[bambam43410]

yes, you read that right. a blue and white g3. i was wondering if anyone could suggest any good cheap upgrades for it. i want to be able to run Panther decently and it will mainly be used for word processing, web browsing, and light web editing.

Thanks in advance!

[Langdon]

4 x 256mb stick of PC100

What Rev?

[bambam43410]

I think its Rev 2, but im not sure. i dont physically have it in front of me yet. its still being shipped, but i wanted a jump on upgrades.

[bowwowman]

I have 3x 256mb PC133 SDRAM for sale ($13 each or $30 for all 3), also a DVD-Rom/CD-Rom ($12). Both were in my B&W until last week, when I parted it out

for the purposes you listed, max ram and a big, fast HD are the most benefical & cheapest upgrades.

please pm me if interested

of course for ~$200 you can get CPU upgrades too........always helps

[Cadaver]

I have a blue & white G3 as well that I'm setting up for one of my kids to use.
I've got 768MB of RAM in it (max is 1GB - 4x256), an ATI Radeon (first model) PCI video card in the 66MHz slot, a 900MHz G3 processor upgrade, and a PCI ATA/100 controller (since the its a rev. 1 machine with the bad ATA controller) plus a 60GB HD. OS X 10.3.9 is on it now, though I may put Tiger on it (I've got the family 5-machine license).

The upgrades were added over several years and added spare parts from other machines, so its not like I took a $100 Mac and just added $500 of new upgrades to it. I've had the machine since it first came out.

Plus, I've got the matching blue & white 15" LCD Studio Display and a pair of matching blue & white speakers... so my 5 year old daughter thinks its pretty cool.

[bambam43410]

so the agreement is more ram.

and out of curiosity, can you give me an idea of how this is going to run with only 64mb of ram and os 10.0? i have a feeling that it will be bad, but how bad?

[ChrisF]

Originally Posted by bambam43410

so the agreement is more ram.

and out of curiosity, can you give me an idea of how this is going to run with only 64mb of ram and os 10.0? i have a feeling that it will be bad, but how bad?

Is "almost completely unusable" a suitable description?

[Lateralus]

Originally Posted by bambam43410

yes, you read that right. a blue and white g3.

N0000O0O00OOO! OMG NOT A B&W !!!11

[bambam43410]

N0000O0O00OOO! OMG NOT A B&W !!!11

i thought that this was a more rare machine considering it is a few generations out of date, but after looking around somemore i see that i was mistaken.

and is it completely unusable comparable to running windows 95 on a pentium 75 or something similar?

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by bambam43410

so the agreement is more ram.

and out of curiosity, can you give me an idea of how this is going to run with only 64mb of ram and os 10.0? i have a feeling that it will be bad, but how bad?

10.0? Put 10.3 or higher, or don't bother at all. 512 MB of RAM should be pretty cheap, and plenty.

If you feel like sinking more money into it, you can also try to upgrade the processor and/or graphics card

[KSE7696]

OS X will run like crap no matter what version you put on it with only 64 mb of ram. Definitely max out the ram if you can and install at least Jaguar. I would recommend getting a nice 40 gig HD at the minimum. They are relatively cheap these days and would definitely help.

[Langdon]

Originally Posted by KSE7696

I would recommend getting a nice 40 gig HD at the minimum. They are relatively cheap these days and would definitely help.

Let's find out what Rev he has for sure before anyone tells him to get a bigger hard drive.
Until he checks that the only thing he should get is more RAM.

[bambam43410]

what are some of the major differences between 10.0 and 10.3? and will OS X in general support upgrade processors?

[newtech]

X 10.0 while called a retail product by Apple was truely only a beta. X did not hit the ground running till 10.2.

[Lateralus]

Originally Posted by bambam43410

...and will OS X in general support upgrade processors?

How do you mean? They're being sold aren't they?

[newtech]

Apple hedges by saying X does not support processor upgrades, more properly Apple means if you have a processor upgrade any issues that come up are SEP (somebody eles's problem).

[lothar56]

My B&W took a Sonnet G4 ZIF just fine.

[a2daj]

But the G4 upgrades lower the system bus to 66 MHz in the B&W systems. Depending on what you're doing a 1 GHz G3 upgrade may be good enough for most people.

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by a2daj

But the G4 upgrades lower the system bus to 66 MHz in the B&W systems.

Not true. Only the G4 upgrades running faster than 600MHz (i.e., the everything but 7400-based G4 upgrades). The PPC7400-based upgrades (400-600MHz) keep the bus at 100MHz.

