Hi A couple of things jump out at me as to slow performance. I don't know these programs you mentioned and you don't go into details about what you're doing with your SM, but over 500 Extensions!? It must take ten minutes to start! ;-) I would think that has to contribute to the problem, that's a lot of stuff to keep track of. You might run Peek-a-Boo (versiontracker) to look at things that are using CPU resources, but personally I would start fresh by getting a new HD and a fresh install. That would be a big improvement especially with so little room left. The new drives are faster and cheap and even getting a new cable for it might help. RamDoubler should go, get some RAM. OWC is the best place I have found for service and price and they're good for the other upgrades as well. Cheap would be a G3 JoeCard from eBay, I don't know you'll find a G3 for $100 otherwise, OWC's card is $199. Going cheap, I would say put that off until last after you see what a cleaned up system, some more RAM, and a new drive does for you. New video cards can be pricey too but a Voodoo3 is a great card for that machine and you can find one on eBay for less than $50 and some patience. Good luck. George
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hi. > My Starmax 5000/275 has done a good job for me over the last 5 years, but > it's getting clunky for some of the small things I do. I can't even listen > to mp3s without slowing down Clan Lord. Geneforge is a bit jittery and has > occasional 30 second freezes, too. Well, I've looked around and I've > narrowed down my options, but I want some input from people with experience > upgrading their Starmaxes. > > My system: Starmax 5000/275, 48mb (32+16) of RAM, RamDoubler tripling to > 144mb, original 4gb hard drive with about 500mb free (for now), and running > OS 8.6. Quite a few extensions (I've even cleaned it up and my Extensions > folder has 586 items in it). The only things I've put in are a > VillageTronic 8mb Voodoo1 card, and a generic (well, Matsushita I think?) > CD burner. Everything pretty much runs, just feels too slow. > > G3 L2 slot processor upgrade: this was my first thought. I want to spend > about $100 on this. I know I can get that kind of price for a G3/300 but > maybe you all have better ideas. Suggestions for a good upgrade to get? > The ones I know of are Sonnet and NewerTech. I would want something I can > still find of course, preferably unused. Also, my computer works OK now... > any cards that have a high chance of making my computer not work OK? > > RAM: best I've found is $24 for 64mb (of the right kind) at Other World > Computing. Would this $55 or so to take out my 16mb and add 2 64s give me > a better boost than the G3 upgrade (remember I have 96mb of virtual > RamDoubler memory that would be replaced by physical memory)? Would you > recommend doing one or the other, or both upgrades? Being poor I don't > want to spend $150 unless the second upgrade also gives a significant boost > over the first. Any better prices on 64mb unbuffered 3.3V 168 pin EDO > DIMMs? Any general suggestions on the most cost-efficient ways to speed up > my Mac? > > Thanks, > Eric Anderson > -- StarMax is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> StarMax list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/starmax.html> 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/starmax%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
