> What throughput speeds can I expect with an internal hd? what specs will get > me the fastest throughput, IDE/Firewire, etc... or am i maxed out by the > system bus? > > tia. > > - o
Otto, I like Bruce's suggestion as well. It makes the most sense, and is the most popular, if what you mainly wish to do is replace the main internal HD. The PCI adapter cards for IDE hard disks range from 33Mhz-133Mhz. 66Mhz is considered old these days, but is perhaps still the most widely available. Others here will have to weigh in with whether or not a 100Mhz or 133Mhz card allows a similarly cutting-edge IDE drive to fully strut it's stuff on a beige Mac. It's possible to spend very large dollars on super-fast SCSI adapters and drives and blow any IDE configuration out of the water. Big $$. If you don't need a huge drive but still want something faster than what you have you might consider a faster SCSI controller with about a 9GB drive. There are less expensive SCSI controllers besides going all the way to the Ultra 160 or whatever specification. SCSI also makes fewer demands on the CPU than does IDE. Somebody will let me know if that's really a consideration overall. Although a single, new IDE hard drive and controller will be still be faster than what you have now, you can also set up two drives (with appropriate controller) for a RAID that will be a bit faster yet. Check out places such as MacGurus.com and XLR8.com for more. BTW FireWire drives are IDE drives with an adapter for a FireWire bus. FireWire drives depend heavily on the IDE-FireWire bridge to realize good speed. I'd be curious to know if anyone has compared a good external FireWire hard drive going through the appropriate PCI adapter against an internal IDE drive on a pre-G3 (or even a beige G3). -David -- 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! | SPECIAL LIST PRICES - Apple PCI Video Cards from $19.99, MacOS 8.5 CD $79.99 Replacement Parts IN STOCK, Apple CDROMs from $19.99 <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> 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
