I have the opportunity to buy a working 2002 G4 Quicksilver 800 locally for a decent price. I am a little more knowledgeable about 68k Macs - any potential issues with this I should be aware of? I believe it's maxed out on RAM at 1.5GB and has the built in ATI 32mb AGP graphics card. I would be connecting this to a VGA monitor (seller has the matching Cinema Display but I am wary of those so most likely not interested in that). Thanks!
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G4 Quicksilver questions
- Thread starter moffman7
- Start date
I can't think of any issues in particular; these are generally nice and reliable. I'd look at the usual things to check on a used computer: cosmetic condition, function, corrosion, broken ports, dirt/smoke/fur, upgrades installed, etc. The power supply should probably be re-capped (or at least inspected) at this point. The battery probably has not leaked, but it could be removed or replaced. Fans could be cleaned and oiled.
An "800" could be a base model with no L3 cache, or it could be an earlier dual 800 with 2MB of L3. Good luck with your acquisition!
An "800" could be a base model with no L3 cache, or it could be an earlier dual 800 with 2MB of L3. Good luck with your acquisition!
It's in very good shape with some minor scuffs, looks clean inside and everything appears to work (I've seen pics and videos and the seller will demo it before finalizing) . It's a good deal, I'm thinking this is preferable to eBay and I can upgrade to dual CPUs later if I want?
I'm almost certain it's the base model now with no L3 which I'm wondering is a dealbreaker or not. It's in great physical shape though. I've thought about just getting the 867 off eBay or somewhere but apparently some people have issues with it not recognizing the added L3 in actual Apple cards?
If it is in great shape and boots / works well - I’d say it’s very price dependent. A good to great price for one you can actually see - versus one that needs to be shipped? Well, it’s the old “bird in hand, worth two in the bush” adage.
And a 2002 Quicksilver should have a “B” motherboard… which is a most definite plus.
Check these everymac.com specs below and the motherboard for... A or B.
everymac.com
everymac.com
And a 2002 Quicksilver should have a “B” motherboard… which is a most definite plus.
Check these everymac.com specs below and the motherboard for... A or B.
Power Macintosh G4 800 DP (Quicksilver) Specs (Quicksilver, M8361LL/A, PowerMac3,5, M8493, 1896): EveryMac.com
Technical specifications for the Power Macintosh G4 800 DP (Quicksilver). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
everymac.com
Power Macintosh G4 800 (QS 2002) Specs (Quicksilver 2002, M8705LL/A, PowerMac3,5, M8493, 1896): EveryMac.com
Technical specifications for the Power Macintosh G4 800 (QS 2002). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
everymac.com
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Would that not show up in About this Mac? Also that was based on one discussion I found, a couple of people said they had the same problem while others said they've swapped out the CPU card w no issues
Depends on how much he is asking for it I guess and condition. G4 towers are not that common anymore and the large supply of parted out CPUs are kind of gone also. The QS is a nice-looking machine and 1.5GB RAM max is not really an issue with apps of the era especially if you lean toward OS 9.x. If you really need a dual processor and don't care about OS 9 a MDD is probably a better bet.
Are the CPU daughter cards for those two motherboards compatible? They get grouped together as different from the MDD modelsIf it is in great shape and boots / works well - I’d say it’s very price dependent. A good to great price for one you can actually see - versus one that needs to be shipped? Well, it’s the old “bird in hand, worth two in the bush” adage.
And a 2002 Quicksilver should have a “B” motherboard… which is a most definite plus.
View attachment 87683
Check these everymac.com specs below and the motherboard for... A or B.
Power Macintosh G4 800 DP (Quicksilver) Specs (Quicksilver, M8361LL/A, PowerMac3,5, M8493, 1896): EveryMac.com
Technical specifications for the Power Macintosh G4 800 DP (Quicksilver). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.Power Macintosh G4 800 (QS 2002) Specs (Quicksilver 2002, M8705LL/A, PowerMac3,5, M8493, 1896): EveryMac.com
Technical specifications for the Power Macintosh G4 800 (QS 2002). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
I’ve never had any problems swapping QS CPUs. I’ve four working Quicksilvers and I don’t think any of them have their original CPU daughter cards (and all of them are now B mobos too.) The last one acquired was a 733 MHz which I upgraded to a 933 MHz… IIRC. The rest are… also a 933 MHz, a 1 GHz DP and a Sonnet equipped 1.2 GHz. Not certain about that Sonnet's actual speed, as I’d have to go downstairs to check actual speed (and I’m lazy tonight).
But yes, A or B board— if the price is right, go for it and also follow @herd’s advice.
[Apple System Profiler should provide you with cache info too.]
