PowerMac G4 Quicksilver Upgrades

Introduced in July 2001, the PowerMac G4 Quicksilver brought a new look to the PowerMac G4 range. replacing the older graphite coloured case with the trademark silver case of the later PowerMac G4s.

This is the first of two models of PowerMac G4 Quicksilver. The second version is dealt with on the PowerMac G4 Quicksilver 2002 page.

Apple's own specifications for the original Quicksilver can be found here.

The G4 Quicksilver can be easily distinguished from earlier G4 towers by the change in colour - machines such as the PowerMac G4 Digital Audio are graphite in colour, compared to the silver of these and later machines.

The rounded optical and ZIP bay covers are unique to the Quicksilver range, and were dropped for the later Dual Optical models, which also have twin CD drive bays, as opposed to a single CD bay and a ZIP bay.

There are two types of Quicksilver machines. This page is for the earlier machines, the later models, known as the PowerMac G4 Quicksilver 2002, have some minor differences and are dealt with on their own page.

The easiest way to tell the difference between the two Quicksilver models is by checking the clock speed of the processor (use the Apple System profiler utility). This page deals with 733MHz, 867MHz and dual 800MHz Quicksilvers. The Quicksilver 2002 page covers 800MHz, 933MHz and dual 1GHz machines. NB: There is also a 733MHz Digital Audio PowerMac G4.

Apple's own specifications for the original Quicksilver can be found here.

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 the upgrades yourself then we can help. Simply ask our engineers for further details.

The PowerMac G4 Quicksilver has three memory sockets. The machines can accept up to 1.5GB in RAM, in 3 x 512MB modules. These machines need PC133 SDRAM DIMMs.

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 Quicksilver 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 Quicksilver 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.

High-end graphics cards are useful for 3D applications and games - also a lot of the effects within OSX use the graphics card, so upgrading the card will make your OSX desktop smoother and nicer to look at.

Your PowerMac G4 has four 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.