Subject: Re: Beige G3 Upgrade - If Only One, Which One? My Beige G3 was essentially like yours when I got it except w/ more memory. 96 mb ram is very anemic these days- if you have several apps running at once, like Word, Netscape, and email, it can really drag or even refuse to load apps. Using "virtual memory" will slow it down too. The 1st thing you should do is put in more memory, you should have at least 256mg (512 if you're going to install OSX)- should be able to get it for about $40, much cheaper than the other upgrades. Try: > http://www.coastmemory.com or > http://www.memoryx.com or >http://www.thechipmerchant.com I don't think you need the faster processor or a video card for what you're doing with it. You could get a 400 mhz G3 zif on eBay or somewhere for about $100-$125 if you really want more speed in the processor- I wouldn't recommend spending more for what you use it for. Prices go up pretty steeply beyond that speed. The difference between 400 and 500 wouldn't be noticeable, I think. You could put in a 6mb video ram chip pretty cheap if yours is less (check under the Apple System Profiler that should be on your hard drive- memory overview section) and improve your video enough to have millions of colors on the monitor. I have a Voodoo5 video card that works very nicely. If the original HD is not large enough for your files then get a bigger one, but not just for the speed. The ram and processor upgrades would do more to speed you up. I put in a bigger (30gb) hard drive but no ATA card and even though it's a faster drive it did slow me down some at times in finding apps and documents, even though I optimized (defragmented). I got an OS 9.1 install CD pretty cheaply on eBay also. You can download the update to 9.2.1 and 9.2.2 from Apple after you install 9.1 if you want. 8.6 is not too shabby, but some apps require 9 (or X). Some reports of problems have occurred with installing fast processor zifs in rev 1 mobo beige G3's (like mine), but I put in a newer tech 400MHz in mine and overclocked it to 433 and runs great (tried 466 but kept freezing). Has anyone run an 800 G3 ZIF in one of these? I'm thinking of doing that if I move up to OSX (+ more ram). George
> I have a stock 233MHz G3 DT with 96MB and OS 8.6. I want to spiff it up a > bit by: > 1) CPU upgrade - probably 500MHz G3, > 2) ATA133 card and larger faster drive, > 3) Radeon 7000 video card, > 4) 256MB RAM and OS 9.2.2. > If you could only do one of these and had to live with it indefinitely, > which should it be? This is *not* a gaming machine. It is used mainly for > web browsing, word processing, and running various older educational > programs. My gut feel is that the faster disk would give the most noticable > boost in responsiveness. Any differing opinions, or better yet, actual > experiences? > Thanks, > Dave -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.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/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
