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Apple Archive
Is It Worth Putting a G3 in an Older Mac?
A 'Best of Apple Archive' Article
- 2000.11.03
So you want a G3. You may have noticed that there are a number of G3 upgrades on the market. You may have also noticed that the prices on the real G3 computers are falling fast.
If you are like most people, you want the most computer for the lowest price, and I am here to tell you not to buy a pre-G3 for upgrade. Yes, that's right. Except for a few special cases, spending money upgrading to G3 from a pre-G3 Power Mac is like throwing an extra $100 down the sink.
It's not worth upgrading the NuBus Power Macs to G3 unless you have spent a fair amount of money on your machine in the past (see Guide to G3 Upgrades for NuBus Power Macs). I tried out a 250 MHz G3 upgrade from Newer Tech, and that 250 MHz card gave less performance than my beige G3/233. You can buy a Power Mac G3/233 for $450-550, and that's with a PCI bus, faster CD-ROM, better video card, etc. Don't get me wrong, the performance with the upgrade is pretty good considering the machine itself is six years old, but it isn't as good as the performance of a computer designed around a G3.
If you are looking for an inexpensive G3 machine, an 8100/80 with enough RAM and hard drive space would cost you $200. Adding the cost of the least expensive G3 card brings it to about $400 total. Also, some upgrade cards won't work without their extension installed, like the Newer Tech card I used. Want to install OS 9 from the OS 9 CD? Be prepared to put the brakes on that G3 speed! Paying $400 for a "half a Power Mac G3" is not worth it - $100 more will get you a true Power Mac G3 which can run OS X, uses cheaper IDE hard disks, and accepts PCI cards.
Now some upgrades are worthwhile, such as the 6400/6500/5400/5500
upgrades (see Guide to G3 Upgrades for
Level 2 Cache Slot). These Macs offered some options not
available in other models, such as a TV tuner card, A/V capture,
and a built in subwoofer. The 5400 and 5500 come in an all-in-one
desktop case, so they are especially nice to have around. Best of
all, a 300 MHz Sonnet upgrade costs about $200, which is a good
deal if you already own one of these Macs and want to get a good
speed boost.
Of course if you have a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, you may want to buy the G3 card just so you can keep the extremely cool looking design but have G3 performance.
Upgrading the 7500-9600 can be cost effective if your machine is in good condition and you've spent a lot of money on RAM or other upgrades. If you want to buy a 9600 to upgrade, be prepared to spend about $1000. That's about $500 more than it would cost you to buy a real G3!
With the falling prices for used Power Macintosh G3s, G3 upgrade cards are becoming more of a "why bother?" The G3/233 can be had for around $500 today, and a 7500 today is worth around $300 with a decent amount of RAM and a good sized hard disk. A G3 upgrade for the 7500 costs about $200.
Add it up, and the G3 desktop, with it's 24X CD-ROM drive,
4 GB hard disk, and OS X compatibility looks like the winner.
For me, the decision is a no-brainer.
Recent Apple Archive articles
- iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
- Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
- Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini.
- Leopard different, a bit buggy, but worth the upgrade, 11.02. Leopard on a Power Mac G4 and a MacBook Pro: It runs well on both computers, but each has some odd bugs, and some of the changes are a step backwards.
- More in the Apple Archive index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
- Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
- November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06. /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05. Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04. SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04. The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
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