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vdubskey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 6, 2003
27
0
Well a buddy of mine has a IBM computer, dont know to much about it, all i know it has a PowerPC chip, 500 mhz, and it is currently running Linux, and i want to know if it can run OSX or OS9 whatever, i figured that the mac OS will run on it because apples use the same chip, correct me if im wrong, i really want to know if it will work, also is there any upgrades for this comp...
 

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
It would work best on a PowerPC Platform machine. Not necessarily a POWER- or PPC-based machine.

This was motherboard standard Apple/IBM/Motorola were working on to run Windows NT for PPC, Mac OS, and AIX (IBM).

MicroSoft killed the Windows product and Apple the clones. And thus the adoption was stunted.

Right now they're beige box Linux PPCs, don't know which IBM machine is closest to the standard (maybe the RS/6000 with 604e -- SWAG 1).

But a lot of the other manufactures look like this...

http://www.mai.com/products/teron px.htm

and

http://www.pegasosppc.com/tech_specs.php (eyeball Mac-On-Linux)

You probably have your hands on a POWER 3 or 4 machine, since the 604e probably isn't that fast. (and SWAG 2)
 

legion

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2003
516
0
no. Apple has a specific eprom/bios on their computers to allow osx, os9 to run.
 

vdubskey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 6, 2003
27
0
So in other words, its useless for OS X, one more question, i see a bunch of G3 macs on ebay for arround 200 bucks, and i know there are cpu upgrades for these things, is Sonnet the only place you can get upgrades, is there an upgrade that is capable of running OSX on a G3 machine?
 

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
eMac = $799 new

Less if you're a college student, or can get one of them to get it for you.

or $699 if you don't mind taking a chance that the eMac will come without Airport Extreme -- though the previous generation should have had it.

So $699 for a new previous gen eMac in the Special Deals section of the Apple Store. CD-ROM only.

or $100 more to buy the newest one with a "combo" drive.
 

Makosuke

macrumors 604
Aug 15, 2001
6,661
1,242
The Cool Part of CA, USA
Originally posted by vdubskey
So in other words, its useless for OS X, one more question, i see a bunch of G3 macs on ebay for arround 200 bucks, and i know there are cpu upgrades for these things, is Sonnet the only place you can get upgrades, is there an upgrade that is capable of running OSX on a G3 machine?
Well, OSX will run on any G3 machine (although Panther technically requires a mac with built-in USB support, which means anything other than the Beige G3s), and I've done it with reasonable success on a 333 iMac with lots of RAM--it's slow, but usable, even with Classic. I've even used it on a 266 beige G3, but that's pretty slow.

That said, if you want to upgrade a Blue and White G3 (which, if you've got a monitor, is a much better eBay buy than an iMac with a similar processor speed, and might well be usable as is, depending on what you want to do with it), there are options other than Sonnet. I'd check out the listing at Other World Computing ( http://www.macsales.com/ ).

They have ZIF socket G4s for the B&W machines for well under $200. If you get lucky, that means you can get a B&W G3 for about $180, a processor upgrade for $170, and a copy of Panther for $130, $70 if you're a student. That's $480 for a G4 Mac tower with a couple PCI slots, or $310 for a G3 Mac with Panther (that, at least, is a good deal if you don't mind the speed).

Problem: An upgraded G3 with Panther is still going to have a slow graphics card, more limited expandability, and a slower internal architecture, so for just a tiny bit more money, getting something that has a G4 built in is probably worth it. If you're sticking with the G3 then the price is more competitive.

I've seen eMac 700s and single processor G4 towers go for as low as $400 on eBay; even kicking in for a new copy of Panther, either of those systems is only $530 + shipping, so you're coming out well ahead of an upgraded G3--no 3rd party processor hassles, better internal components, and no upgrading to mess with yourself.
 

vdubskey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 6, 2003
27
0
Thanks for the help, well i went ahead and bought a Beige G3 desktop on ebay for 50 bucks! And i upgraded the ram to 768. I was looking at the Sonnet Encore/ZIF G4/500MHz for $199 at macsales.com, that seems like a good deal, but is it better than going with a 800 or 900 MHZ G3 cpu? I could spend about 50 bucks more and get that, but dont know what the difference is between the G3 and G4? Is there really that many apps out there that need to have a G4?
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,595
3,937
New Zealand
Hardly any apps *need* a G4, but several will run a lot faster if you have one. I have an 800 MHz G3, and I'm perfectly happy with it.
 
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