HELP: How much $$$ to bring my 7600/132 up to G3?
School of Veterinary Medicine
> Here's the deal: I have a PowerMac 7600/132 with the
> as-issued 1.2Mb hard drive, 80Mb of RAM, 2MB of VRAM,
> running Mac OS version 7.x (forget what x is right now).
>
> My wife wants to toss it onto the scrapheap and buy
> a PC.
Tell your wife that she goes on the scrapheap before
you buy a PC.
> I'd like to keep the Mac going, both because
> I like the Mac OS, and because I have a lot of software
> $$$ already invested. And I like (and need) the SCSI
> port for several peripherals I already have.
Mention these items, repeatedly.
I'd consider a used beige G3 (SCSI already built in)
or a new Blue and White with an extra SCSI card.
I mean the upgrades are out there, but if your wife
is willing to shell out the cash for a new PC,
all you need to do is divert the cash into
a new/relatively new Mac.
Kwad Guy
as-issued 1.2Mb hard drive, 80Mb of RAM, 2MB of VRAM,
running Mac OS version 7.x (forget what x is right now).
My wife wants to toss it onto the scrapheap and buy
a PC. I'd like to keep the Mac going, both because
I like the Mac OS, and because I have a lot of software
$$$ already invested. And I like (and need) the SCSI
port for several peripherals I already have.
So here's the deal: My wife has agreed to listen to
counter-proposals about keeping the 7600, provided it
can be brought into the modern age at a reasonable cost.
That means 350MHz or faster G3 processor, and whatever
other changes are required to make it work "flawlessly"
(as flawlessly as any Mac is going to work). Also a
13-20Gb hard drive. And major bonus points for adding a
USB port (can a Firewire port be added?).
What's obvious (I think):
An upgrade CPU daugher board
OS upgrade (to version 8.x)
New hard drive
What's less obvious: Any other board changes? Anything
need to be changed in the configuration files (or can
this be done as plug and play?)
Can anyone venture a guess as to the cost of the upgrade?
Would it even be worth it? Any pointers as to where
to get the upgrade hardware/software at the best price?
Thanks,
Kwad
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George Graves
First of all, and these are ballpark figures, you might be able to do
better or worse, depending on where you buy.
MacTell's G3 "PowerJolt" for your machine is $549 for 366 MHz, and $649
for 400. Both with 1 Meg backside cache.
A 4.5 Gigabyte SCSI HD (your 7600 needs SCSI, not IDE) will run you an
additional $200. 4.5 Gigs is the smallest size upgrade I would recommend.
If you can afford bigger, go for it (9 Gigs will run you about $300).
OS 8.6 will run you $99 list.
If I were you, while I was at it, I'd throw in another $40 - $50 for a USB
card. Plug it in to an empty PCI slot to open you up to a whole new world
of pointing devices, keyboards, printers, scanners, net-cams, digital
still cameras, CD-ROM burners, Zip drives, etc.
Total minimum cost:
$900
Damned expensive when take into account the fact that you could buy a
faster overall computer by buying an iMac for $300 more or a real desktop
Pro G3 for $500 more (street).
If you can afford the extra money, I'd advise buying new. It's simply a
better way to spend your money.
--
George Graves
Phil Lefebvre
>counter-proposals about keeping the 7600, provided it
>can be brought into the modern age at a reasonable cost.
>An upgrade CPU daugher board.
You can get a 366 upgrade for around $450-$500.
>OS upgrade (to version 8.x)
8.0 sells for around $39 (+free 8.1 upgrade at Apple site.) Iąve seen 8.5
for $49, but it normally sells for $99 (+free 8.6 upgrade at Apple site).
9.0 is coming in September, also for $99.
>Also a 13-20Gb hard drive.
If you want a huge drive, get a ProMax IDE PCI card ($109-$129), then a
huge IDE drive for around $200-$300. Otherwise a SCSI drive of same size
is twice the price. However, a 9GB SCSI drive can be found for under $300
if that is big enough for you.
>major bonus points for adding a USB port (can a Firewire port be added?).
USB PCI cards are around $50. The Keyspan one seems to be the best. The
cheapest FireWire PCI card is by OrangeMicro for $169, but it just came
out so no reports on reliability.
Honestly though, regarding USB, unless there is a łto-die-for˛ USB
peripheral you need now, you can wait on the USB card. Regarding FireWire,
unless you have a digitial camcorder and want to do video editing, thereąs
no real need for a FireWire card right now either.
>
>What's less obvious: Any other board changes? Anything
>need to be changed in the configuration files (or can
>this be done as plug and play?)
There may be some individual problems, but all are designed to work
plug-and-play without major motherboard changes.
>Can anyone venture a guess as to the cost of the upgrade?
>Would it even be worth it?
If you bought everything I listed above for the approximate price I
listed, including tax and shipping you are spending almost as much as a
brand new 350MHz G3. Throw in what you could get for selling the 7600, and
it works out to be about the same. You do the math and decide if it is
worth it. My 2˘: I plan on upgrading my 8500/180 one piece at a time as I
need to, and I expect it to be useful and productive for me (including
video work) for another 4-5 years. (Itąs already 2.5 years old.) I
wouldnąt spend it all at once just to have it łup-to-date˛ though.
>Any pointers as to where to get the upgrade hardware/software at the best
>price?
Troll around on www.dealmac.com for who has the best deals when you want to buy.
--
Phil Lefebvre
Chicago, IL 60611
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Joe Ragosta
> Here's the deal: I have a PowerMac 7600/132 with the
> as-issued 1.2Mb hard drive, 80Mb of RAM, 2MB of VRAM,
> running Mac OS version 7.x (forget what x is right now).
