[papadopolis]

any ideas..... i want it to be a power house.... i found a G4 1 GHz for 300$ but that is out of my range for now how muc hfaster would the 1 GHZ be than the 500 Mhz...... i was going max out the ram and maybe upgrade the video card but i dont know what to.... also any other ideas

[wubrew]

Originally Posted by papadopolis 

i want it to be a power house.... i found a G4 1 GHz for 300$ but that is out of my range

Dude, If $300 is out of your range, upgrading the G3 to the ideal in your mind will be out of your range too! Sorry to burst your bubble.

[papadopolis]

umm well its not out of range but everything together is just expensive like i could buy it but then i would have to hold off on the RAM.... im not rich this is just a slow project.... so i could right away buy like the G4 1 GHZ and one 256 MBs of ram

[Big Mac]

You should have bought a G4/1.0 for $300.

[papadopolis]

but i like the g3 and i got it for dirt cheap (30$)

[bowwowman]

If that G4/1ghz you mention is a Sonnet card, don't bother, since it DOWNclocks the front side bus from 100mhz to 66 mhz to make it work. That negates alot of the speed boost that would normally be achieved from doubling your cpu's clock speed........

Unless you specifically intend to run apps that utilize the Altivec subroutines, then save yourself some cash and get a Radeon 9200, max da ram to 1GB and an SATA pci controller card and a big fast HD or 2.

these upgrades are much more cost effective and will yield bigger speed improvements than the overly expensive G4 card........

[praterkeith]

Thats cool, you got it for dirt cheap. Leave it at that. Get a mac mini.

[papadopolis]

actually i am looking for a mac mini not ready to buy though my next project is going to be getting a PPC (i think they are a G4) mac mini and to mod it somehow.....

[papadopolis]

i found a Radeon 9200 for not to much money i will most likely buy it but i have never installed a video card... o well how hard can it be..... no really

[bowwowman]

Originally Posted by papadopolis 

i found a Radeon 9200 for not to much money i will most likely buy it but i have never installed a video card... o well how hard can it be..... no really

5 mins & done

disconnect monitor
open case
touch psu w/ both hands
remove 1 screw holding in current card
remove card from pci slot
install new card firmly
insert 1 screw & tighten firmly
close case
reconnect monitor
fire it up
be happy

[Northeastern292]

Originally Posted by bowwowman 

5 mins & done

disconnect monitor
open case
touch psu w/ both hands
remove 1 screw holding in current card
remove card from pci slot
install new card firmly
insert 1 screw & tighten firmly
close case
reconnect monitor
fire it up
be happy

That's installing a Mac video card. A PC video card installation is this:

Disconnect monitor, power cable and to be on the safe side, your keyboard.
Open case
Touch PSU w/ both hands
Remove 1 screw holding in current card
Remove card from PCI/AGP/PCI Express slot
Install new card firmly
Insert one screw & tighten firmly
Plug power cable into new graphics card
Close case
Reconnect monitor
Boot up
Hope no BSOD shows up
Hope no 640x480 resolution shows up
Go on Internet
Install drivers
Reboot
Find new drivers
Install new drivers
Restart machine
Find out your driver causes some conflict........uggggh
Roll back driver to previous revision
Reboot

[papadopolis]

Eww drivers! well dont some companys sell "mac editions"

[imitchellg5]

Just put OS 9 on it and use it for old school games. That's what I would do.

[papadopolis]

lol i really dont play games, but if i did that would be a good idea

also i have a problem i want internet on this but i am a full floor above the routor... is there a way to get wireless on it............ thanks

[osiris24x]

Your options are pretty limited with a B&W G3. You would have been better off saving your money for a G4 (a real one, not an upgrade card). I'd recommend RAM, over a processor grade, if money is that tight. If $300 is out of your budget though, I'm not sure if you'll be able to afford much RAM nor a processor upgrade either. It could make for a good server system though?


Roger Michaels
Macintosh Consultant
My Mac Fix - Macintosh Consulting

[SSharon]

I use my G3 as a music server. I don't think I would put in more than $50 into it. I would like a faster processor and maybe another 256mb, but I know it is a dead end machine.

[papadopolis]

Originally Posted by papadopolis 

also i have a problem i want internet on this but i am a full floor above the routor... is there a way to get wireless on it............ thanks

umm ya this is the last thing i need to know (i think)

[Subaru_Nation555]

I have a B&W G3 in my den (back-up computer in the house) upgraded to 1.1 GHz, 768MB ram and an 80GB hard drive running 10.4. It can only hand things like iTunes, MS Office and the Internet. It can do some basic Photoshop, very old games and can barely stream videos. It has been nothing but reliable but it is getting to the point where it just can't keep up. There also aren't a lot of upgrades for it; faster HD, expensive CPU upgrades, RAM, SuperDrive and a limited selection of graphics cards are all you can really do to my knowledge.

I'd upgrade the RAM and HD as much as possible and use it for word processing, music and the Internet. But it all depends on what you need it to do.

[peeb]

Play with this machine as a hobby if you like, but don't spend any more money on it. Put your cash towards a mini.

[papadopolis]

actually next im going to get a power mac G4 and im a few months i am going to get a free iMac g3! whot

[papadopolis]

one last question how big is the fan in back of the comp (not the power supply fan)

[imitchellg5]

120mm.