upgrading processer unit form g3 to g4 or maybe g5

there are some g4 proccessor upgrades for them, but how much are you looking to spend on one

Is it a slot loading or a tray loading iMac? The TL iMacs have upgrade cards available for them, but the fastest you can get is a 500MHz G4, so it's not going to be a huge boost:

http://www.everymac.com/upgrade_cards/by_system/imac.html

You might have a job finding a card though, as AFAIK most of them are out of production now.

The SL iMacs have their processor soldered to the motherboard, so it's not possible to upgrade yourself. Some companies were doing upgrades where you sent off your iMac and they soldered a new processor in, but I'm not sure if they still do.

EDIT: looking at that page they have the FastMac upgrades listed, which are the ones for the SL iMacs.

TOM

If it's an iMac DV, then it's a slotloader. You can put the mobo froma faster G3 iMac in it, up to a 700MHz board. Otherwise, your best upgrades would be RAM and HDD. You mention you installed OS X, but how much RAM is there? Depending on which version of X is on there, 128 may not be enough, even 256 may not. If it's Tiger, I'd stick with 512MB+.

i am waiting for an 512mb peice of ram to arrive at my door any day now but i really want to up grade the processer chip as most new software and games require a g4 or better so i will look into it some more thanks .

thanks for the link! by the way, is a slot loader, so you reckon it would be a soldering job then or pay through the teeth for a shop to do it, so maybe i might give it a go myself whats to loose i got this far without knowing a thing about mac's or pc's but let my know if you find out anything else. thanks

why do people keep trying to dump money into these things when by the time they are done with upgrades, they literally could have bought a NEW mac with a faster FSB, faster processor, designed for tiger, etc. ?

oh well.

because aswell as learning about the mac and its components its a good task to achive. so if your that bothered then dont get involved evilrobot!!!!!

There is a big difference between something that is technically possible, and something that is financially feasible. I'm sure there is some way to cram a G5 on a G3 iMac mobo, but it'll cost so much more than a Mac mini that'd it'd be point less if your main goal is to run software that needs a G4 CPU.

well linka, if you will look back at my history of posts, you will see that i am more than helpful usually when it comes to these kinds of things. It really is just a matter of financial feasibility. I have an old tray loader that i have played with to get the most i could out of, and when all is said and done, It cost way much more money than if i had bought a slightly newer used mac, or a Mini (which i also have). And, it is nowhere near as usefull and due to the system arcitechure it CANNOT support alot of the features used in newer software.

here this gets you up to a 550Mhz G4 for $200.00
http://www.fastmac.com/ProductPage/g4slimacup.php/

i for one have lost all faith in the new macs after my experience with my ibook. anyway, just a new hard drive and cd drive to start from ebay is cheap for me. i don't see what's so wrong with doing upgrades to older macs as long as you keep yourself form overdoing it.

thanks for the link and tips. accept my appologies as i courght the wrong end of the stick about you. And you are right about spending alot of money as you can buy a good G4 for about on average £200/£250 on ebay uk check yourself. thanks again sweet.

Simplest upgrade would be a faster iMac slot loader motherboard. No soldering, just pull the old one and replace it. As to price, well who knows.