Can I add a 1.8 GHZ Dual Proc to a G4 Quicksilver 733 MHZ Single Proc comp?

Question

I just acquired a G4 Quicksilver 733 MHZ Single Processor/120 MB SDRAM Model Number: M8493
Can I add a SG4D-1800L 1.8 GHz DUAL Processor to a G4 Quicksilver 733 MHZ Single Processor/120 MB SDRAM?

Answer 1

Dear TGH
Adding a dual 1.8 GHz processor will significantly reduce task times, obviously those that are processor intensive. I have just added the dual 1.8 GHz processor to my (former) 733 Mz Quicksilver G4. I also added a faster harddrive and more memory, but it was the Processor that really made the difference.
I do some music conversion, vinyl to MP3, and some of the software processes for cleaning up the music were quite time consuming with the 733, anywhere from 3 to 15 minutes per run. These have been reduced to 30s to two or three minutes, so a five-fold speed gain.
Overall, the whole computing experience has benefitted from the upgrades, the multi-tasking and leaping from program to program is crisp and speedy.
Putting in the Sonnet software was a real exercise; I seems for some it is straightforward and for others it is problematic; it is a fragile process. Here are the highlights of my experience....
*OS9* - You need to boot up in OS 9 at least from one disk in your computer. I had an old OS 9 system disc still in the hard drive, but I could not boot up successfully. The OS 9 startup kept freezing. I begged and borrowed OS9 install discs but none of them worked either.
The solution for me was to copy the OS 9 system folder to another hard drive in my computer, that was blank and did not have OS X already one. It was a clean hard drive that I partitioned for a small OS 9 boot disc, and the rest will be a place to keep various projects. From the "clean" disc there was no problem booting up into OS 9.
You need OS 9 for installing the special software that Sonnet provides on a CD. It doesn't matter if the OS 9 disc is separate from your OS X disc and programs, in fact for me it was preferable.
*Installing the Sonnet software*
You start your system up in OS 9 and run the installation disc from Sonnet. At least that's the theory. First you have to figure out how to make your keyboard work in OS 9. I had to unload drivers off the internet. Then I could open folders and click on buttons as necessary. When I first ran the installation CD it crashed. The old "bomb" box showed up and everything froze. Again and again.
You need to look at each of your PCI cards, and video card, and either move them or update their drivers and firmware. I installed drivers or firmware for both OS 9 and OS X where I could.
Eventually the planets lined up right and the Sonnet CD software downloaded and ran.
The second part of the Sonnet install is restarting your computer and using the programmer button
(the teeny tiny button on the front of my G4) during restart to trigger the firmware revisions. *The Instructions in the book from Sonnet are not right for all Quicksilver G4s.*
The Instructions say to hold the programmer button down while pressing and releasing the power button for startup. Once you hear a "tone" you release the programmer button. For my Quicksilver (which I think is the 2002), you have to hold both buttons down until you hear the tone.
There is no mistaking when you do it right. The tone is heard, a progress bar comes up on the screen, and then after normal startup a dialogue box tells you that the patch to the firmware is in, or it is not. If it isn't then try again. Once I figured out how to do it right, I only had to do it once. Don't be fooled by the Sonnet extension that loads in OS 9 startup, it doesn't mean you necessarily patched the firmware right. You have to hear the tone, see the progress bar and read the message after restart.
Then you can restart in OS X and run that updater available from the Sonnet website (Encore Firmware Updater Installer v.3.1). It is an OS X program, not OS 9. I ran it and it told me all was well that the patch was as it should be. I have read of others who thought it was necessary to runs the program.
*Installing the Processor*
Installing the processor is a piece of cake, especially after suffering through OS9 startup failures, balking mice, installer crashes and firmware fixes that didn't take. You need a screw driver and your eyeglasses. It takes minutes.
So Good Luck, and enjoy the project. I thought it was worthwhile, though I would sure like to see a different process for jigging up the firmware.