But, its true that for most situations, unless you're running altivec-dependent software, a highspeed G3 processor (1GHz) will be just fine. And if you really need altivec that much, you shouldn't be trying to run it on a Yosemite-based machine anyway.

Edit: and I agree with some statements above... don't bother running MacOS X 10.0 or 10.1. If that's your plan... don't. Save your money. Either run 10.3 or 10.4, or don't bother (OK, you might be able to get away with 10.2.8, but absolutely nothing lower). Anything less would be like putting together a machine to run Windows 95. Just not worth the effort, and no current software will run on it. And I think Apple's official position is 128MB minimum for OS X 10.0-10.2, 256MB minimum for 10.3 or 10.4.

[bambam43410]

Apple hedges by saying X does not support processor upgrades, more properly Apple means if you have a processor upgrade any issues that come up are SEP (somebody eles's problem).

I had read that somewhere and assumed an upgrade processor wouldnt work. so that clears that up. I hadnt planned on running 10.0 for long. only until i can get a set of disks for 10.3. why does upgrading the hard drive depend on the Rev of it?

[bowwowman]

Originally Posted by bambam43410

I had read that somewhere and assumed an upgrade processor wouldnt work. so that clears that up. I hadnt planned on running 10.0 for long. only until i can get a set of disks for 10.3. why does upgrading the hard drive depend on the Rev of it?

Bullywocky............Up until last week, I was running Tiger AND Panther on a B&W w/ a G4/550 upgrade (among other things) NOTTA PROBLEMO !!!! Now I am running them on a Sawtooth with a G4/1ghz card, also NOTTA PROBLEMO

As for the HD, if your machine is a Rev 1, then you can not ADD a 2nd HD on the internal ATA bus. But with a rev 2 machine you can, since they changed the ATA controller chip on the mobo. But you can still CHANGE the original HD to a bigger one up to 128GB.....

See the details here, look at para #3

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G3-ZONE/y...wfeatures.html

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by bowwowman

Bullywocky............Up until last week, I was running Tiger AND Panther on a B&W w/ a G4/550 upgrade (among other things) NOTTA PROBLEMO !!!! Now I am running them on a Sawtooth with a G4/1ghz card, also NOTTA PROBLEMO

As for the HD, if your machine is a Rev 1, then you can not ADD a 2nd HD on the internal ATA bus. But with a rev 2 machine you can, since they changed the ATA controller chip on the mobo. But you can still CHANGE the original HD to a bigger one up to 128GB.....

See the details here, look at para #3

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G3-ZONE/y...wfeatures.html

The rev. 1 ATA controller still has some issues with higher capacity hard drives (60+ GB). Don't forget it was designed at a time when 12GB HDs were considered ridiculously large. But you are correct that in no way will the rev. 1 controller support a second HD on it without major data corruption.

The easiest way to tell, unless someone has modified the cable, is to look at the data cable connecting the hard drive in your machine. If its super short and has only one HD connector on it, you've got a rev. 1 machine. If it has two HD connectors (one occupied, one free), then you've got a rev. 2 machine. You can also look at the markings on the ATA controller chip. See xlr8yourmac.com for specifics.

[bambam43410]

Wow, has anyone ever told you guys that you're extremely helpful? now if only this guy would ship me my mac instead of this stupid dell he sent me i'll be in good shape.

[bambam43410]

out of curiosity would this http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G3-ZONE/yosemite/OC.html be a viable thing to do for a small speed boost, from 300 to maybe 350 mhz?

[JoshuaZ]

Max out the RAM, add more HD space. You should be fine.

I ran OS 10.3 on a 350 B&W for quite a long time. Worked fine for basic needs.

[lothar56]

I have a B&W G3/450 with 640 MB of RAM that I ran 10.2.8 on for the longest time. I upgraded it to 10.4 recently, and it is MUCH faster, I would highly recommend it.

[FastAMX79]

i gave my fiance my old blue and white i bought brand new. i hooked her up with a 400mhz g3 with 64 megs vram (its an aftermarket ati with digital and s-video out) 1g of ram and 10.4.3 installed on an older maxtor 7200rpm 20gig hdd, and its great! i was even happy with the performance sine the last time i used it was at 10.2.x. (been using a 15 inch powerbook g4 1.0ghz) shes happy with it, and her brother wants to buy it from me so its a solid computer. even thinkin about doing a 1.0ghz g4 upgrade for it

[FastAMX79]

oh yeah, and she even upgraded it and installed bluetooth! which works great on it. she was very impressed it did that.

i gave it to her becasue she got a virus on her wintel notebook and when i was going to reinstall it all for her, i found out the hard way the dvd drive was broke. so its her first mac experience and shes very happy. she even wants to get a new one now

[lothar56]

Yeah, the B&W G3 I mentioned earlier I bought for my girlfriend to replace her PII Dell/450MHz. Even though they're the same clock speed, she'll be the first to tell you this is TONS faster.

