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gyroslice

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 18, 2005
10
0
I have an older 333 Mhz emac. i want to upgrade the processer and add more memory. Any suggestions?

thanks adam
 

ITASOR

macrumors 601
Mar 20, 2005
4,398
3
Save the $500 it will cost you to upgrade it and get a Mac Mini. New hardware, less likely to fail. Faster overall than any upgrade will be. Larger HD. Cheaper. Cooler looking. :p

EDIT: And I think you mean iMac not eMac
 

mklos

macrumors 68000
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
0
My house!
gyroslice said:
I have an older 333 Mhz emac. i want to upgrade the processer and add more memory. Any suggestions?

thanks adam

There are ways to upgrade your 333MHz iMac, but like the other post said, its not worth it.

You can upgrade the RAM to 512MB through (2) low profile 256MB SODIMMs. You can upgrade the CPU through PowerLogix CPU Upgrades, though I don't think they make the G3 iMac upgrades anymore so you'd have to look on eBay or something like that. The Hard Drive can ONLY be upgraded to 8GB. If you go beyond 8GB you'll need to partition it and make an 8GB as the first partition or else it won't boot. A 333MHz iMac will only see the first 8GB of a hard drive. The video RAM in this iMac is NOT upgradeable. You're stuck with the 6MB of Video RAM it comes with.

So in short, I'd take the money you'd spend on this upgrade and buy a MacMini with a 512MB RAM upgrade. You'll be better off, get more for your money, and it will last you a lot longer than any 333Mhz iMac Upgrade would.
 

leekohler

macrumors G5
Dec 22, 2004
14,164
26
Chicago, Illinois
I agree. Upgrading this machine is pretty pointless. I also suggest you go with a Mini or a refurbed eMac as it sounds like you don't have an external monitor-they're pretty inexpensive and available on Apple's website.
 

mklos

macrumors 68000
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
0
My house!
gyroslice said:
can i use the computer as a moniter for the mac mini?
If you can find and adapter that goes from the 14" Pin connector on the iMac to a 15 Pin VGA then you can use it. I would just go out a get either a CRT display or a cheap LCD. You don't have to use Apple's displays with the MacMini.

If you look around, you can probably find a CRT display for around $100. LCD's will run you about $200 to $300 depending on the screen size and quality.
 

joecool85

macrumors 65816
Mar 9, 2005
1,355
4
Maine
I spent $200 at best buy for a 15" LCD screen from MAG, it works great actually. They now have one for $180 or so and its actually a little brighter.
 

ITASOR

macrumors 601
Mar 20, 2005
4,398
3
joecool85 said:
I spent $200 at best buy for a 15" LCD screen from MAG, it works great actually. They now have one for $180 or so and its actually a little brighter.

I spent $238 for a Samsung SyncMaster 715V 1280x1024 17" LCD from MacConnection (no shipping/tax). Great deal!
 

gyroslice

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 18, 2005
10
0
can i make an external HD my primary HD? the imac only has a 6 GB capacity but the external has a 30 GB capacity.

Thanks
 

joepunk

macrumors 68030
Aug 5, 2004
2,553
13
a profane existence
The 333 MHz iMac (the same as in my sig.) does not have FireWire and only USB 1.1 and not 2.0. So any external HD will be slow compared to a MacMini. I would advise not to use an external HD as a primary. The connection speed is just to slow.

The 2 USB ports share the same connection speed, 12MBit's (?), so it each port only gets 6 out of the 12. Later iMacs got the full 12.

Correct me if I am wrong.
 

strider42

macrumors 65816
Feb 1, 2002
1,461
7
joepunk said:
The 333 MHz iMac (the same as in my sig.) does not have FireWire and only USB 1.1 and not 2.0. So any external HD will be slow compared to a MacMini. I would advise not to use an external HD as a primary. The connection speed is just to slow.

The 2 USB ports share the same connection speed, 12MBit's (?), so it each port only gets 6 out of the 12. Later iMacs got the full 12.

Correct me if I am wrong.

you can't use the external as a primary drive on a tray loading iMac. the ability to boot from USb came in on the slot loaders. but as you say, ti would be super slow anyway.

You could always upgrade the internal: http://www.djonmac.com a nice 7200 rpm internal drive will veen speed a few things up.
 
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