iMac G4 processor upgrade - Anyone do it?

[sigamy]

I've been thinking about getting the Daystar iMac G4 processor upgrade. I have a 1Ghz 17" iMac and now that the price of the upgrade has come down a bit I'm thinking about going for it.

I was thinking about just moving to an iMac G5 but I don't like the design and my wife *really* doesn't like it. She loves our iMac G4 so I can probably justify the cost to her.

I'm editing my first short film on this machine so any speed bump in FCE rendering and iDVD encoding would be very nice.

Anyone out there get this upgrade yet? Any issues?

Overall do you think it makes sense? I'd be going from 1Ghz to 1.86Ghz for $509 including the 3 way shipping.

 

[OutThere]

I've never done a processor upgrade in an iMac G4, but I can tell you that it is seriously compact in there, and will require extreme delicacy to do what you need to do. Also you might want to consider the fact that the new processor will be significantly hotter than your 1ghz model, and may cause some heat issues if you don't add any extra cooling (which would be hard to do in the first place).

In all you'd notice quite a speed boost, and probably not run into many problems with it, but you'd be better served by getting a G5 iMac (even though you don't like the design, maybe a Low-End G5 tower), as it would be way faster and a lot more 'future proof'. You could probably get a single processor 1.8 G5 tower for quite a low price at this point, and it would provide far more expandability, and would be extremely snappy.

 

[erickkoch]

I don't think it's worth it. I upgraded my original Bondi Blue 233 Mhz iMac to 500 Mhz but the upgrade also added Firewire to allow me to use an iPod, that made it worth the $280 I paid years ago. I kept it another year after that. As I recall, the installation was kind of scary, you really have to pull out the guts of the computer and follow the directions very, very carefully. I did it because my computer was already showing it's age and I figured that if I screwed it up that would be my excuse to get another one.

I do not like the look of the new iMac either, I really liked my older 17 inch iMac but I gave it to my cousins when I bought my PowerBook. I do miss it.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Will Daystar sell you these upgrades without factory installation? I don't think so.

As to whether it's worth the money ($450-500 depending on the model), it depends on how much you like the machine and how much you value continuity and lack of disruption. As measured against the cost of a new Mac and display, of course.

I recently spend nearly that much upgrading my Cube. Well worth it, if you ask me.

 

[sigamy]

This is not an end-user upgrade. You ship the machine to Daystar, they do the labor and testing, then ship it back. Takes about a week. $60 of the $509 is for the 3 way shipping costs so you're paying $450 for a new processor and the labor.

Testing on bearfeets.com shows that this upgrade yields some really nice gains. Should almost double the speed of my 1Ghz G4 for iMovie, FCE, iDVD. This could easily give me another 3 years with this iMac and allow me to wait for a Rev B or C Intel-based Mac.

All that being said, a 20" iMac G5 would be sweet too...

 

[California]

This is not an end-user upgrade. You ship the machine to Daystar, they do the labor and testing, then ship it back. Takes about a week. $60 of the $509 is for the 3 way shipping costs so you're paying $450 for a new processor and the labor.

Testing on bearfeets.com shows that this upgrade yields some really nice gains. Should almost double the speed of my 1Ghz G4 for iMovie, FCE, iDVD. This could easily give me another 3 years with this iMac and allow me to wait for a Rev B or C Intel-based Mac.

All that being said, a 20" iMac G5 would be sweet too...

I have been very happy with Daystar upgrades on my PBs, no heat issues. It is a "new" processor or just an overclocked one? If it is only overclocked, what is the pricetag for? Ask Daystar to explain their costs, they are good people there. And how long is warranty? The thing i like about keeping non intel macs is I already believe they are more stable than the new ones coming down the pike. JMHO, tho.