I need some advice. I�m trying to decide whether I should upgrade a PCI Power Mac or buy a newer machine.
I currently have a Blue and White G3/350 on loan from my work. (They moved to PCs and the B&W was one of the last Macs purchased.) I�ve had it for the past two years and put some money into upgrades for it. I have: 512 meg RAM, OS 10.2, FireWire CDRW, Digital camcorder, USB smart media reader, USB printer, Sonnet ATA/100 PCI card, and two ATA/100 hard drives (20 gig @ 5400RPM and an 80 @7200). I also have an 8500 and a 9500, that are pretty plain machines. The 8500 has the AV stuff, but the 9500 has those 6 PCI slots. What do I use my main machine for? Typical home office stuff, plus home movies (the reason for the 80 gig drive). I�m a computer geek by trade, so I love running the latest and greatest software (OS X and I love the iApps). I did a little research tonight and found that I could upgrade the 8500 or 9500 by adding: -a PCI FireWire/USB combo card for $89 -an ATI Radeon 7000 PCI video card for $129 (I want a card that can take advantage of Quartz Extreme, suggestions?) -a PCI processor upgrade: G3/500 for $179, G4/450 for $229, or G4/700 for $299 Knowing this, I have the following questions: -How much should I worry about the bus? 40mhz for the 85/9500; 100 for the B&W -How much should I lean toward a G4? Does AltiVec work on the Sonnet upgrades? Will OSX's iApps use it? -Will the 8500, with all those upgrades, feel significantly faster than the B&W? -Would it be better to buy a G3 or G4 machine? -Will my PC100 or PC133 RAM work in these older machines? Or will I have buy different RAM? Any advice or comments will be greatly appreciated. -- Kelly Jones http://www.wideopenwest.com/~kdjones74 <-- My old computer collection -- 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
