This is my first post here and I was interested in installing a CPU Module from a Quicksilver G4 into my Digital Audio 466mhz. Now I know it is possible but I have some questions that I could not find answers to through Google nor through searching these forums.
1. Are there any written procedures with photos on what mods must be done, specifically something definitively showing me which is the 4th mounting hole that the 12v lead goes to?
2. Will any Quicksilver CPU work? a. One from a 2002 Quicksilver b. A dual G4 CPU Quicksilver into a single DA
I have not bought one yet but I want to give my aging DA a nice speed boost. After market accelerators are not an option since they are far too expensive but those Quicksilver ones are dirt cheap and can hopefully let this old machine run Leopard well. Though I may just run Tiger currently I am running 10.3.9 and want the same speed I have now or better running a more modern Mac OS X.
What is really cheap are single CPU's from the original line of Quicksilver's. However, the CPU's from the 2002 Quicksilvers and all Dual CPU's run a bit higher since they meet standards for Leopard. I have considered the third party accelerators but they are far too expensive for what you get. Basically it seems that Quicksilver CPU's run 1/3 to 1/4 the price of comparable ones from Gigadesigns or Sonnet.
Though I am willing to do this without a guide my biggest concern is that a Dual CPU or 2002 CPU will not work, mainly due to three reasons. The pictures I have seen of a Dual CPU board do not show a fourth mount point that I would run a 12v line to. It is unclear as to whether or not I would have to file the fourth mount point of the heatsink to prevent contact with the 12v line to prevent grounding it out. Finally, for the 2002 CPU's the Quicksilver underwent a slight change to accomodate hard drives larger than 128GB and I did not know if Apple also changed the way the CPU connects like with the MDD Macs.
If I do find enough information I will do this and make a guide.
velocity, mounting the 12v lin will be straight-forward once you mount the daughtercard in its socket. Three dropouts will bolt into the mounting points on the DA's logic board, the fourth is where you will provide the additional 12v, by either soldering or using a bolt with two nuts and a washer (why does that sound so perverse?). The 12v is taken from the yellow wire on a molex power plug, so you will probably want a splitter to save from losing one of your plugs should you need it for another hard drive.
If you use the dual CPU, you likely will need to sever one of the heatsink's mounting posts.
BTW, the 867mhz card gets 1.07Ghz easily. I imagine the dual version would be no different to overclock, with double the oomph.
I posted on this subject a while back and am finally getting around to doing the work, just have to finish a mod for a friend who is leaving town first.
I got as far as plugging a dual 1GHz from a QS onto m DA board. Mine is not going in a DA case so modding the heatsink (I haven't even tried to attach that yet) is not a big concern. So I need 12V to the last CPU mount? Glad I found that out before I fired it up.......
Does anyone happen to know what sort of wattage a 3.5" hard drive requires?
That is a terrabyte drive though. So I imagine it's power usage might be a little more. Idle power consumption 8.1-9.0W Read/write power consumption 12.8-13.6W
And newer models actually use MORE power because of multiple platters and higher storage density. And the newer high density drive uses 7W during R/W cycles.
Basically, this just proves that it's more drive specific for the exact wattage value. But anywhere 20W and above of available power should be fine I think. You might however need a setup that has PSU overhead for high wattage (cold) starts.
When looking at the overclocks how hard is it to do the soldering? I have soldered wires before but when soldering boards I have read that it is very easy to overheat and destroy the tiny transistors, why I never put a mod chip in my PS2. I have seen some pictures of what needs to be soldered on these cards but am uncertain as to whether or not any components are nearby enough to be easily damaged.
That would be pretty neat to bring a dual 800 to near dual 1Ghz. Looking at apple-history.com there was a single 867 Quciksilver but the only Duals where 800Mhz and 1Ghz.
You be surprised how easy it is with the right tools. Personally, I use a 15W Iron with very tiny tip, so there is minimal chance of me burning something. In combination with tweezers, it's foolproof.
A couple of tips: Make sure that the tip of the iron is clean. (a wet sponge works to remove debris quite well.)
Practice on a dead motherboard/daughter card... Whatever you can find with roughly the same size components. Just move them around, practice removing and reattaching them. You'll get the hang of it in no time flat.
Use the lowest wattage possible, this may mean holding the iron on the pad for longer to wait for it to liquify. But it's worth it to have the ease of mind about overheating things. My 15W and 'pin' tip were 8 bucks at Radioshack. I've got three irons (15W, 30W and 45W) each with about 5 tips. They couldn't have cost more than 50 bucks total. (A really versatile adjustable wattage soldering iron from a company like Hakko will run you about 100$ but it's eventually worth it as the RadioShack wonders tend to die within 3 months no matter how much I take care of them.)
Flux. Again, Radioshack or online should be of help here. Use a Q-tip and gently apply flux on both solder pads you're working with. It'll make the process go smoother.
Skim through this, as Wikipedia can actually explain some things that I can't/don't know well enough.
When looking at the overclocks how hard is it to do the soldering? I have soldered wires before but when soldering boards I have read that it is very easy to overheat and destroy the tiny transistors, why I never put a mod chip in my PS2. I have seen some pictures of what needs to be soldered on these cards but am uncertain as to whether or not any components are nearby enough to be easily damaged.
That would be pretty neat to bring a dual 800 to near dual 1Ghz. Looking at apple-history.com there was a single 867 Quciksilver but the only Duals where 800Mhz and 1Ghz.
You don't have to worry about burning the resistors -they're 0 ohm resistors used only to configure the speed. You could just as easily use a solder pen or a dab of regular solder to replace the connection if you lose or damage a resistor.
That leaves the only real worry being not to burn the pcb or traces, but that's not difficult, really. Just make sure you're touching the solder on the ends of the resistor and not pressing down against the board and you'll be fine.
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