Thanks to Brad Sturges, the iMaCC upgrade has now been fully documented. It requires, in brief, a Rev. A-D iMac motherboard and a flex-ATX PSU, while retaining use of the stock CRT and analogue board. The video output is upgraded to 640x480 VGA as well. Please consult the iMaCC upgrade page for full details.
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2.3.2 — What about the 520 and 550-series motherboards?
They'll work, but you might have problems with installing software in some cases. Hardware issues like the 57x boards have (requiring 640x480 video or the logic board resistor swap) are not a problem, however. As the CCSCC points out, the 520 board in a CC was not a standard factory combination and will require some finagling (probably with ResEdit) to make it work with some installers. The 550 board is actually identical to the Colour Classic II board, so this will work with no problems (and won't even require a back panel exchange).
Either board will be a big boost over the original CC board, since the original CC board is limited to 16-bit bus width and only 10MB RAM and neither 520 or 550 boards have these limitations. If they're all you can find, go for it.
As far as has been determined, neither the 520 nor the 550 boards are capable of driving a VGA monitor, so if you want to upgrade the video, the High-Res modification is the only way to go with one of these boards.
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2.3.3 — What about using a PowerBook to do the motherboard and screen at once?
No PowerBook has an LCD screen that is capable of fitting centered in the CC's display opening without sticking out one side. The only real reason to use a PowerBook motherboard would be to save the trouble of driving the LCD, and since the LCDs don't work, there's not much point.
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2.3.4 — Are there any other motherboards I can use?
The Gossamer logic board of the beige G3 (available in mini-tower, desktop and all-in-one configurations) will just fit in a CC case, provided that the CRT is replaced by an LCD screen. As of spring 2004, both Alexey Danilchenko and Stuart Bell are working on such a design, which has been given the name "Taco." Expect full documentation when their designs are finished. Stuart has nearly completed his, but has experienced some minor issues along the way related to the Gossamer board.
The Japanese company Maxus will install an iMac board (and LCD) in a CC for a very hefty price. Slot-load iMac boards are generally thought to be impossible (or highly impractical) for such an upgrade due to the tight integration of all the components in the slot-loading iMacs.
Last, but not least, Greg Younk managed to cram a G4 Cube motherboard and smaller CRT into a CC case.
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Last Modified on 06 November 2013
by Chris Lawson
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