G3 B&W, need advice for upgrades.

[SmurfBoxMasta]

That is interesting. I noticed in another thread you mentioned getting your 350 up to 500MHz. What all did you do to get that to work? Added fans? My one B&W has a 450MHz processor from a Rev 2 in it, but I can't get it to overclock to 500MHz stable. I found this odd because its only a 50MHz jump which has never been an issue on any of my other machines. I can get it to boot to 500 and run for a few minutes, but then it locks up. Any suggestions?

All I did was change the jumpers, add some thermal paste, and a small fan on top of the heatsink......and afaik it is still running that way even today, based on my recent communication from the person who bought it from me in '01

However, as i found out the hard way throughout the many machines I worked on, every cpu chip had it's own unique tolerances for overclocking. Some would take it nottaproblemo, some would freak out at the very hint of it.....so YMMV !

What I later found VERY interesting was when I installed a G4/500 upgrade card, I was able to get an extra 100mhz out of it too.......but my friend across town could get only +50mhz on his 2 identically upgraded machines......

 

[SmurfBoxMasta]

Thanks! This is the type of advice I've been looking for.
1. I can put a G4 in there??
2. I have a Sony DVD-RW drive (also from PC), think it will be compatible? *it works as an external right now.
3. Not really concerned about a second internal HD. OS9 is too complicated for my parents lol
4. standard VGA= AWESOME so I can use an lcd monitor instead of the CRT.
5. I have a powerbook w/Superdrive and FW cable, I can install Tiger via target disk mode correct?

1. Yes you can, been there, done that nottaproblemo, expensive though

2. Good chance it will work with Tiger, most Sony's do, but not all. There is a utility called "Patchburn" you can try if it isn't recognized by the OS

4. If your LCD has VGA input, then yes nottaproblemo

5. If you have a 6pin-to-6pin FW cable, then yes this will work. Been there done that too

 

[disconap]

What smurfbox said.

The G4 zif processors can be expensive; I've also heard rumors that the ones pulled out of the first gen G4 towers (pre-AGP) will work in G3 b/w). But wow, I had no idea that they have zif replacements up to 1gHz G4! Just saw that on the Sonnet site, very cool...

But yeah, based on the prices at MacSales, and your parents' needs, I say got with the 1gHz G3 @ $129. It's the best ratio of performance to dollar.

Also note that Toast will work with just about every model of Sony optical drive, I have never heard reports of it not working (also note that later versions of Tiger have become FAR more compatible with third party drives--my drive wasn't compatible with itunes or disc utility when I bought it a year ago, but after either 10.4.10 or 10.4.11, it works fine). As for reading, it'll work fine.

Also, if you're putting the Sony drive in, I wouldn't bother with installing by target drive, just install directly. It's less complicated and faster. Let us know how it turns out!

EDIT: also, according to lowendmac.com, the G3 b/w does not support booting into target disc mode, so you'll need to do a straight install anyway...

 

[SmurfBoxMasta]

I've also heard rumors that the ones pulled out of the first gen G4 towers (pre-AGP) will work in G3 b/w)

uummm.......with the exception of the new case color and the G4 CPU, the Pre-AGP machines (Yikes) were the same as the rev 2 B&W's ...... they were just a fill-in offering until the real G4's were being finalized & put into production ramp....... thats why the cpus were interchangeable

 

[disconap]

Pretty much--the Yikes! didn't have an ADB port and was bootable from a USB drive, but otherwise yeah (a friend of mine says it used what was probably planned as the b/w Rev3 board). I've just never tried swapping processors from a Yikes! to a B/W myself so I didn't want to commit to an answer.