And as per @Byrd, you can always modify / upgrade it later.
I like my MDDs - but I love the simple, yet productive elegance of the Quicksilvers.
So I went and picked it up Friday. It's in great shape and very clean inside and out and everything works. I passed on their cinema display. I spent part of the weekend installing 10.4 and 9.2 on two SSDs. I also got a cheap SD to IDE adapter but it's flaky and only works part of the time, will probably try exchanging it.
I do have one question re the graphics cards for these - this one has the stock ATI AGP (16 or possibly 32Mb). I'm looking at possibly upgrading that and see that the Radeon 9200 AGP is compatible and works with both OS 9 and 10. Will any AGP 9200 work or do you *need* to get the Mac edition? Is it a size / case issue or is it just due to the pins for the display power (?) which apparently you can mod to get it to work with those.
I do have one question re the graphics cards for these - this one has the stock ATI AGP (16 or possibly 32Mb). I'm looking at possibly upgrading that and see that the Radeon 9200 AGP is compatible and works with both OS 9 and 10. Will any AGP 9200 work or do you *need* to get the Mac edition? Is it a size / case issue or is it just due to the pins for the display power (?) which apparently you can mod to get it to work with those.
You'll probably need to flash any PC GPU you try to put in it, there are resources available for most cards. Buying an explicitly mac-compatible card is the surer shot.
My QS 2002 is also flaky with a SATA>PATA adapter but works fine with a PATA drive installed. You might not see better behavior exchanging it.
If you care about disk performance on your QS, Rabbit Hole Computing sells an inexpensive SATA PCI card, with which you can then run any SATA SSD you have lying around. You will again have to flash it to make it bootable in a Mac. There is also an old Sonnet Tempo card, but its so rare and sought after you're going to have to pay 2-3x what you probably paid for computer itself.
My QS 2002 is also flaky with a SATA>PATA adapter but works fine with a PATA drive installed. You might not see better behavior exchanging it.
If you care about disk performance on your QS, Rabbit Hole Computing sells an inexpensive SATA PCI card, with which you can then run any SATA SSD you have lying around. You will again have to flash it to make it bootable in a Mac. There is also an old Sonnet Tempo card, but its so rare and sought after you're going to have to pay 2-3x what you probably paid for computer itself.
So out of curiosity what did you pay for it?
QS's are some of my favorite Macs ever, probably my #2 favorite PowerMac. Power supplies were the main failure point. Otherwise they are pretty reliable... mine works really well, I have a 4 port SATA RAID card, a Radeon 9200, and a Giga Designs 1.8GHz G4 accelerator in it. That last part is frustratingly finicky and will crash in certain situations but otherwise I am really happy with the machine as a whole.
QS's are some of my favorite Macs ever, probably my #2 favorite PowerMac. Power supplies were the main failure point. Otherwise they are pretty reliable... mine works really well, I have a 4 port SATA RAID card, a Radeon 9200, and a Giga Designs 1.8GHz G4 accelerator in it. That last part is frustratingly finicky and will crash in certain situations but otherwise I am really happy with the machine as a whole.
Macs usually need a Mac flashed card. I think there may have been a card out there with a "universal" flash but maybe not. I may be thinking of the super-easy 3dfx flashing process (basically you installed it alongside an already-working card, ran the 3dfx tool to change it to Mac, and rebooted - done). You have to be selective in finding newer PC cards to flash. Some don't have the correct amount of flash onboard, or need some resistors moved, or just don't have driver support even though a similar card does.
Regardless, if you're upgrading an AGP video card in a post-Sawtooth G4, you're going to need to do the pin modification. It's usually not difficult but the card won't work otherwise.
Power supplies were the weak point on the QS (and a lot of later Macs, too). They look like normal ATX units but they're not, so they're difficult to source when they fail (mostly it's because ATX is missing the ~26V line for ADC, which you may not care about, especially if you're using an upgraded non-ADC video card, but can still cause boot/sleep problems if it's not present). There are hacks to use normal ATX power supplies but it can be an involved process to do. Somebody may offer kits nowdays though.
Regardless, if you're upgrading an AGP video card in a post-Sawtooth G4, you're going to need to do the pin modification. It's usually not difficult but the card won't work otherwise.
Power supplies were the weak point on the QS (and a lot of later Macs, too). They look like normal ATX units but they're not, so they're difficult to source when they fail (mostly it's because ATX is missing the ~26V line for ADC, which you may not care about, especially if you're using an upgraded non-ADC video card, but can still cause boot/sleep problems if it's not present). There are hacks to use normal ATX power supplies but it can be an involved process to do. Somebody may offer kits nowdays though.
$200 which I decided is a good price for the condition and local pickup
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