Beige G3 Overclocking (Optimize your Processor!) Upgrade your Mac for just a few dollars. I like to think of it more as OPTIMIZING my G3Processor. To some folks the term overclocking has bad connotations. Optimizing your Beige Power Macintosh G3 Desktop, Tower, or All In One's G3 processor is a quick, inexpensive and reasonably safe way to get more speed. Most G3 processors were very capable and perhaps even factory rated at higher levels than they were marked. Almost all Beige G3's will optimize at least one level. In other words, your 233 will probably run 266 or your 300 will run 333. Your machine should be in good working order. Overclocking will make any existing problems worse. Good well tested and well seated ram, a fresh install of the OS and a clean bill of health from Disk First Aid or the disk utility of your choice is a good way to start out any upgrade project. These notes assume that you know how to open your case and feel comfortable poking around the insides of your computer. If you are a hamfisted klutz it is better to pay someone with the expertise. Understanding that electronic components may be static sensitive and you have taken appropriate precautions are important. I recently had a user call who broke the plastic catch that the heat sink spring attaches to. Let me repeat if you are a bit ham fisted it pays to have someone with experience do this for you. The user bought another system.. I would have used epoxy (super glue won't work!) to repair a break like this but again you need experience using epoxy on delicate materials. If you aren't comfortable doing your own repairs there are always folks like us who are happy to help. Order Jumpers Now! IMPORTANT NOTE ON UPGRADING TO G4 PROCESSORS: If you plan on upgrading your Apple, Mac® computer with an accelerator processor, you may need a replacement Voltage Regulator Module (VRM). An unknown number of Mac computers were produced with a VRM which will over voltage and permanently damage the accelerator processor. If your VRM has the words "ROYAL" on them then you MUST change out for a replacement unit. The models affected are those referred to as the "Beige G3" manufactured around 1999. These models include: Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One Power Macintosh G3 Desktop Power Macintosh/Server G3 Minitower To solve this problem, Creative Connections, manufactures VRM UltraTM, a replacement VRM which meets aftermarket Mac accelerator processor power requirements. VRM UltraTM is a direct replacement for Apple, PN 922-3292. You can also call in your order to HeadgapStore.com, 1-877-639-1543 9-6 CST. They carry used replacements for $25 including shipping The first things I do before optimizing a unit it to make sure the processor heat sink if in good contact with the processor. I actually bend the clamp (slightly) so that it puts a bit more downward pressure on the heat sink to insure good contact. REMEMBER the dimple in the clamp should be directly over the processor! I have seen machines with these clamps put on backwards and I am surprised the machine didn't overheat and die. I don't recommend that you use thermal compounds since Apple uses a special contact pad on the heat sink. I know that some folks do used the compounds but I have seen no major benefit and have cleaned up a few messes of those who tried and used too much. NEVER turn on the machine with the heat sink off of the processor. THERMAL GREASE GOOD OR BAD? I recently had one of the new Powerlogix G3/800 mhz Processors returned. I couldn't and Powerlogix couldn't figure out why the customer's Beige G3 wouldn't work. When I got the processor back and checked it I realized the problem. The customer had put what he considered a small amount of thermal grease on the processor as the instructions said. It was way too much. It actually worked under the gasket and contacted all of the small capacitors that surround the processor (shorting them out). No permanent damage was done but it took me 20-30 minutes to remove the gasket and all the thermal grease. If you use thermal grease a small amount is simply a very tiny amount. Keep in mind that when the heat sink is clamped down it is going to spread. A thin film covering the processor is all that is required. Too much and it gets under the gasket and shorts the capacitors. We have the high quality silver thermal grease in stock. Order now! PowerLogix is now NOT recommending thermal grease be installed on their new 800 and 900 ZIF processors. Thankfully the have added some type of aluminum looking cover that acts as the contact point for the heat sink! The jumpers are "sealed" under a label and if this label is removed no Apple Authorized Service provider will repair that PowerMac G3 even if the problem or issue is non- motherboard related. Of course your machine is most likely long since out of warranty. I have been building the world's largest ball of these tape seals for some time