MacUpgrades.co.uk offers a wide range of fixed price upgrades and repairs for your Apple computers. You can drop in to our offices in Sawston, Cambridge or if you are not local you can either have us collect or send in your computer yourself. Sameday fitting is available for most items, contact us for details. We also offer on site installation services and training on your premises.
Macupgrades offers a wide range of on-site services for your Apple equipment. We offer all of our upgrade services, and most of our repair services too.
All our engineers have at least 15 years of experience with Apple hardware and software
Enter your serial number into the box below for specific upgrades for your machine. Each upgrade has been tested in the machine we list it for. Compatability is 100% guaranteed or your money back.
How to find your serial number in software
You can find your Mac's serial number in Apple System Profiler: Select the Apple Menu > About This Mac, then (depending on the version of OSX you are running) click the System Report button or the More Info button. This brings up System Profiler, and on the Hardware Overview that is displayed by default you should see your serial number, and be able to copy/paste it. The procedure does vary slightly between different versions of OSX.
If you can't boot your Mac
If your Mac is not working, the serial number is printed on the computer casing but the location varies. Here are the main locations of serial numbers on Apple computers.
Unibody MacBook Pro - Laser etched onto the base.
MacBook, Early MacBook Pro, PowerBook G4 - Inside the main battery bay. Remove battery to locate.
iBook (White) - Under the keyboard. To lift keyboard, pull back on the release tabs between the F-keys.
Intel iMac, iMac G5 - Underside of the foot/stand.
iMac G4, iMac G3 - Underside of the iMac.
Mac mini - On the underside of the Mac mini.
Mac Pro 2006-2012 - On rear of machine near graphics card ports.
PowerMac G5 - On lower chassis under side panel. To remove side panel, lift lever on rear of Mac.
PowerMac G3, PowerMac G4 - Label on the back of the Mac.
Your Mac's Model Identifier can be found in System Profiler. You can use the drop-down menus above to be taken to a page that displays upgrades specifically for your exact model.
This tool is also available on its own page, with a list of all Model IDs here.
COVID Update: Online orders and mail-in repairs/upgrades are happening as normal. Collection and drop-off are operating by appointment - please call us on 01223 833 412 to book a slot.
PowerMac G4 Quicksilver Upgrades
This page covers all the upgrades we sell for the earlier version of the PowerMac G4 Quicksilver. Choose the type of upgrade you are looking for from the tabs below.(Not the right Mac? See here for
more PowerMac G4s, or here for
all Macs.)
If you want specific upgrades for your exact model, choose it from the Model ID links below, or enter your serial number here:
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.
How to Identify these Machines
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.
Memory Upgrades
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.
There are none available.
Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy
Open the side of the case, with the machine turned off, and place the RAM into a socket. The RAM is designed so that it cannot go in the wrong way around.
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.
Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.
Difficulty 2 / 5 - Easy (internal)
Turn off the machine and open the side door.
The CD caddy is held in by two screws, one at the front of the case and one near the top.
Remove these screws and disconnect all cables, the CD caddy can then be removed.
Remove the original CD drive, and check the replacement's jumpers are set to master, then fit it in place of the original.
Connect data and power cables and secure caddy with the two screws.
Close up the machine and install any supplied software.
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.
Installation Services
Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.
Difficulty 2 / 5 - Easy
Turn off the machine and open side door.
If drive is a replacement then simply remove all cables and screws from the existing drive, and replace the unit.
If installing as a second drive then change the jumper setting to slave, and add the drive above the existing hard drive.
Connect power and data cables, and initialise the disk.
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.
There are none available.
Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy
Install any supplied software and turn off the machine.
Open side door and locate the (brown) AGP socket. Remove holding screw and remove the original card.
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.
Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.
Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy
Install any supplied software and turn off the machine.
Open the side door and locate a free (cream coloured) PCI socket.
Remove the holding screw and remove the blanking plate. Fit the new card and secure with the screw.
Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.
Cables & Tools
Listed below are power cables, tools and related products
we supply for this Mac.
Only suitable for this Mac if you have added USB 2.0 or eSATA with an expansion card. Will not boot this Mac.
Complete Machines - Refurbished
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.
There are none available.
Repair Services for this Mac
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.
