PowerMac G4 Graphite (Dual Processor) Upgrades

Announced in July 2000, the PowerMac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) added dual-processor power to the G4 line. Available with dual 450 or 500 MHz PowerPC G4 CPUs, this new PowerMac G4 also included on board 1000Base-T Ethernet as standard equipment, an industry first.

NB: Not all Gigabit Ethernet PowerMacs have dual processors. For single processor models, please refer to the PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics page.

These PowerMacs were the first desktop Macs available with dual processors.

These are excellent machines, and can be significantly upgraded for a very reasonable amount of money.

This page deals specifically with dual processor 100Mhz bus speed PowerMacs with an AGP graphics chipset. All these machines are part of the Gigabit Ethernet range, there is also a single 400Mhz Gigabit Ethernet machine, but for this PowerMac you should refer to the single processor PowerMac G4 AGP page.

PowerMac G4 AGP machines (which encompasses the Gigabit Ethernet and AGP Graphics ranges) can be easily distinguished from other G4 towers.

The rear of these PowerMacs has two audio sockets which are aligned vertically from the bottom of the port panel.

You can also check the components inside the case:

Turn the machine off and open the side of the case. Internally all G4 AGPs have four memory sockets (black in line sockets - see picture) towards the top of the case.

The PowerMac G4 PCI Graphics also have four RAM slots, but the audio ports on the back of the machine are aligned horizontally. Graphite coloured PowerMac G4s later than the Gigabit Ethernet range have only three RAM slots.

The heat sink in these dual processor machines is very large (see image) this differentiates between the single and dual processor models - check the Apple System Profiler utility if you are unsure.

You will notice four differing expansion sockets (some will be used). The first of these is a brown socket which is called AGP. If your machine does not have AGP it may be a G4 PCI Graphics. The other 3 sockets are for PCI Expansion cards. There is space for a number of internal hard drives to the rear of the machine.

If you are still unsure you can contact us on 01223 833 412 or by email for confirmation. If you want to upgrade but aren't happy to install your upgrades then we can help. Simply ask our engineers for further details.

The PowerMac G4 Gigabit Ethernet has four memory sockets, any of these sockets can take up to a 512MB module.

When they were released, these PowerMacs could only address a maximum of 1.5GB of RAM, despite the fact that 2GB could be physically installed. However under OS 10.3 (Panther) and above these machines can address the full 2GB.

An internal CD/DVD drive would replace your existing optical drive. There are also external FireWire and USB options (FireWire highly recommended for this machine).

Any replacement internal 5.25" IDE CD unit will install into this PowerMac, and should work to read data. However, unless there is an Apple ROM on-board the CD unit, the computer cannot be booted from the CD, and the unit will not integrate with Finder burning and Apple software like iDVD. Burning can still be accomplished by third party software such as Roxio's Toast.

Look for the footnotes on any internal drive listed below, to see if there are any issues as described above.

The PowerMac G4 Gigabit Ethernet can can take internal IDE hard drives of sizes up to 120GB. Up to two extra drives can be added alongside your existing hard drive - a straight replacement is obviously possible as well.

If you want to use a larger hard drive you will need to use a SATA drive and install a SATA controller into a PCI socket. See the expansion cards section at the end of this page for details on available cards.

If you don't want to fit a new hard drive yourself, you can take advantage of the MacUpgrades Installation Service. Add the installation service from the list below to your cart along with your chosen hard drive. We can also clone your existing hard drive onto the new one, simply add the Clone Original Hard Drive service below to your cart.

Once you have booked the service, send your machine to us, we will carry out the work and return it to you. Alternatively, we do offer a Collection Service with our courier, please see here for details.

Your PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics has one available AGP socket for upgrading your video capabilities. You also have three 33MHz PCI slots, which can take a second graphics card - however the AGP socket is superior and should be used for the primary graphics card.

Unfortunately, since ATI discontinued the Radeon 9000 Pro and Radeon 9800 Pro, we have no high-end AGP graphics cards to recommend for this machine.

Your PowerMac G4 has three PCI sockets for connectivity expansion. Since the machine was released FireWire 800, USB 2.0, faster internal IDE controllers, faster wireless and wired connectivity, and much more, has become available.

With the use of PCI expansion cards, you can update your machine to use current spec connectivity types. Please note that some cards have an operating system version requirement - see the notes in the table below for any that apply to this machine.

The following keyboards and mice are compatible with this Mac.

Listed below are power supplies, batteries and related products we supply for this Mac.

Listed below are power cables, tools and related products we supply for this Mac.

This Mac can use any of the following external hard drives.

Any complete machines of this type or similar that we have for sale are listed here. Please note that these are refurbished models with a 3 month warranty, and that delivery is likely to take 3 - 5 working days. These can be purchased online with the standard website courier delivery charge for the mainland UK only. Please contact us for a quote on shipping to other areas.

Here are the various repair services we offer for this Mac. You can have us take the machine in for evaluation, or book a fixed-price repair if you already know what the fault is and the service is listed below (for services without parts, please see the relevant tab on this page for compatible parts that we sell). If you know what the fault is, but we don't have a fixed-price repair listed below, please contact us for a quote.