Upgrading B/W G3

[applefan1997]

OK, I dont see a G4 in the near future, so ill have to use this as my main machine.

First, what kind of hard drive do I use? The connectors are this weird kind that I'm not familiar with. It has a weird name, like Ultra2 Wide SCSI or something. Can I use ANY hard drive with it, or does it have to conform? Also, what is the fastest processor upgrade and video card I can get? And Do I need a DVD card to use DVD's in OS X?
Thanks!!!!

 

[localghost]

the stock b/w g3 accepts ATA drives (i think max. 128 GB) (scsi might have been added by a previous owner)

old g4 systems sell for very little more than the cost of about any cpu upgrade, so would not recommend it.

don't think you need a new gpu for dvd, just give it a try before you buy.

for upgrade parts i personally like owc - ok prices, good service + you can select your specific mac to make sure you get the right parts.

 

[SmurfBoxMasta]

OK, I dont see a G4 in the near future, so ill have to use this as my main machine.

First, what kind of hard drive do I use? The connectors are this weird kind that I'm not familiar with. It has a weird name, like Ultra2 Wide SCSI or something. Can I use ANY hard drive with it, or does it have to conform? Also, what is the fastest processor upgrade and video card I can get? And Do I need a DVD card to use DVD's in OS X?
Thanks!!!!

Even if you have a scsi card in that machine, you still have the onboard ATA connector. Which in effect, means you could use either type. But ATA is more cost effective and more space for the $$. Any name brand will do, just so long as it is under 128GB in size.

Beware that if you mac is a rev 1 unit, you can only use 1 ATA drive at a time without data corruption....

the fastest G3 upgrade you can get is IIRC 1.1 ghz, and the fastest G4 (that doesnt reduce the FSB speed) IIRC is 600mhz.

The best video card is the Radeon 9200 PCI. It's the best one of the last ones made for pci-based macs.

OS X uses a software based dvd player. If your machine has the stock ATI Rage 128 card, it may have a hardware decoder card piggybacked onto it, which will only work in OS 9.xx & earlier anyways.

The best place for used parts are here & macnn, at the buy/sell forums and of course, ebay