[instigator]

An owner of an iMac (Rev.C) for the last couple of years I've decided it's time for a change. Instead of migrating forward to one of the new machines I think I'm gonna go out and pick up a Power Mac 95 or 9600. These were my dream machines when they came out, but I couldn't afford them back then. I still don't think anything comes close in terms of upgradability.

Anyway, my plan is to slowly upgrade to monster-status! Therefore, I would love some advice. Here goes:

1) Now Newer has gone under, who is the leader in processor upgrade cards? Who/what has the best price to performance ratio?

2) Will I be able to run OS X with an upgrade card?

3) IDE or SCSI hard drive? Will I need an IDE adapter? Whic is better?

4) What is the best video card available that this/these systems can handle?

5) Firewire/USB cards: Are there any dual, USB 2.0 compatible cards out yet?

I think that just about covers it for now

Any other advice that you could think of would also be appreciated!

Marc

[thirtyfootsmurf]

Originally posted by instigator:
An owner of an iMac (Rev.C) for the last couple of years I've decided it's time for a change. Instead of migrating forward to one of the new machines I think I'm gonna go out and pick up a Power Mac 95 or 9600. These were my dream machines when they came out, but I couldn't afford them back then. I still don't think anything comes close in terms of upgradability.

Anyway, my plan is to slowly upgrade to monster-status! Therefore, I would love some advice. Here goes:

1) Now Newer has gone under, who is the leader in processor upgrade cards? Who/what has the best price to performance ratio?

2) Will I be able to run OS X with an upgrade card?

3) IDE or SCSI hard drive? Will I need an IDE adapter? Whic is better?

4) What is the best video card available that this/these systems can handle?

5) Firewire/USB cards: Are there any dual, USB 2.0 compatible cards out yet?

I think that just about covers it for now

Any other advice that you could think of would also be appreciated!

Marc

1) Sonnets are great cards... no o/c'ing though (with a special program however...)

2) I think that you cannot run OSX w/ an upgrade card. it has to be a "standard" G3 (at least)

3) If you want a server, go SCSI (Ultra 160) IDE is cheaper ($107 for a 13.5 gigger) but really, what beats a 15,000 RPM 75.3 GB Ultra 160??

4) An ATI Raedeon if it's PCI... Rage All in Wonder 128, Voodoo 5 (more expensive than radeon).

5) Yes, there are some USB 2.0 cards. Orange Micro hase one but, there are no 2.0 periphials..

Hope this helps...

------------------
" I couldn't tell if the streaker was a man or a woman because it had a bag on it's head." -- Yogi Berra

[sodamnregistered]

Newer or Sonnet. There's probably many Newer cards around still.

I have *heard* that OSX was running under OSX. It's not supported and you will be on your own to solve issues. 9.0.4 runs well on mine.

SCSI hard drives are too expensive for the size. If you are going to try to keep the computer for a while. It would be worth it to put in a PCI IDE card and a 27GB-45GB IBM Deskstar HD.

Dunno much about the selection of PCI video cards. I have some older ATI 4MB rage cards that I use for second monitors. I have some VooDoo 16MB cards but the drivers are only so-so and now there is no 3dfx. The ATI cards are solid if slow and need nothing to install- all in the OS.

I have a 9500 with a G3/400 Newer card. Nice. In some things it does not feel much slower that my G4/450. Final Cut did not run very well, though it did do some things if the windows were at 50%.

The killer is that the RAM on these machines is way too expensive unless the machine you buy has 256+ ram in it already. I'm gonna use the 320MB in my 9500 to send a child to college.

The PCI IDE card conflicted with my Toast and my SCSI CD-R.

They were the word in their day. They still have life in them. Don't mess around, I'd only buy a 400 or 500MHz G3 with 1MB cache.

[This message has been edited by sodamnregistered (edited 01-21-2001).]

[This message has been edited by sodamnregistered (edited 01-21-2001).]

[GLT]

Go here: http://www.macgurus.com/
Read everything you can and read their applicable forums, then post your question.
GREAT upgrade site. Honest and friendly. Reasonable prices, 30 day return policy.

Good luck,
Greg