>WHATEVER YOU DO, DO *NOT* UPGRADE YOUR CPU TO A G3!!!
>
>I'm echoing the comments of others I'm sure.
Not mine. I think G3 upgrades are great for the 7600. I wouldn't
recommend them for the x100 series due to problems I had, but G3s in
the PCI Powermacs are great.
>If you go G3 or G4 in your 7600/200 you will probably not be able to run OS
>X in the near future. Apple now prevents pre-REAL G3 computers from booting
>OS 9.2.1 and I suspect that Apple will soon only allow Apple G3s and G4s to
>run OS X 10.1 and newer.
>
>Sell your computer and buy a B&W G3 instead of upgrading b/c:
>
>on 29/8/01 16:33, Justin Ramirez at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
>> Okay, here's my deal...I have a 7600/200 with 176mb's of ram, and two 2GB
>> scsi hard drives. Now my problem is that I'd like a few things that this
>> machine doesn't give me:
>>
>> a) More Speed
>
>You're limited by
>(1) the slow motherboard (50 MHz?) vs. 100 Mhz in the B&W G3
>(2) Video (4 MB max vs 16 MB in B&W)... even PCI video cards will run slow
>b/c of bus speed
>(3) SCSI=$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, Firewire is becoming cheap now!
>
>> b) USB (so I can use my nice logitech optical mouse, and not the crappy adb
>> mouse that I have now)
>
>USB & Firewire cards are often more problematic than built-in USB or
>Firewire (e.g. Apple supposedly demands built-in Firewire for Final Cut Pro
>2.0)
It supposedly requires it for iTunes as well, but I'm running iTunes
happily on 8500s with 233MHz 604e's. As far as mice go, the cards
are fine. I dropped a $16 PC USB card into Dad's beige G3. We use a
Microsoft mouse and an Imation Superdisk on it. No worries.
> > c) IDE capabilities (so I can use my 27GB 7200rpm IDE deskstar (by
>> ibm)instead of these two SLOW scsi drives)
>>
>> Also I'd eventually want to add a dvd drive (maybe).
>
>Also need a decoding card... better off getting a B&W G3 or a G4 with DVD
>(usually only an extra $100-200 US).
Alternately, as you might want a better video card, you might get it
anyway. Something like the Radeon has great hardware DVD decoding.
However, I'll concede that if you're planning to go as far as the DVD
you should go for a newer machine.
> > Now there are two things I could do...I could gradually upgrade:
>first a G3
>> uprade, then a usb card, then an ide controller. I'd also want to add more
>> ram.
>
>RAM = $$$ for 7600 vs. PC 100 (dirt cheap... $26 US for 256) for B&W G3 or
>any G4
Me toos might seem pointless, but I think its better if I agree with
Eric here so people don't think I'm ignoring facts :)
Yeah, RAM is much cheaper for the Blue G3.
> > Now my problem is: should I do all this? Or should I save up for a while
>> (and buy a better adb mouse for around 20 dollars just to hold me over) and
>> get a B&W G3?? What would be more worth it in the long run? If I were to
>> buy the B&W, it wouldn't be for another two or three months (so hopefully
>> the prices on them would drop...although now they're around 750 on
>> ebay)...WHAT SHOULD I DO?? Would putting so much money into my 7600 pay
>> off? Would I be happier with a B&W in the long run?
>>
>> Any help/suggestions/experiences/stories would be GREATLY appreciated :oP
>
>I think you should go ADB mouse and save your dollars for a B&W (I would
>strongly suggest a first generation G4 though... see below).
I think you should get the USB card instead of the ADB Mouse. Its
the same price, and this way you can:
* use other USB stuff
* use your existing mouse
* not have a spare ADB mouse when you do upgrade to a newer machine later
>Medium run -- B&W G3 is MUCH better value. The 7600 is already "ancient"
>tech even if you were to pop in a G4/500 (probably won't run OS X soon). You
>may even want to invest in a first generation G4/350 or G4/400! They have
>one additional advantage over the G3s (aside from G4 Altivec): their
>firmware supports G4 CPU upgrades without patching being necessary (Apple's
>firmware patch for the G3 prevents owners from installing G4s... this was
>applied AFTER the computers were in the consumer's hands simply to prevent
>the B&Ws from being upgraded to G4s (since B&W G3 are virtually the same
>machine as 1st gen G4s). Apple should never have resorted to changing a
>computer *after* they had sold it (is there no legal recourse/redress?).
>They should have done like any honourable manufacturer would have done and
>offered better features or price in their G4s).
The Blue G3 and the Yikes! G4 both use the same motherboard. No
differences beyond possibly ROM. I would recommend staying away from
the Yikes! as you pay a hefty premium for not a lot more. For
instance, you still have the 2xPCI graphics slot and ATA/33. If
you're going for the G4, get the Sawtooth. This way you get AGP -
much nicer - and ATA/66.
>In the long run (two years+) I can see even the Apple G3s (beige, B&W,
>portables, iBooks and iMacs) not being supported anymore. I foresee Apple
>making G4s mandatory in two or three years in order to force the next
>upgrade cycle to start. G4s already reportedly run OS X much better than G3s
>so I could see them doing that.
I doubt that will happen. I believe that Apple will keep the G3 chip
in circulation for quite some time in the iMac & iBook. Its been
shown that a consumer chip and a professional chip works well. For
instance:
Athlon + Duron
PIII + Celeron
603 + 604
(was there a PII + Xeon thing? I remember something like that...
wasnt paying attention i guess)
Basically a lot of people don't need a fast CPU. I know I don't. My
G3/450 works great for me. The RAM used to hold me back, the
graphics and disk subsystems still do. My problem really isn't with
the chip. Most home users don't care too much as long as it keeps up
with the web. And it has a high MHz rating, of course.
Peace
aqua
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