[jammybob]

I'm looking at buying a B&W as a starter Mac, they seem cheap enough to justify running it as my third computer, though it may go up the pecking order if I like it

I've already got the impression I should really get a rev.2, with plenty of RAM, is there anything else I should look out for?

What are the capabilities of 10.4 on a 350MHz system?

[ronjamin]

To get the most out of your machine with the least expense:

4x 256MB PC100 SDRAM Ram from S.A. Tachnologies at http:www.satech.com (4*$53=$212)
1x Sonnet Encore ZIF 500MHZ G4 processor upgrade http://www.sonnettech.com ($150)
1x Western Digital Caviar 160GB Hard Drive http://www.cdw.com ($107)

And of course, Tiger.


Runs like a champ.

[Lateralus]

Originally Posted by ronjamin

To get the most out of your machine with the least expense:

4x 256MB PC100 SDRAM Ram from S.A. Tachnologies at http:www.satech.com (4*$53=$212)
1x Sonnet Encore ZIF 500MHZ G4 processor upgrade http://www.sonnettech.com ($150)
1x Western Digital Caviar 160GB Hard Drive http://www.cdw.com ($107)

And of course, Tiger.


Runs like a champ.

Could you have found prices that were any higher?

[CIA]

Originally Posted by ronjamin

To get the most out of your machine with the least expense:

4x 256MB PC100 SDRAM Ram from S.A. Tachnologies at http:www.satech.com (4*$53=$212)
1x Sonnet Encore ZIF 500MHZ G4 processor upgrade http://www.sonnettech.com ($150)
1x Western Digital Caviar 160GB Hard Drive http://www.cdw.com ($107)

And of course, Tiger.


Runs like a champ.

Unless he's buying a ATA PCI card (more $$$) the max HD size is 120GB for the internal bus.

[Sigurður Ingi]

Ok have 2 of those B&W one with 500Mhz G4 and one with 800Mhz G3 I strongly recommend the higher speed G3.



Mine are both Rev 1 but to put 2 HD in them I have used the bay under the CD (the one for the Zip drive) I make the HD master and the CD slave, you can not start up from a HD that is a slave but you can start up with a slave CD without problems.


The best OS for them is Panther especially if you have a G3 processor (But you need at least 512mb of memory).

Try to find a cheep Graphics card it helps.

I love my B&W's and hope you will be happy with yours.

[scdean]

I have a Rev.2 B&W G3. 640MB Ram, added a second 120 GB drive (which you can only do with a Rev. 2 and the limit is 132 GB unless you go SATA through a PCI card) and I upgraded the video with a Radeon 7000PCI -a PC version which I flashed to run on the Mac. Runs Tiger well enough for basic tasks, i.e. word processing, email, surfing, etc. You should be good for a couple of years.

[lgtmvt]

I have a B&W fitted with a 600mhz G4 upgrade from Daystar, 512mb Ram, an ATI 128bit 16mb video card, a sonnet ata 100 card and an io gear firewire/usb2.0 card. I am running 10.4 and am using it as a music server/player and it runs like a dream. The upgrades total about under $300 and the machine is running 24/7 with no unusaul problems. I really stress this computer. For your info I have an original beige G3 desktop which I bought for $20 and stuck the original processor 400mhz G3 from the B&W uped the ram to 512 and installed 10.4 with Xpost Facto. While it is no barn burner, that machine has no problem servicing my office and internet needs.

PS get a new Pram battery!!!!

[Langdon]

Originally Posted by lgtmvt

The upgrades total about under $300 and the machine is running 24/7 with no unusaul problems. I really stress this computer.

Which would have been a good deal two years ago. Today for $300 you can buy a dual processor G4 tower and load it up with RAM. That much money on upgrades for a B&W is no longer a smart buy.

If you spend more than $100 on upgrades you are better off staying away from a B&W and just getting a native G4 tower. It has higher RAM capacity, no IDE chip issues, AGP video slot, and maybe dual processor ability.

[Mister Elf]

Radeon 9200, 1GHz G3 upgrade, lots of RAM...not terribly expensive, but decent performance...

Edit: Bwahaha, fourth star, finally...