Thomas - I concur with Bill - who already noted - that a 7200rpm drive does make a noticeable difference, and is recommended ...which you've already done, I see.
If you're trying to link to other systems, get an internal Ethernet card ..which you've already done too. My personal opinion on memory is that the hard boot-time wait period for 128MB on the SE/30 is a pain (3-5 MINUTES ...although a reboot is painless & quick). The next time I open mine up, I'm going to **pull** 64MB out and see if that improves the boot-time, and doesn't detract from anything else; I may go lower yet, if the boot-time is still too long. You should certainly upgrade to 32MB however, depending upon what you're using the machine for. (If it was a server that you were leaving running, the boot-time wouldn't be an issue of course.) IF you're going to put in gobs of additional memory, you might as well upgrade the ROM card also, to a 32-bit clean card (yes, you can run the software driver, but replacing the ROM card seems ...more ...elegant). I differ in the already expressed opinions as I regard an accelerator as the best speed-up you can do AFTER putting in adequate (i.e., somewhere less then maximum) memory in an SE/30 ...and patience will get you one for a cheap price; you just have to keep your eyes open. They're easy to install; and the Daystars - at least - coexist with internal Ethernet cards just fine. My personal experience with an '030/33MHz *replacement CPU* Daystar SE/30 board is that there's zero problems, and the machine is adequately "fast" on the old applications I use (I'm still using Claris CAD on the thing, and I write on it, and do some light email & very occasional Internet text-only search stuff ...it will google okay). It's *much* faster then the stock 16MHz for working on ...and in a comparison with the Colour Classic Mystic (with a '040/33MHz-PPC/66MHz upgrade), the difference between the two for Claris CAD is negligible. (No, I've never run benchmarks, so I can only offer subjective "impressions".) Hmm ..probably a Claris CAD comparison isn't the best thing to use between the SE/30 and the Mystic though, as I pretty much stick to PPC mode in the latter, and the software was never re-written in PPC native code. 68000 code can be pretty slow on emulation in a PowerPC. (This particular Daystar accelerator board is specific to the SE/30 and actually *replaces* the onboard CPU, and is unfortunately rather rare ...much more rare - on eBay, at least - then the XCEED gray-scale card, as a comparison. The board came in 33MHz & 50MHz versions ...I only *wish* I had the 50MHz version. Good luck on finding one! NOT mind you, that I have an Xceed card ...I got lucky on finding this particular board, and that luck hasn't manifested itself similarly with procuring an Xceed g/s board.) DiiMO made a 50MHz '030 upgrade that uses the PD slot, and there are a couple of the accelerator "portions" of that board on eBay right now: http://tinyurl.com/5n4tm http://tinyurl.com/3zuwx (No knowledge of seller.) You would need an adapter for these specific to the SE/30. I do not know if these will easily co-exist with an internal network card ..never used one (I had one, but I traded it to another list member for some work without ever installing it). I have an '040/33MHz Daystar board & adapter for the SE/30, but I've never seen a reason to replace the '030/33 currently in it ...so I wouldn't know about potential "issues". (The I also have an '030/33MHz upgrade board (can't recall the maker right now) in my SE, which also allowed for 16MB of system RAM (it "replaced" the system with the add-in RAM - the only thing you could use the SE's 4MB of internal RAM was as a RAM drive, although it worked quite well for that) ...I've had that system for many years, and it did bench-mark quite well (years ago) against my old IIfx. The SE *did* have a few "issues" (specifically, it didn't like sound - other then your basic system EEP - in some games, at all) though ...it wasn't a CPU replacement drop-in board, and worked off the slot. I haven't turned the thing on in a few years (I probably should sell it), but I think it did some other things too. The SE/30 sort of took its place. Actually, I think the best "accelerator upgrade" may be this: http://www.macjag.de/MacReDesignE/intro.html which replaces ALL the SE/30 (or SE or whatever) internals with an LC475 & 9" VGA (the link is to a site courtesy of list member Norman Jagnow) ...if you want to stick with b/w-grayscale, and stock OS & applications. A lot of work, though. A. Lot. Of. Work. I have collected the parts, I haven't found the motivation. Yet. --- brandon davis --- -- sacramento, ca -- ---------- BEGIN THREAD ---------- RE: SE/30 Upgrades ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Thomas I just recently revived my SE/30 by replacing its analog board and was wondering what would be some of the best ways I could upgrade the unit. The system is mostly stock with the exception of a newer HD and an Asante ethernet card. I have read about some accelerator cards for the SE/30 on the lowendmac website....does anyone have an opinion on the best cards to use for an upgrade? Where are good places to look for this hardware online/offline? I live in the San Jose Bay Area, are there any good places to check out besides Weirdstuff? If you have any other upgrade options you think are cool, let me know. Does anyone have an accelerator card they would like to give a good home? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bill Sheehan You can try here: http://www.micromac.com/products/diimo_030.html But I wonder really if it's worth it. The fact of the matter is that even if the CPU is twice as fast, it's still going to be a slow machine by modern standards. I'd bump up the memory and maybe install a peppier hard drive before thinking about the CPU. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jack Gallemore I agree the CPU is the least of your worries. certainly can get 128MB of RAM at an affordable price. I've been working with a Daystar Turbo '040 which has been hit or miss. Other things you might want to do is use a more modern OS or even install Linux, but that would conversely slow the system down again. The SE/30, and many of the old Macs, can only be stretched so far. ----------- END THREAD ----------- -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>. Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:compact.macs@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
