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| B&W G3 300 MHz | |
| Posted by: joshc on 2009-02-16 11:33:27 Just collected a B&W G3 today, which I got off eBay for £10 ($14.39). Just updated the firmware and installed 9.2.1. My first PowerMac and this will be my main system for running OS 9 for all the old software/games I like. I can now say goodbye and good riddance to Basilisk and Sheepshaver. Project plans, in order of priority: - Up the RAM, currently 320MB. - Get a Sonnet, or other brand, of IDE controller so I can use larger disks. This is a Rev. A model, so unfortunately the on-board IDE controller completely sucks. - Then put in a nice large capacity HD. - Somehow make the case fan and PSU fan quieter, or alternatively install a quiet ATX PSU and do a little trickery to make it work. - Upgrade the graphics card from Rage 128 to Radeon 9200. - Get a faster processor - what I *want* is a 1.0 GHz G4 Sonnet Encore/ZIF, but they are too expensive for me. - Get a fast Ethernet card? - Add more USB ports via a PCI card? - Upgrade CD-ROM drive to a CD/DVD combo that is fast and quiet. Will post pictures soon -- the case is in decent condition, some scratches and other marks, and one side of the door doesn't close flush to the rest of the case. But for a computer TEN years old, this aint bad at all. ;D | |
| Posted by: istar1018 on 2009-02-16 14:35:41 Did everything you are proposing to do, and I can say that you will not be disappointed. My $9.99 B&W started life as a stock 300 MHz Rev. A, and is now quite happy with maxed ram, a big ATA hard drive, a DVD-RW drive, a Sonnet 1 GHz G4 processor upgrade (finding a cheap one of these was a big help), and PCI USB 2.0, Radeon 9200 & ATA-133 cards. Most of these parts were hand-me-downs / surplus, and didn't cost an arm and a leg, either. Running Tiger, it's hard to believe that this is a 10-year old machine. Good luck with your project! | |
| Posted by: MacMan on 2009-02-16 14:50:22 I've heard it is pretty easy to overclock B&W G3s, it is just a case of shifting some jumpers about (no soldering required). My B&W G3 was overclocked from 350MHz to 450MHz by the previous owner and it has served reliably for years. | |
| Posted by: Unknown_K on 2009-02-16 14:56:27 I stuffed a g3-400/1mb with 1GB of RAM, Radeon 7000 mac edition video, 40gb, 20gb, 6gb for OS 9.2.1/osx 10.3.9/dump drive) along with a SCSI card and a ATA/66 card in the B&W in my room. I have a g4-450/1mb, Radeon mac edition, 512MB RAM, 64 bit SCSI card with 9GB scsi HD , Matrox RTMAC video editing card, and 2 10 or 20GB HDs for OS 9 and osx 10.3.9 in that machine. Both machines are revision 2 IDE, the G4 has a DVD reader while the G3 has a 40x liteon cdrom drive. Nice cool running machines and you can still use all your old ADB stuff. | |
| Posted by: System7 on 2009-02-16 15:49:15 I would really try getting a 350 or 400 cpu module. Those are slower by a little than the beige's. Less L2! | |
| Posted by: MultiFinder on 2009-02-16 16:34:50 £10 for a B&W isn't bad at all! Enjoy, you lucky little... 😀 | |
| Posted by: Christopher on 2009-02-16 20:03:13 I hear the 1000MHz G3's are better because it doesn't downclock your bus speed from 100MHz to 66MHz. | |
| Posted by: joshc on 2009-02-19 02:27:30 Pictures as promised: B&W G3 with 22" Hanns.G display, 15" Sharp LCD, iMac 17" Core Duo:  In this one, you can see the damage to some of the casing, which means the side-door doesn't close properly, but meh. 😛  | |
| Posted by: Christopher on 2009-02-19 07:42:35 ^^^ Pretty. | |
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