Re: "Poor Sibling" 500MHz iMac G3?

[Mark]

Mike K. <mi...@koralatov.com> wrote:
> Hi all!
>
> I've been bitten by the Flower Power bug, and I'm on the hunt for one.
> (If you have one you'll part with and don't want a fortune, get in
> touch! Same for Blue Dalmatian!)
>
> I'm at the research phase, and came across an article about the iMac G3
> on Low End Mac[1] that states the 500MHz Flower Power/Blue Dalmatians have
> a different, worse CPU and GPU that the U.S. version:
>
>> There was another version of the 500 MHz iMac introduced at the same
>> time, this one for the international market. This model differed from
>> the North American iMac by using the older PowerPC 750 chip and a
>> backside cache. The North American model used the new PowerPC 750CXe,
>> which included an onboard cache.
>>
>> The "poor sibling" international version also had ATI Rage 128 Pro
>> video (vs. Rage 128 Pro Ultra) and 8 MB of video memory (vs. 16 MB in
>> the North American version). This is the same configuration as the
>> earlier 500 MHz iMac DV SE.
>
> Is this right? I haven't been able to find anything else that
> corroborates this. Every Mac, which is my go-to, has nothing about it.
> It just lists the spec of the alleged U.S.-only version.
>
> Any iMac experts know the definitive answer?
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
>
> [1]: https://lowendmac.com/2005/which-imac-is-it-low-end-mac-guide-to-g3-imacs/
>

You could try asking on Reddit … <https://reddit.com/r/VintageApple>

--
Cheers ... Mark

[Theo]

Mike K. <mi...@koralatov.com> wrote:
> >There was another version of the 500 MHz iMac introduced at the same
> >time, this one for the international market. This model differed from
> >the North American iMac by using the older PowerPC 750 chip and a
> >backside cache. The North American model used the new PowerPC 750CXe,
> >which included an onboard cache.
> >
> >The "poor sibling" international version also had ATI Rage 128 Pro
> >video (vs. Rage 128 Pro Ultra) and 8 MB of video memory (vs. 16 MB in
> >the North American version). This is the same configuration as the
> >earlier 500 MHz iMac DV SE.
>
> Is this right? I haven't been able to find anything else that
> corroborates this. Every Mac, which is my go-to, has nothing about it.
> It just lists the spec of the alleged U.S.-only version.

Looking at this one:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-iMac-G3-Flower-Power-500MHz-576MB-RAM-/124778495839

System Profiler says:

Video Memory: 8MB
Backside L2 cache: 512KB

which does suggest that one is the international one with PPC750.

Theo

[Mike Dee]

Mike K. wrote:

> Hi all!
>
> I've been bitten by the Flower Power bug, and I'm on the hunt for
> one. (If you have one you'll part with and don't want a fortune,
> get in touch! Same for Blue Dalmatian!)

[...]
> https://lowendmac.com/2005/which-imac-is-it-low-end-mac-guide-to-g3
> -imacs/

There's another lowendmac page with additional info, but basically
confirms the other:
<https://lowendmac.com/2001/500-mhz-imac-early-2001-international/>

- " The international edition differs from the North American edition
in the following ways - :

500 MHz PowerPC 750 (G3) processor, not 750CXe (G3e)
512 KB 200 MHz backside cache, not 256 KB 500 MHz on-chip cache
ATI Rage 128 Pro video subsection, not Rage 128 Ultra
8 MB video memory, not 16 MB "
Plus additional tech specs further on down the page -

Also saw it mentioned here:
<https://pi-software.mystrikingly.com/blog/flower-power-ayoung-mac-os>

- "Apple offers 500 and 600 MHz iMacs. (Yes, the international version
of the 500 MHz model lacks Rage Ultra – we don't understand why.) " -

Little else in the way of info that I could stumble across - mostly
4sale ads and of iMacs not of the same model.

--
dee