking if I could find one cheap get a g4 cube to fill the niche, or possibly a g5,,, but suddenly everyone wants those and the prices went up. When they were all being thrown away I didnt get one because its so massive...

 

[CC_333]

I remember almost getting a Sonnet HARMONI back in late 2004/early 2005, when they were actually available from Sonnet.

I thought $600 was a bit too much, even back then. And it still is.

Ended getting a (then fairly decent) P4-based PC laptop instead. It seemed like a better use of that money back then (in retrospect, I probably would've wanted some kind of PowerBook G4 instead (I was trying to upgrade from a Lombard, after all, and some continuity would've been nice), but the PC seemed to be a better deal).

c