OK, I love my 7600-mainboard-upgraded 7200. Trying to bum around the 'net with it, though, shows it needs a *bit* more horsepower. Not to mention space. One way or another this thing's getting upgraded (when a bit more money comes in) but I have to decide how far is "worth it."
As it sits right now (and will for a little while yet) it's at a 120 Mhz 603, 64 Mb RAM, 2 Mb VRAM, one 2 Gb and one 500 Mb hard disk, and OS 8.1 (and Be, dual booting.) Option 1 is buying a good number of upgrades for the system - G3 or G4 processor, RAM (of course,) IDE adaptor (for cheaper, large hard drives - I don't recall, is there a *hardware* limit in these, an OS limit on partition size, or..?) and CD-RW, the hard drive, of course, and probably a USB adaptor. 2 Mb more VRAM to max it out, and more system RAM, would finish up the upgrades. Option 2 is picking up a beige G3 and pushing *that* up farther. With IDE built in, newer (X-supported) video cards, and what looks like a cheaper G4 upgrade, it's tempting. If I went this route, the 7600 would *still* get a bit of a boost (to a 200 Mhz 604, and more RAM) but would probably end up running BeOS as a test web server, email box, etc. (Have you *ever* heard of a BeOS virus? Thus the email box. <g>) As it sits right now, even a low end G3 upgrade (which is also going to be low on cache, and the bottom end of the speed range) runs $99 list, at least form what I can. Add the prices for an IDE controller, the RAM, the hard disk, even $20-$25 for a basic USB card, and we're probably hitting close to $250-$300. Meanwhile, looking on eBay, beige G3s (I'd probably go for a tower) are sitting from $300-$400. If I went for a stripper (no HD or RAM) as is occasionally offered, it's cheaper - and I have hard drives that can be utilized, no problem. RAM's not exactly expensive, either. It would still need USB added, of course. Since it's reasonably close either way, I'm looking for opinions - which way do you think would be the best to go? -Eric -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
