>--- wallis parnelle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Dont waste your time with 180 or 200Mhz, Get a >> g4-400, or more. Get as >> much ram as you can. This will bring you into the >> 21st century. > >I don't agree. I have a G3 accelerated 8500 and while >it is better than a stock 8500 it is nowhere close to >being 21st century. As Dirty Harry once almost said, >"A Mac has to know its limitations." Accelerators can >do only so much. > >===== >Rondo
Been gone for two days and just catching up with this thread, which per usual, has strayed ( all part of the fun and debate you get with such a forum as this) from being helpful to Jason and his question/situation. I gathered that he wanted to make the 8500 a decently productive efficient machine without spending a whole lot or going over the top on upgrades. A G4 is probably more money than you need to spend considering the limitations of your 8500. After all, if you were planning on doing major graphics or video work you would probably be better off actually joining the 21st century and buying a newer G4 Mac. A year ago I upgraded my stock 8500/120 to a new Powerlogix G3/350/512K backside cache for about $100 and the difference has been stellar. It zips along fine on OS 8.6 and then recently on 9.1. and that is without pushing the card's speed. 40 Mhz was the bus speed with the stock 120 and I was not able to push that (with any stability) with this Powerlogix. Other cards, don't know, maybe but doubt it (see Peter's comments). I don't think I would have been happy with a 180 or 200 Mhz 604 and it's not really much of an upgrade considering the different generations of G3s and then G4s that have come out. If you can find a good deal on a G3 with a large backside cache, or at least 512K, I'd recommend doing it. The only software was drivers and a control panel. The processor slot as well as PCI slots are easily accessible for upgrades, it's that damn RAM! I'd put all the RAM you are going to put in the 8500 in one shot. If you suspect your PRAM battery is low you may want to replace that at the same time. If you know you are going to get a G3 (soon or preferably standing by) that needs the motherboard cache removed this would also be a good time to pull that. Most, if not all newer G3 cards can disable the motherboard cache with a software control panel, which is the method would do. That way if you ran into problems and for any (unlikely) reason needed to put the old processor back in, the old cache is still there without the hassles of removing the motherboard again. At any rate, you should definitely test your new RAM with your old processor first with some computing tasks and run TechTool or other utility app. RAM test before installing any new processor or other upgrade. I just added a no name $14 (incl. shipping) USB 1.1, 2.1 PCI standard card to my 8500 this week. Two weeks ago I tried a more expensive USB 2.0, PCI 2.2 USB card that would not work no way, no how. I suspect the 2.0 8500 PCI slot didn't like the 2.2 PCI card but can't prove it. To get the other card to work, though I had to shuffel my ATA/66 IDE drive controller and FireWire cards around because the USB would only work in the top slot. Could be just something weird with my computer or hardware but just keep that in mind. Whatever you decide do what's best for your situation. Don't pass up a G3, though, because you're worried it's too complicated. Between the card tech support and this list, you will get through any minor problems or questions you encounter. Mike -- 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
