My 17" PB has problems with the logic board - so says the tech guy, after trying to fix the firewire port... Since is dificult to locate good deals in boards, specially here in Brazil, i ask: is it possible to upgrade the PB, by using 1,67, 1,85 ghz or other logic boards?
Thank you people for helping a newcomer...
Is it possible to replace 17" 1ghz PowerBook G4?
May 23, 2007 - 7:36pm
#1
Is it possible to replace 17" 1ghz PowerBook G4?
Your limit is going to be 1.5 ghz from the April 2004 models. The January 2005 and later models (1.67 ghz) changed to using usb for the keyboard and top case (up to this point all powerbooks and iBooks were still using adb), and had some fundamental changes in the interior of the enclosure.
So, your options are 1.0, 1.33, and 1.5 ghz. With the 1.33 and 1.5 boards - you gain USB 2.0 - your 1.0 ghz PBG4 17" only has USB 1.1 .
Your best bet will be eBay and finding someone who will ship internationally. These boards are not going to be cheap - and replacing the logic board is not going to be a terribly easy process. (it's not as bad as on the 12" aluminum G4's or titanium G4's - but it isn't as easy as the 15" aluminum g4's)
Your other option, since you mentioned that fw was the only issue that you are experiencing - you may want to pick up a PCMCIA firewire card. They're out there.
Thanks for the instructions. One more question: in terms of productivity (not counting the USB 2.0 gain) is there a real improvement betwen 1.0, 1.33 and 1.5 ghz?
In terms of performance - you'll see a very noticeable jump in performance if you go to a 1.5ghz board. With the 1.33, it'll be moderate. I would recommend getting a 1.5 board as it won't be much more expensive than a 1.0 or a 1.33. Very few people every think to upgrade boards on these PowerBooks - so a lack of the upgrade market makes for better pricing across the board.
The best board you can find will be a 1.5 ghz board with the 128mb video card. These are very rare, but even the 64mb board is pretty darn nice. You may need to get a need heatsink/frame assembly with the board (as the video chipset changed between the 1.0 and 1.33-1.5 models - nvidia on the 1.0, ati radeon on 1.33-1.5)