[SmileyDude]

hello everyone,

I just obtained a used Beige MT G3 300Mhz the other day, and I'm looking at upgrading for my son's usage. But, looking over the machine, I'm a bit perplexed -- according to everything I've seen, the 300Mhz would've came with a rev 2 motherboard. But, the board on my machine is rev 1. Is this typical? Also, since the warranty sticker was still on there, I'm pretty sure that this was the way it came.

Also, what are my options with OS X? Should I get a PCI video card to go with it? Can Tiger run on it (I know Apple doesn't support it...)?

And a question about RAM -- it came with 128MB. I bumped it to 192MB, but I know that's nowhere near enough for OS X. Does anyone have a good source for the 256MB sticks that work on this board? I really don't want to pay a bundle for this

And last question -- what CPU upgrades can I go for? I know it's not going to be a speed demon, but I would be very happy if it performed at least as fast as my iMac DV 400Mhz. At least, my son would be very happy

thanks!

[CanadaRAM]

Have a look at Data Memory Systems for 256 Mb Beige RAM at $31 each

[Captain Obvious]

Originally Posted by CanadaRAM

Have a look at Data Memory Systems for 256 Mb Beige RAM at $31 each

Which given the going prices for a beige G3 is alot to invest in that machine.

I would dump it and pick up a Blue and White G3 for the kid. They are cheap now and have a much easier time running OSX than a Beige. Less need to use xpostfacto and the 100mhz BUS And dedicated 66Mhz PCI for video make hardware upgrades a smarter move than on that Beige.

That Beige can only do 6Mb video onboard. The B&W came with 16 standard. 4 RAM slots vs 3
For the $100 you spend bringing up the beige to speed you would have been able to purcahse a B&W with those same specs and OSX support.

[CanadaRAM]

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious

Which given the going prices for a beige G3 is alot to invest in that machine.
I would dump it and pick up a Blue and White G3 for the kid. They are cheap now and have a much easier time running OSX than a Beige. Less need to use xpostfacto and the 100mhz BUS And dedicated 66Mhz PCI for video make hardware upgrades a smarter move than on that Beige.
That Beige can only do 6Mb video onboard. The B&W came with 16 standard. 4 RAM slots vs 3 For the $100 you spend bringing up the beige to speed you would have been able to purcahse a B&W with those same specs and OSX support.

But you'll still need the same RAM upgrade in the B&W, so the cost is a wash in that department.

I'm still running my order processing on a G3 beige 300 MHz OS9 Filemaker + some AppleScript goodness. Apart from cr@ptactular Web browsing performance, I have no complaints.

[Captain Obvious]

NO mention of running OS9 has been made so while your beige may be speedy enough running a classic OS the increase in BUS and dedicated video PCI on a B&W makes a huge difference if one decides to put X on the machine, which the poster implies is his goal.

And I wasn't talking about making costs a wash. I was talking about the logic in investing in upgrades when there are bottlenecks and problems that cannot be over come on a beige G3. If one wants to upgrade a beige as a labor of love or because they have the extra parts sitting around go for it. But spending money on new Beige G3 upgrades that exceed the computer's value requires one to rethink the intelligence in the plan.

A B&W can be picked up for under $100 and since its used there's a good chance it will come with more than 128megs from previous upgrades. It will not be necessary to hack an install of any OS up to Panther and you know it comes with at least 16mb of video. Pick up a rev 2 (which you really should limit the search to) and it is guaranteed to be already faster than a 400 MHz iMac DV.

2 sticks of RAM ($62) + 1 PCI video card ($25) + PCI USB ($15) already put you at four times a Beige's value and you are still in for a world of headaches when you try and put OSX on it. And those upgrades are the bare minimum you need to run that machine the way the poster wants.

[SmileyDude]

ok -- well, obviously i do want to keep the costs down. If it gets to be too much, it would be much easier/cheaper to simply buy a new mini instead for him But, if it gets to be that much, I've already spent too much

I do happen to have some parts hanging around -- I took a PCI USB card out of another machine, for example. If I can pick up some other parts cheaply, I don't mind doing so.

The downside with going for a B&W would be that it's automatically $100 more than what I have now. But, there are benefits to be gained. But, that pushes me into the $200 range overall. The mini is starting to look nice at this point.

As an aside, the Beige G3 has already paid off for me -- I was able to use the PCI SCSI card that came with it in another machine

[jcadam]

The B&W G3 is a MUCH better machine than the Beige. I have owned both (still own the B&W). It is a significant upgrade, even at equal CPU clockspeeds, the B&W G3 will be noticeably faster, due to the 100Mhz bus. Not to mention the faster IDE controller, built-in USB, Firewire, etc.

It was also the first of the New World ROM Powermacs, making it much more compatible with current Mac Operating Systems than the 'Old world' Beige G3.

The B&W G3 is one of the best machines Apple ever produced. The Beige G3 is not *ahem*

[Waragainstsleep]

The B&W will run Tiger if you want it to. It should also have a PCI video card which would have shipped with it. Doubt you'd get a much better one for $25. You might be able to use the RAM from your Beige in it to. Some are fussier than others.

[lothar56]

I own both a B&W and a couple beige G3's. I spent some cash upgrading one of my Beige's with a 400MHz G3 ZIF, 256 more megs of RAM, the extra 4mb video card, etc. Computer and all I spent about $90. Then I bought the 450MHz B&W for $50, and it blows it away in every aspect. If you check out my posts in the Photoshop benchmark post (page 4) a beige G3 with a 400 MHz G4 ZIF is still terribly slow compared to even a 400MHz G3 iMac.

iMac G3 400, 544 MB RAM
8:11

Beige G3 with G4 400 zif, 384MB:
14:59

Granted the RAM made a fair amount of difference, but still. Approaching twice the speed...at technically the same clock rate.

[JoshuaZ]

I will also chime in and say you should find a B & W G3. Its a much better investment of time and effort. A beige G3 is trouble. Plus upgrading a B&W is simple.

I feel really bad about selling my B&W this past summer, because it was such a great computer. Though a bit too big to carry onto the plane to Japan. It was such a good computer, and such a good deal.