now. I will tell you though that you do this at your own risk. I make no claims or warranties about this information and working on the insides of anything electronic may result in you messing the things up. Please note that any modifications you make to your Macintosh are made at your own risk. First things first: Use Apple System Profiler to determine what your present clock speed is. On the diagram below find out how many "jumpers" are required to set your system's speed up to the next level. You need to have at least 4 jumpers for most upgrades and as many as 6. These jumpers are also used to reset the configuration of SCSI drives. You can buy them affordably from us, select parts from the store menu. We call these the small size jumpers. The ones used on IDE devices are too large (don't try to make them fit). Remove the tape seal above the stock jumper block. Carefully and evenly pull up the jumper block and remove it. I use forceps for this, but a careful hand and needlenose pliers or a small hand will work. Set the block aside since you may need put it back on should your system refuse to boot. You may want to mark how it is oriented. Next place the jumpers on each of the pins in the configuration you need to acheive the next higher clock speed. See the table below. Button up the case and start up your system. Your system relies on the air flow of the closed case for proper cooling. Running your computer with the case open can cause overheating. Your system should make the normal startup chime and reboot. If it doesn't recheck to make sure you have the jumpers configured properly. You may need to press the CUDA switch which resets the motherboard. If it works okay check Apple System Profiler to see if you are running at the desired speed. I usually load up a few Applications to see if I notice any anomolies. Run repair which uses the processor, and drives fairly heavily. If you have any freezing or other difficulties then reinstall the original block and call it a day. If you are successful you may with to try the next level of speed up. You can try some of the faster bus speeds shown in the chart I have had a 266 DT running 315 with the 70mhz bus speed and it was rock solid. Please note that bus speeds above 70mhz sometimes result in the floppy not working properly. If you mess with the bus speed then testing the floppy is a good check to make sure your system will handle it. UPDATED JUMPER CHART: Note that P1 is closest to you on both the desktop and tower. The all in one is upside down. BUSClock PCIClock CPUClock PLLConfig P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 66MHz 33MHz 200MHz x3 x S S S S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 233MHz x3.5 x x x S S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 266MHz x4 x S x S S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 300MHz x4.5 S x x x S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 333MHz x5 x S x x S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 366MHz x5.5 x S S x S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 400MHz x6 x x S x S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 433MHz x6.5 S x S x S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 466MHz x7 S S x S S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 500MHz x7.5 S S S x S S S x x 66MHz 33MHz 533MHz x8 x x S S S S S x x 70MHz 35MHz 210MHz x3 x S S S S S x S S 70MHz 35MHz 245MHz x3.5 x x x S S S x S S 70MHz 35MHz 280MHz x4 x S x S S S x S S 70MHz 35MHz 315MHz x4.5 S x x x S S x S S 70MHz 35MHz 350MHz x5 x S x x S S x S S 70MHz 35MHz 385MHz x5.5 x S S x S S x S S 70MHz 35MHz 420MHz x6 x x S x S S x S S 70MHz 35MHz 455MHz x6.5 S x S x S S x S S 70MHz 35MHz 490MHz x7 S S x S S S x S S 75MHz 30MHz 225MHz x3 x S S S x S S S x 75MHz 30MHz 263MHz x3.5 x x x S x S S S x 75MHz 30MHz 300MHz x4 x S x S x S S S x 75MHz 30MHz 337MHz x4.5 S x x x x S S S x 75MHz 30MHz 375MHz x5 x S x x x S S S x 75MHz 30MHz 413MHz x5.5 x S S x x S S S x 75MHz 30MHz 450MHz x6 x x S x x S S S x 75MHz 30MHz 487MHz x6.5 S x S x x S S S x 75MHz 30MHz 525MHz x7 S S x S x S S S x 83MHz 33MHz 250MHz x3 x S S S x S x x x 83MHz 33MHz 292MHz x3.5 x x x S x S x x x 83MHz 33MHz 333MHz x4 x S x S x S x x x 83MHz 33MHz 375MHz x4.5 S x x x x S x x x 83MHz 33MHz 416MHz x5 x S x x x S x x x 83MHz 33MHz 458MHz x5.5 x S S x x S x x x 83MHz 33MHz 500MHz x6 x x S x x S x x x 83MHz 33MHz 541MHz x6.5 S x S x x S x x x 83MHz 33MHz 583MHz x7 S S x S x S x x x S:Set Jumper x: NO Jumper  Need help with your hardware? Read Bob's Mac Tech Tips OPTIMIZE (OVERCLOCK) YOUR G4 Macs Here is my pages on optimizing (clocking up) complete with chart. Sawtooth and Gigabyte Ethernet Single and Duals Digital Audio Single Processor QuickSilver Single Processor B&W Clockup | DriveJumper.com | Mac-Batteries.com | Resale.Headgap.com | Headgap.com Apple, Apple Macintosh, Mac, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their prospective owners.