I saw an auction for the 6100/66 at SGD$50.00 . i think it's a good price but i have a query - (1) can i upgrade it ? hacked or otherwise (2) can it take PCI slots ( it has a PDS board , what is this ? )

thanks

[Adam Silver]

1. Yes. You can put a G3 upgrade in the L2 cache slot.

I wouldn't reccommend this, however. The processor may be faster the other components will still be s l o w. This also makes the system unstable.

2. No.

(PDS stands for Processor Direct Slot. Cards for this slot will only work on a Power Macintosh 6100. I believe there is (was?) an adaptor that allows for a single NuBus slot.

The MacSpeedZone site had a review on updating a Power Macintosh 6100 with a G3 card. The address is http://www.macspeedzone.com/articles...derreview.html

Actually, I have installed some of the 6100 G3 upgrade cards for a few of my customers and it does make a difference. Granted, the main buss, HD, CD, and video are still dog slow, but once the data hits the processor, it just takes off. There is very little instability that I have come across yet. As long as you are running current versions of your software, things should go quite smoothly.

I have an aging PM6100/66, I installed a Sonnet Cressedo G3 266/1MB, It definatly has made that machine livable again. Don't expect it to match a real G3 or even an imac, but it kinda feels now like a 200mhz 604-604e. I wouldn't recommend this though if you have a small HD and no ram. This machine had a 10.5 gig SCSI HD and the RAM maxxed out at a whopping 72 MB! already, so that helped me justify the cost $250 for the upgrade. I have had no real problems with stability, it runs pretty smooth but it heats up (within Sonnetts safezone). Just remember to take out the "old"L2 cache if you have any cause that causes problems with these things. take these thing into consideration before upgrading first:

1. PM6100/66 33mhz bus speed (100mhz on current g3's)
2. Drives, Ram, Video Speed, much slower, and SCSI drives are more expensive than IDE and your only option on a 6100, IDE is on current G3
3. No PCI - no real current expansion options.
4. Slower Graphics due to not being able to put in a fast graphics card like V3 or ATi.

I have an aging PM6100/66, I installed a Sonnet Cressedo G3 266/1MB, It definatly has made that machine livable again. Don't expect it to match a real G3 or even an imac, but it kinda feels now like a 200mhz 604-604e. I wouldn't recommend this though if you have a small HD and no ram. This machine had a 10.5 gig SCSI HD and the RAM maxxed out at a whopping 72 MB! already, so that helped me justify the cost $250 for the upgrade. I have had no real problems with stability, it runs pretty smooth but it heats up (within Sonnetts safezone). Just remember to take out the "old"L2 cache if you have any cause that causes problems with these things. take these thing into consideration before upgrading first:

1. PM6100/66 33mhz bus speed (100mhz on current g3's)
2. Drives, Ram, Video Speed, much slower, and SCSI drives are more expensive than IDE and your only option on a 6100, IDE is on current G3
3. No PCI - no real current expansion options.
4. Slower Graphics due to not being able to put in a fast graphics card like V3 or ATi.

to newbie5: couldn't i hoo it up to an expansion chassis or tower?

Question : can i do audio ? graphics ( non-3D ) ?

Question : what's the probability of putting a higher board (7200,8500,9600 etc )into a 6100 ?

Just for the record, the 6100 does not have any PCI slots. I doubt you can get an adapter to give it any either. It does have Nubus slots though.

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/phloppy

so can i still replace the 6100 with another board ( 7200 , 8600, 9600 etc ... ) ?

[tadd]

probably can't replace the motherboard with one for a different case. The power supply for each of the different cases required a custom mother board made for that case.

The good news is that any Mac older than a G3 is already getting down in price to the not-worth-selling price range. Flea markets will start turning up PCI based PPC604 computers for under $200 or so. If you can buy an iMac 333 NEW for $800, how much is a USED iMac 233 worth? That kind of limits the value of the older computers.

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Tadd Torborg

[Avon]

The powermac 6100/66 is a nice machine. when upgraded to a G3 it is pretty quick. I have one with a 240/1MB NewerTech card and it runs great. You CAN NOT upgrade the logic. You can JAM an Apple HPV card in it IF you have a G3 card with an angle adapter, this will give you 2 megs of Vram.

I DO NOT recomend a 6100 as an upgrade project.

supose you win the auction for 100 bucks (this is what they go for)

6100 - 100
G3 - 300
ram(72MB max) 100
Video adapter or video card (if you use the internal video you need an adapter)
50
biiger HD 50

thats $800.00 for a mac that is slower than an original iMac ($750)