[IFLY2HIGH]

Ok, so what crazy things can you do to a PM9600?

Systems Specs:
233 604E
256 Megs of memory
CD-Rom
2 - 4 Gig SCSI Drives
1 - 2 Gig SCSI Drives
OS 9.0.4

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- Eric

[Kozmik]

Try to run BeOS on it.

[IFLY2HIGH]

BeOs???

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- Eric

[The Godfather]

For information www.be.com
To order OS/Apps CD: www.bedepot.com www.lebuzz.com

You could also put a multiprocessor card in it.

[This message has been edited by The Godfather (edited 09-02-2000).]

[Kozmik]

Only trouble is, some versions of the 9600/233 work with BeOS, some do not. Odd, but that's how it is.

[Cipher13]

I'll buy the case off you
Seriously. Mail me.

Cipher13

[IFLY2HIGH]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
I'll buy the case off you
Seriously. Mail me.

Cipher13

That's quite alright This mac is my very first, some guy had no use for it and gave it to me. Came with os 7.5, cd-rom, no video card, and only 64 megs of memory. With the help of a friend I got up and running and I love this "slow" mac vs my fast pc right now.

I was just curious of what else I could do with a system like this since mac's are so easy to use diferent OS's and seem to function better than any PC...

Thanks...

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- Eric

[TheDoctor]

Why not get a fast G3 upgrade for it?

[IFLY2HIGH]

Originally posted by TheDoctor:
Why not get a fast G3 upgrade for it?

Hummm, what type of card would I need, I've seen some around in magazines but never really thought of it. Do they really work as good as they sound??

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- Eric

[MacNZ]

They work ok up to a point depending on your systems bus speed etc. I think your model is 50mhz?? In that case I would buy anything up to 400mhz. At some place (check DealNN) I saw ZIFF upgrades reall cheap and they DO work Awesome.

You can add like 128MB memory for $190 at www.otherworldcomputing (cheapest memory upgrade I have found).

I'm not sure if the promo is still going but at Outpost you could get VooDoo 3 graphics cards for $60. That all up would be a decent upgrade.

Of course then you need a hard drive! Maybe a new SCSI drive or ATA card and drive.

[MacNZ]

Sorry, didn't look at your specs properly. I'd probably stick with getting a cheap G3 upgrade!

[SpeedRacer]

That 9600's a helluva expandable machine!

12 RAM slots, 6 PCI, more drive bays than you can shake a stick at! This is a machine from the era when Apple thought less about the need for continual customer upgrades, more about building the ultimate graphics machine.

Go for the G3/G4 upgrade definitely.

Smack some serious RAM in there (you can even buy smaller capacity chips b/c you've got so many slots)

Buy and IDE card and slap a DiamondMax 40gig and/or throw in a nice 10gig SCSI for around $200

That V3 price mentioned above sounds pretty sweet too.

All told i'd say the 9600 models definitely have some life left in them though.

Speed

[iPad]

www.macsolutions.com

They have the cheapest RAM, go chuck it full.

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People aren't as dumb as you think. Wait, what was I thinking, 90% of the world uses WINDOWS!
You don't like Macs? Good, more for me.

[MacNZ]

Yeah, but they only sell DIMM's up to 64MB. I'd buy a pair of 128MB DIMM's.

G4/400 say would be good if u r doing graphics. Otherwise get a G3. If the G4 upgrade you get claims it is OS X compatible then it is awesome!

ATA card and then a big ATA drive would be best way to go for hard drive. Unless of course you want a fast scaleable SCSI.

Graphics cards are probably best to go for something like a VooDoo 3 like I said before. You'd otherwise dish out four times + the price for a Radeon or Voodoo 5.

[IFLY2HIGH]

Is 256 Megs of memory not enough for a mac, it seems fine for me right now...

SCSI is just so darn expensive now a days and I'd rather go with the inexpensive ATA drives. I may wait until more company's come out with MAC compatable interface cards. IDE is the way to go though.

Hum G3 or G4? Now that's a decesion to make, may wait till os 10 is out and see what it can do with the G4 processors...

Never though about a better video card, the one I have now was just a chepo ATI so I could get this up and running...

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- Eric

[andi*pandi]

can't seem to find that voodoo card for $60 at outpost...

sounded like a deal...

[Evangellydonut]

Get a Voodoo3 3000 for 'bout US$100, that'll make a big difference with graphics...

[Ruddigger]

You can always paint it while your waiting for OS X PB to come out on the 13th. Crackle spray paint looks really cool.

I know, I know, not much of a hardware hack, but it's a bit cooler then just adding RAM, (not to mention cheaper.)

-Ruddigger.

[Ca$h68]

No way. lime green. Then put strobe stripes on it and put a repro AAR sticker on it. Mmmmm...1970 AAR cudas....mmmmm

Ca$h

PS: HOODPINS! YOU NEED HOODPINS!

[Cipher13]

Nah, give it a nice black finish...

Cipher13

[IFLY2HIGH]

You guys are crackin' me up...

Do they make 4wd units for these things too??

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- Eric

[This message has been edited by IFLY2HIGH (edited 09-07-2000).]

[MacNZ]

I think the Voodoo deal just fiinished. It was like $89 before rebate and had a $30 rebate. You can still get great prices on those card around the place though.

[zac4mac]

Since you are into this Mac cheap, look around for good deals and start replacing stuff with newer parts... I have been tweeking my 8500 for 3 years now and it will come VERY close to holding its own against brand new Macs. I am preparing to drills air holes in the side to allow better hard drive cooling.
You have a Buttload of RAM, make sure it's interleaved, EDO is faster. Not sure on 9600, 8500 says load in A4/B4, then A3/B3 etc.

PM8500/120(new 1500.00 in '97) (G3-400 @ 454 MHz, 1MB L2 @ 227 $400.00 last November @ OWC) (4 tiny fan/sink units on heatsink, Gauge Pro says 39 C, ambient about 23 C, was running at 46 C before the fans)
OS 9.0.4
240 MB interleaved EDO RAM @ 56.8MHz(System bus) 4MB onboard VRAM to 17" Compaq V70 VGA monitor(used)
ATi Rage Orion(new) to 20" Apple ColorSync(used)
4X CD-ROM replaced with 12/20X variable speed Plextor CD-ROM(salvaged-free)(required front cover mod to enable load button on drive)
2GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm AV HD (Engineering prototype, Seagate lives here)
9GB IBM HD (UltraStarXP 7200rpm Server drive)(salvaged-free)
Both drives run very hot, so each has 3 extra fans
Internal Zip (replaced floppy)(traded)(removed a BUNCH of plastic from back of floppy bay to fit Zip and removed enough from faceplate opening to fit Zip disk )
Several extra fans(10 added, all 2" or less... 486 cooling fans are cheap and plentiful)

I have played with Photoshop on a new G4MP-500 and it IS a LITTLE faster...:-)

[This message has been edited by zac4mac (edited 09-10-2000).]

[IFLY2HIGH]

Sounds like a aerious machine!! You got some pictures of some of the modifactions?? The Zip dirve for the Floppy was impressive along with your cooling method...

Thanks...

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- Eric