Dude, you need more RAM 1st and foremost, and ditch the obsolete Ramdoubler.
That was ok when ram was real expensive and we couldnt afford it, but not
any more- it ups your memory but at the expense of speed-it slows your
computer down. Lags and short freezes are typical when memory is low.
Even if you get an L2 G3 card ( a good idea, if you want to keep using
the Starmax and up the speed) you will need more RAM to get good performance
from it. I noticed about a 40% speed improvement when I put in the Metabox
200 mhz G3 in my 160 mz Starmax 3000. It esp helped web browsing because of
the larger cache.
If you buy one 64 mb ram chip and leave your 32 and 16 in place (make
sure you don't put the 64 in the slot labeled "single-sided") this will more
than double your ram, to 112 and should do you pretty well if you are on a
tight budget (the difference between 112 and 160 wouldnt be very noticeable-
but it's only another $24- you are already paying the shipping). Do that
first. Put additional $ into an L2 upgrade unless you can afford to buy two
64's AND the L2 card. "Being poor" as you say you might want to just do the
64 mb ram upgrade for $24 + shipping and see how that works for you. I think
you will notice a big improvement in certain things- opening apps and
documents and for games. I dont think you will find much cheaper than $24
for new 64 mb memory- you could try ebay auctions, though-try searching
under apple 4400 because it's the same chips they used (same motherboard)
and the 4400 is more common than the starmax.
I also have an Apple beige G3 desktop with processor upgraded to 433 mhz
and it is spoiling me to where I dont want to use the Starmax (with a G3
200mHz card) much anymore, except for some games because it has a better
video card-Voodoo3. I'll keep it for a backup and in case 2 people want to
use computers at once at my house. (Why have 2 or 3 bathrooms and televisons
and only 1 computer? They are just as needed as bathrms and tvs).
I would definitely not want to go back to the PowerMac processor days
(or the days before that, with the 68040? chip) where you still are, God
have mercy on you. If that's all a person could afford it would still be a
lot better than no computer though.
Be sure to defragment your harddrive periodically as a badly fragmented
one will slow down it's performance and yours is pretty loaded. I would not
leave less than about 1/8 of the hard drive empty (where you are now) as
that will cause fragmentation. So get rid of stuff if you add more or get a
bigger HD to keep it running good.
Good luck from one who has done lots of upgrading,
George (NickUtah)
> Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2002 19:12:27 EDT
> Subject: Want to speed up my 5000/275
>
> 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>
