upgrade Imac 233

You should be able to use processors from any of these machines, if you come across a "dead" one:

• any other tray-loading (not slot-loading) CRT iMac
• PowerBook G3 (Pismo: with USB and FireWire)
• PowerBook G3 (Lombard: with USB and SCSI)

These processors will NOT fit your tray-loading iMac:

• Power Macintosh G3 (beige tower, beige desktop, or beige AIO)
• Power Macintosh G3 (blue & white)
• Power Macintosh G4 (Yikes, Sawtooth, QuickSilver, or MDD)

IDK about PowerBook G3 (Kanga, Mainstreet, or Wallstreet). IIRC their processors are soldered to the logic board. Other 'Fritters, please educate me if I'm wrong.

There were at one time some G4 upgrade kits for this type of machine -- Sonnet and the like -- but may not be supported for upgrade to Mac OS X.

Tray-loaders use PC-66, PC-100 or PC-133 SO-DIMM memory (like for laptops of the era). For sticks over 128 MB, you need to make sure that you have low-density RAM: chips on both sides of the stick, not just one side. Your machine will either see just half the RAM on a high-density stick (thus wasting RAM) or won't see it at all (maybe not even boot up). Don't even bother with PC-133 over 128 MB -- I've yet to see a low-density stick with those specs.

With two sticks of 256 MB low-density PC-100 SO-DIMM, you can max out your iMac to 512 MB -- even though some sources say it takes 384 MB max.

I've currently got a Blueberry tray-loader with a Bondi logic board and a 266 MHz Strawberry processor (I call it Frankenberry). It's got a 6 GB HD and 96 MB RAM (32 MB top slot, 64 MB bottom slot).

Believe it or not, Frankenberry is running Mac OS 9.2.2 for Classic and Mac OS 10.3.9 (Panther) for my main OS. Panther is supposed to require 128 MB just to install! Private message me and I'll tell you how I did it.

Good luck!

The wallstreet uses the same style processor card, but they wont boot with it, I think theres a voltage difference between the two.

so does that mean i could use a lombard proc upgrade with an imac 266?

Worked in Frankeberry for me (Bondi logic board). But I wanted the 400 MHz back in my Lombard after I tried it out.

There was a processor upgrade called the Sonnet HARMONi G3, which upgraded these
iMacs to a 600mhz G3.

However finding one will be hard, and buying one will cost more than a 600mhz G3 iMac
itself.

I just tried to marry a 'Lombard' CPU with a Bondi MLB and they are not a physical match. I'm now intensely curious to know exactly how you accomplished this previously-unheardof feat.

dan k

dankephoto, you are absolutely right. I'm a doofus. When I posted last night, I was very tired, and I guess it's showing.

When I put Frankenberry together a few months ago, I did *try* to use the processor from my Lombard just to see if it would work. It *does not.* I spent the better part of an evening swapping out processors from various machines, just 'cuz I had Frankenberry opened up, and I'm afraid I lost track of which ones worked and which didn't.

Suffice to say, if he can find a 333 MHz processor from a "five flavors" tray-loader, that will work just fine. And the Sonnet upgrade cards, while expensive, would be quite nice too. You never know when you'll find a cheap one on eBay, so keep your eyes open -- just don't bid against me!

I suppose that casts doubt on Pismo too, doesn't it? I don't have one, so I'm shooting in the dark here.

I've got one of those in a Bondi, OC'ed to 400 and working just grand. The jump from 233 to 400 is significant and 333 CPUs are cheap these days.

If you can also get the "5-flavors" MLB you'll get the slightly snappier Rage Pro GPU as well.

dan k

cwsmith, I'm curious as to what you do with a Bondi and Panther and only 96mb? Is it slow?

I put Panther on a Bondi with 96 MB because ...

1) I intend to bump the ram up later to 320 or 512 MB, and wanted to have the rest of the machine up and running for when the RAM arrives.

2) I just wanted to see if I could do it. (Why did the man climb the mountain? Because it was there.)

It's not my primary machine (not my secondary or even terciary machine for that matter). I use it at my workbench for looking things up on the Web (like user manuals and disassembly instructions) so I don't have to keep running back and forth to my main machine.

And actually, it's not as slow as you might think. I'm able to do audio chat through iChat just fine, shares my iBook's iTunes library without a hitch, surfs the Web great, and my 5-year-old daughter can play her Dora The Explorer game in my workshop so I can keep an eye on her.

Like I say, it'll never run Final Cut Pro, but I've got other machines for that.