Upgrading 5260

[Raere]

Hey guys,

I picked up an old 5260/120 from my school, and I want to upgrade it to a G3. I read that it's impossible to upgrade a 5200 series to a G3, is that true? Can I still use the case, and replace the whole motherboard? I'd like to see my options for upgrading.

Thanks a bunch,

Raere

 

[Raere]

Er...bump?I'd really like to know if it's possible...

 

[chv400]

i don't know of any upgrade cards for a 5200

I'm sure it is possible but it would probably take a lot of work/(heavy)modding to the case to fit a new motherbaord into it that will support a G3/G4
Sonnet make a lot of upgrades for old comps.
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/cpu_upgrades.html

This is hard core mac and they sell macintosh parts such as motherbaords.
http://store.yahoo.com/hardcoremac/motherboards.html

If all else fails you can always make it a CD playing Radio fish bowl by replacing the screen with an aquarium and the motherboard with the inards of an old Stereo with a CD Player.

 

[oingoboingo]

Hey guys,

I picked up an old 5260/120 from my school, and I want to upgrade it to a G3. I read that it's impossible to upgrade a 5200 series to a G3, is that true? Can I still use the case, and replace the whole motherboard? I'd like to see my options for upgrading.

Thanks a bunch,

Raere

I'm not an expert on these early PowerMacs, but a quick check at http://www.lowendmac.com/ppc/5260.shtml reveals that possibly the only upgrade path for the Performa 5260 is to alter the backplate on the system chassis, and replace the motherboard with one from a 5400, 5500 or 6400.

Basically you're going to have to find a 5400, 5500 or 6400 and rip the motherboard out of that, then find a compatible G3 upgrade card, and then add that. So, it's a pointless exercise. If you can find a functioning 5400, 5500 or 6400, you'd be better off ditching your 5260 and using one of the others instead, rather than messing around with motherboard transplants. Also, 3rd party G3-upgrade cards can be pretty expensive. For example, the Sonnet Cresecendo 500MHz G3 upgrade card for a 5400, 5500 or 6400 costs $199 (http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?ID=1171&Item=STIBG35001M). Even after you add the G3 card, you're still going to be left with a machine stuck with a 1995-1997-era bus speed, memory speed, graphics chip, hard drive and optical drive.

If you're looking for an older Mac to get started on or upgrade on the cheap, you'd be much better off donating the 5260/120 to someone who needs it, and trying to find something like a B&W G3 PowerMac or a Sawtooth G4 PowerMac on eBay. B&W G3 PowerMacs especially are quite cheap, and are usable with OS X as-is (albeit slowly).

BTW, the www.lowendmac.com link I mentioned above is an excellent resource for anything to do with vintage Macs. It should be required reading for anyone who ever looks in the 'Apple' section on eBay

 

[chv400]

What is thie size of the 5260.
Is it even possible to fit a G3 motherbaord inside it

 

[oingoboingo]

What is thie size of the 5260.
Is it even possible to fit a G3 motherbaord inside it

Motherboards from the pre-G3 5400, 5500 and 6400 can be transplanted, as the form-factor of these machines is the same (all-in-one style design). A G3 upgrade card has been specially designed for these 'upgrade challenged' machines, which fits into the L2 cache slot. It isn't the same type of board which is commonly used to upgrade other pre-G3 PowerMacs, which simply replaces the original processor daughtercard.

That said, it's almost certainly not worth the money and effort required to upgrade a 5260.

 

[chv400]

Is it possible to transplant an imac motherboard. Or a G3 wallstreet mother board.

 

[Hokum]

By the way, guys. I've upgraded my Performa 5260 via logic board upgrade.
Now it's 5500\225 mhz. It doesn't show anything higher than 640x480 and i can't understand why. I looks like display is incapable to work with anything higher.
Also, as detail, i wanna add that the board has only 16 mb ram(+ virtual memory is turned on). I doubt that this info may help, but i heard that 5500 reserves some RAM for video.

Why is it so?

 

[StealthRider]

How bout u just toss it in the trash and forget about it?

 

[mklos]

Its not even worth your time to screw around with it. Hell, you can get a 400MHz DV iMac for around $300 or less. Thats a computer that would be comparable to your 5260 with a supposed iMac logic board in it and no messing around trying to make the ports all line up, find a place for the hard drive to mount, making sure the power supply will have enough power for a G3 processor, etc....