Power Mac

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Tech Specs

Digital Audio Power Mac G4

LEM Staff - 2001.01.09

Apple doesn’t make it easy – this is the fourth model using the name Power Mac G4 and the same case. What most differentiates the Digital Audio version from earlier models is the 133 MHz bus on the motherboard with four PCI slots plus an AGP slot, one more PCI slot than previous models.

Power Mac G4 Digital Audio

There are some differences between the 466 and 533 MHz  models and the 667 and 733 MHz models, making it possible that swapping a CPU designed for one of these models may not work with the other model. We have reports that the 733 MHz CPU does work in the slower machines.

Power Mac G4 Digital Audio

With processor speeds ranging from 466 to 733 MHz, the G4 had the power to take on any Pentium 4 machine made at the time. It was also ready for OS X.

At least one version of OS X (10.3 Panther) reports the dual 533 MHz Digital Audio Power Mac as a dual 933 MHz G4. Apple never sold a 933 MHz dual G4.

You should have the most recent firmware installed in your Power Mac G4. The newest version for this Power Mac is Power Mac G4 Firmware Update 4.2.8, which is only for Sawtooth, Gigabit Ethernet/Mystic, and Digital Audio Power Macs. To install this firmware update, you must boot into Mac OS 9.1-9.2.2 from a writable partition.

We have received a single field report of someone trying to run OS X 10.5 Leopard on the dual 533 MHz model but seeing failure. We have received several reports in the affirmative, so we can say that this is not normative for dual 533 MHz Digital Audio Power Macs.

  • Got a G3, G4, or G5 Power Mac? Join our G-List Group.
  • Got a G4 or want to know more? Join the G4 Group.
  • Our Mac OS 9 Group is for those using Mac OS 9, either natively or in Classic Mode.
  • Our Jaguar Group is for those using Mac OS X 10.2.
  • Our Panther Group is for those using Mac OS X 10.3.
  • Our Tiger Group is for those using Mac OS X 10.4.
  • Our Leopard Group is for those using Mac OS X 10.5.

Details

  • introduced 2001.01.09 with 466 MHz version at $1,699, 533 MHz at $2,199, 533 MHz dual at $2,499, 667 MHz at $2,799, and 733 MHz at $3,499; replaced by Quicksilver on 2001.07.18
  • Requires Mac OS 9.1 through 10.4.x Tiger, 10.5 Leopard not officially supported but runs
  • CPU: 466/533/667/733 MHz PPC G4 (7410 in 466/533, 7450 in 667/733)
  • Bus: 133 MHz
  • Performance:
    • Geekbench 2 (Leopard): 474 (533 dual)
    • Geekbench 2 (Tiger): 544 (533 dual), 352 (533 single), 314 (466 single)
  • L2 cache: 1 MB backside cache on 466, 533
    256 KB on-chip L2 cache on 677, 733 with 1 MB L3 backside cache
  • RAM: 128 MB standard on 466/533 MHz models, 256 MB on 667/733 MHz models, expandable to 1.5 GB using PC133 SDRAM (3.3V, unbuffered, 64-bit, 168-pin, 100 MHz) in 3 DIMM slots
  • VRAM: 16 MB on ATI Rage, 32 MB on nVidia GeForce
  • Video: ATI Rage 128 Pro in AGP 4x slot on G4/466, ATI Radeon optional, nVidia GeForce2 MX on other models; VGA and ADC ports (no DVI).
  • Hard drive: 30/40/60/60 GB Ultra ATA/66. Maximum IDE drive size is 128 GB without third-party support. See How big a hard drive can I put in my iMac, eMac, or Power Mac? for three options.
  • CD-RW (8/4/32x) on all but 733 MHz model, which includes SuperDrive CD-RW/DVD-R drive (2x DVD-R, 6x DVD, 8x CD-R, 4x CD-RW, 24x CD)
  • internal Zip 250 drive (optional)
  • 4 64-bit PCI slots
  • internal 56k modem
  • Microphone: no input jack, requires use of USB device
  • two 400 Mbps FireWire ports
  • two 12 Mbps USB ports for keyboard, mouse, and peripherals
  • Ethernet: 10/100/gigabit
  • antenna and connector for AirPort card
  • size (HxWxD): 17.0″ x 8.9″ x 18.4″
  • Weight: 30.0 lb.
  • Gestalt ID: n/a
  • PRAM battery: 3.6V half-AA
  • upgrade path: via CPU upgrades
  • part numbers: M7627, M7688, M7945, M7681

Accelerators & Upgrades

Online Resources

Cautions

  • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard boot times for Power Mac with the GeForce 6200 fall into the 4-5 minute range, and it was initially suggested that you install Leopard with the Mac’s original video card installed to avoid slowing down the process. “gotoh” has posted the fix in The Mac Elite Forum. The delay is due to Leopard not supporting temperature sensors in G4 Macs. Simply remove AppleHWSensor.kext from /System/Library/Extensions and the delay goes away.
  • Power Macs earlier than the Quicksilver 2002 models do not have built-in support for IDE hard drives with capacities over 128 GB. Without a third-party solution, larger drives can only be formatted to 128 GB in these models. There are three options:

Keywords: #digitalaudio #powermacg4

Short link: http://goo.gl/70Gv1c

searchword: digitalaudio

2 thoughts on “Digital Audio Power Mac G4”

  1. I have one of these. I hacked it to run Leopard but the video card died soon after. I put the original 32 meg card back in and it blew the first time I booted it. I still have it but without video it’s not very useful. I wonder if it would run with a PCI video card?

    • eBay is a good source for Mac AGP video cards. I would not try running without one.

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