LCD iMac 133mhz bus.

addison · July 21, 2002 6:45AM

Most PC motherboards have a jumper so switch bus speeds. So it got me thinking as to why Apple specifies PC133 ram for the LCD iMac. Is it possible that Apple could post a firmware upgrade and change our iMacs from 100 to 133 bus speeds? If this is the case is would prove that Apple is sandbagging the G4 iMacs untl new PowerMacs arrive.

I am not that technical I this sounds stupid please don't flame me.

icarus · July 21, 2002 9:05AM

Usually there is some sodering going on with these sort of things although Apple is in a real fix with their current hardware all smooshing together. I think that the main problem may just be customers with wishful thinking though

addison · July 21, 2002 10:41AM

[quote]Originally posted by icarus:

<strong>Usually there is some sodering going on with these sort of things although Apple is in a real fix with their current hardware all smooshing together. I think that the main problem may just be customers with wishful thinking though

</strong><hr></blockquote>

Why do we need PC133 memory in a machine with a 100mhz bus. That's what I can't quite get to grips with.

I take you point about wishful thinking, but I do find it hard to believe that Apple is going to be stuck in this rut as regard to processor performance for much longer. They must be acutly aware of the marketing problems and perception.

I don't think we will ever see another bake off, even if we ever get a machine that is twice as fast as a PC.

icarus · July 21, 2002 1:09PM

I think that the 133 memory on the 100 board is just apples way of adhearing to standards and yada yada yada...its probably just less expensive to do it that way or perhaps the engineers are lazy and thought were waiting for a solution to the bus speed from Moto so they just went along without it.

Another cause could be in the availibility of the right controller or some type of controller conflict.

I think the if you boil it down either a case of budget or an engineering problem is at the core of this discrepency.

alcimedes · July 21, 2002 1:47PM

1. pc133 is faster.

2. pc133 is cheaper.

3. pc133 tends to be higher quality.

and last but not least, that means you actually have a shot at reusing it when you get a new machine.

concentricity · July 21, 2002 4:55PM

are you guys forgetting that the iBook mb has solder point to choose between 66MHz and 100MHz bus? Back when they were all 66MHz, there were several sites with 'simple' how-to instructions to make your iBook system bus run at 100MHz.

In fact, almost all macs have historically had some built in mechanism for changing the cpu, sysbus, pci frequencies. hell, i'm running a beige G3MT at 333/83/33 (CPU/SYS/PCI)

I'd be very surprised if apple hasn't built-in some easy upgrades paths to the new iMacs.

addison · July 22, 2002 11:04AM

Does anyone know what effect it would have on performance to increase the bus speed on one of these, and does the iMac have a solder hack or is the bus speed set by firmware?

alcimedes · July 22, 2002 2:03PM

i know the iBooks saw about a 40% speed increas when jumping them up to 133Mhz over 100Mhz, even though the chip speed only went from 500Mhz to 600Mhz.

that extra bus speed makes a huge difference. the most interesting part was that it had almost no effect on battery life IIRC.

you'll have to check <a href="http://www.xlr8yourmac.com"; target="_blank">www.xlr8yourmac.com</a>

i believe they're the ones who ran the story.

plus soldering a MB is a bit tougher than software or jumper OC'ing, which is what most people do.

not to mention it's a bitch and a half getting these iBooks apart to that level, then putting everything back together just to see if it worked.

i was tempted to try it but ended up passing on it. the odds of frying something are high, and the payoff isn't all that great.

-alcimedes

LCD iMac 133mhz bus.

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