on 1/26/03 7:04 AM, Harvey Waxman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > My daughter has access to a PowerTower Pro 200 604e with 64 meg ram, > 4meg hard drive, CD, floppy drive. > > What would be needed and the approximate cost to get this to a G3 > that could some serious graphics with Photoshop? I guess I'm asking > what is the best that this could be? > > Would it even be worth the trouble after all is said and done?
Harvey, I'm inclined to agree with Stewart. A big reason for investing in a processor upgrade is because you or she might simply enjoy working with Power Computing machines, because you respect how well they were built and enjoy working on and with them. Another reason is if you have invested a lot in the machine already: Zip drive, extra hard drive, lots of RAM, maybe a CD-RW drive. Or you might have a 20-inch monitor that wouldn't be available with an iMac/eMac. The PowerTower Pro can run OS X (with the help of Ex Post Facto from Other World Computing), which is another reason you might invest in that particular machine. A new PowerLogix G3 400 with 1 MB cache can be had from Other World Computing for c. $120. But as Stewart said, a G4 might be a more prudent investment if your daughter is a serious Photoshop user. My understanding is that some newer versions of Photoshop can specifically take advantage of the G4 architecture. A limiting factor cited by some is the SCSI bus speed in the PowerTower Pro. I suppose that could be translated to mean, a PTP with a G4 800 Mhz upgrade card probably will not perform as fast as an iMac, eMac or Mac tower with a G4 800 Mhz processor. And certainly those machines will have a larger HD than you have now, and perhaps a CD-RW or even a DVD player. You will also want to invest in more RAM, Photoshop being the memory tramp that it is. (Fortunately, memory is quite reasonable: $25 or so for new 128 MB 168-pin FPM DIMM from Other World or other sources. If you or your daughter enjoy upgrading computers, you can invest a little at a time -- $100 for RAM, $125-$300 or so for processor upgrade, a bigger hard drive or perhaps a Sonnet ATA PCI card so you can use big, cheap ATA/IDE drives -- and gradually boost the performance of the machine, and have fun upgrading it to boot. As Stewart said, those of us who view Power Computing machines as a hobby can easily justify extending the life of them. -- Power Computing is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 123Inkjets.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/123inkjets.html> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Power Computing list info: <http://lowendmac.com/power/list.html> --> 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]> List archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powercomputing%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