>
> My wife wants to toss it onto the scrapheap and buy
> a PC. I'd like to keep the Mac going, both because
> I like the Mac OS, and because I have a lot of software
> $$$ already invested. And I like (and need) the SCSI
> port for several peripherals I already have.
>
> So here's the deal: My wife has agreed to listen to
> counter-proposals about keeping the 7600, provided it
> can be brought into the modern age at a reasonable cost.
> That means 350MHz or faster G3 processor, and whatever
> other changes are required to make it work "flawlessly"
> (as flawlessly as any Mac is going to work). Also a
> 13-20Gb hard drive. And major bonus points for adding a
> USB port (can a Firewire port be added?).
>
> What's obvious (I think):
>
> An upgrade CPU daugher board
> OS upgrade (to version 8.x)
> New hard drive
>
> What's less obvious: Any other board changes? Anything
> need to be changed in the configuration files (or can
> this be done as plug and play?)
>
> Can anyone venture a guess as to the cost of the upgrade?
> Would it even be worth it? Any pointers as to where
> to get the upgrade hardware/software at the best price?
I don't follow the prices, but if you go to www.deal-mac.com, you'll
probably find links to good prices.
The G3 upgrade card should be $300-400. More RAM--$60. OS-$80. USB card-??
The hard drive is tough--a 13-20 GB SCSI drive will be pretty expensive.
But why do you need that much storage?
--
Regards,
Joe Ragosta
Chris Pott
>School of Veterinary Medicine wrote:
>
>> In article <7o4bnh$n3j$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>, Kwad Guy <quad...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
>>
>> > Here's the deal: I have a PowerMac 7600/132 with the
>> > as-issued 1.2Mb hard drive, 80Mb of RAM, 2MB of VRAM,
>> > running Mac OS version 7.x (forget what x is right now).
>> >
>> > My wife wants to toss it onto the scrapheap and buy
>> > a PC.
>>
>> Tell your wife that she goes on the scrapheap before
>> you buy a PC.
>>
>> > I'd like to keep the Mac going, both because
>> > I like the Mac OS, and because I have a lot of software
>> > $$$ already invested. And I like (and need) the SCSI
>> > port for several peripherals I already have.
>>
>> Mention these items, repeatedly.
>>
>
>Hi,
>
>I have a 7500 which now has 220Meg of RAM a 300Mhz G3 and the OrangeMicro
>Firewire card so that I can do digital Video editing (which works flawlessly).
>
>You have one of the most upgradeable units ever made.
>
>The longer you wait the cheaper the upgrades are. You can currently get
a 300Mhz
>G3 Card from Bottom Line Online www.blol.com for about $250.
>
>Good luck,
>Marty
>
>PS if you want to get rid of your 7600 let me know.
And upgrading is a helluva lot easier than on an 8500. Like mine.
To add a DIMM, the motherboard must be removed. (!)
I'm glad they learned this lesson.
--
Chris Pott
cp...@excite.com
Martin Joseph
Edward P Scholl
: Hi,
yeah, but if you wait too long your upgrades will need upgrades... =)
-ed
Jane
>
> Here's the deal: I have a PowerMac 7600/132 with the
> as-issued 1.2Mb hard drive, 80Mb of RAM, 2MB of VRAM,
> running Mac OS version 7.x (forget what x is right now).
>
> My wife wants to toss it onto the scrapheap and buy
> a PC.
**That's insane! I have the exact machine and it runs 8.1 like a dream.
Does your wife want to also have to fix the PC too? You can buy 8.1 for about $19. now too.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the book "Portraits In Silicon" it was
said Gates and Allen "played with the truth"...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jane
> 8.0 sells for around $39 (+free 8.1 upgrade at Apple site.) I1ve seen 8.5
> for $49, but it normally sells for $99 (+free 8.6 upgrade at Apple site).
> 9.0 is coming in September, also for $99.
***You can get a new system 8.1 CD for about $19. and that's as far as I'd take my 7600.
> >Also a 13-20Gb hard drive.
***There is a limit on HD size unless one wants to/knows how to go partitioning...
I plan on putting cheap G3 upgrade card in mine and that's it, I'll use Zip storage.
Anything else is overkill and would be better spent on a new machine IMHO.
But yes, the 7600 was one nice machine, I love mine and it won't ever get given away..
It just hums along nicely. I can see where system 7.5.3 is a drag, but I can't imagine
your wife wanting to ditch it when it's got a lot of life left in it. 8.1 will make it sing.
Ritchie, Kelvin
upgrade. It was $599 after rebate back then. Nowadays you can get a
300/150 1m G3 much cheaper. My MacBench scores on the processor went
from 238 to 830 after the upgrade. I have also upgraded the internal
VRAM to 4m ($40), added a 4.3g ($260 but cheaper now) internal drive and
upgraded the CDROM to an Apple 24x ($99). I added more memory to 112m.
The result is a pretty fast machine. With Voodoo3 available I'm think
about adding that. I'm running 8.5.1 on the 1.2g and 8.6 on the 4.3g. I
had only one glitch with the G3 card when one day the desktop background
start getting artifacts. I pulled the CPU out and pressed the
motherboard reset button, pulled out all the vram memory and main memory
and reseated everything. The problem hasn't returned. The 7600 is
definitely worth keeping.
Kelvin
Jane wrote:
>
> Kwad Guy wrote:
> >
> > Here's the deal: I have a PowerMac 7600/132 with the
> > as-issued 1.2Mb hard drive, 80Mb of RAM, 2MB of VRAM,
> > running Mac OS version 7.x (forget what x is right now).
> >
> > My wife wants to toss it onto the scrapheap and buy
> > a PC.
>
> **That's insane! I have the exact machine and it runs 8.1 like a dream.
> Does your wife want to also have to fix the PC too? You can buy 8.1 for about $19. now too.