I'm currently running a 9600/350 (native daughterboard) and have a shot at getting a 500MHz upgrade for $50 or so.
Let me know if you do replace the 350 Mach V; I'm looking for someone skilled enough to do the SMT soldering needed to do the 400 MHz mod on that card. I'm contemplating a 400 MHz 8600 Desktop project.
Before I "take the plunge," though, I wanted to see if anyone else on the board knew of any sweet deals for faster upgrades.
None sweet enough to even tempt me; and I'm a notoriously soft touch in that area.
The cost-benefit ratio is definitely nagging me as I fret over this.
What do you guys see 500 MHz or faster upgrades go for? Is there, perhaps, a "cost per MHz" scale to use when pricing these things out?
Most 500 MHz+ upgrades seem to go for more than they're worth, IMNSHO - $50 is not a bad deal at all!
Do I _really_ want to pour more money into my 9600 box? Beloved though it is, I'm mindful that any upgrade I get is going to get choked by the wretched 50MHz bus speed.
The key word here is "beloved" - where affection for a faithful old Mac is concerned the force of reason is minimized 8^) I'd strongly recommend against "pouring" more money into it, but a "dribble" every now and then may do much to keep your head and your heart more harmoniously reconciled.
And IIRC the 9600 you have should have a 100 MHz CPU bus.
No, it's actually the Mach V 604e card's inline cache that runs @ 100 MHz (doubles system bus speed). Any processor daughtercard will run natively at the 9600's 50 MHz bus speed; adjustable upgrades excepted, and even they won't be able to push the bus much past 55 MHz or so.
Am I just flogging a dead horse here and should just go for a Mini (Mark II)?
If you can afford it buy the 500 MHz upgrade AND the mini. Ethernet them and have the best of both worlds.
Use each machine according to it's strengths. The obvious one for the 9600 is room for drives and memory.
The mini will give you modern OS compatibility
Pax, -- Gene, a.k.a. G-Man Friends don't let friends do Windows
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