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My Power Mac G3 Project

Irinikus

Irinikus

6502
My Power Mac G3 arrived as a pretty good example of the machine.

QlrbAyB.jpg

z5OfqLl.jpg

Like with virtually every other machine I've ever bought, I will still have to import a few parts to get it to a "perfect" status, but it certainly is a good start though!

This is how it initially looked on the inside:

wCEDdEF.jpg

Here's a video showing some of the progress that I've made on this project so far:


I've purchased this ZIF SONNET Encore 1GHz CPU upgrade for this machine from a seller in Japan, so this machine's on its way to being pimped out!!!

IMG_8519.webp-2.jpeg

IMG_8522.webp.jpeg

IMG_8523.webp.jpeg

IMG_8525.webp.jpeg


I've upgraded the system's PROM to take this CPU, as I wait for it to arrive from Japan:

kFCsIm8.png

This is the system's hard drive setup:

Ut01AKP.png

This is what it currently looks like on the inside:

nkCWT8o.jpg

In order to complete this build I still need to fit it with a Belkin USB 2.0 PCI card, A ZIP Drive (I already have the bezel) and 1GB of matched PC100 RAM (4x256MB DIMMS)

Then it will be completely MAXXED out! :)

My Sonnet Encore ZIF G4 1000MHz (1GHz) / 1M Processor Upgrade's on the way to me from Japan and I've successfully flashed the G3 B&W to accept it. In all the pictures of the CPU I haven't seen any evidence that the required jumper block has been shipped with it, so as a precaution I did some digging and was able to screen grab this image of the correct jumper positions off a YouTube video

kj1f2UN.png

And this image to verify the orientation of the jumper block: (As it shows the position of the little tab)

GuXGXN1.jpg

This info may be useful to anyone else who purchases one of these SONNET's!
 
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I have the Sonnet 1GHz in my B&W G3 also. I replaced the fans with a couple Noctua NF-A4x10 5V fans since one of the old ones stopped working reliably.

The firmware update checksums match those of my dumped B&W G3 ROM.

My B&W G3 has 768 MB RAM. I forget if there was a reason why I didn't fill the 4th slot - there could have been a RAM issue?

I have a Griffin gPort which connects to the internal modem port to add an external serial port which I use for Open Firmware debugging.

My jumpers match the pictured yellow block (though mine uses individual jumpers). With #1 as the top (as shown in the photo with the blue jumper block), I have (-,-,-,4,-,6,7,-,9,-,-) set. I guess this reduces the bus clock from 100 MHz to 66 MHz?

The "Service Source" Blue & White G3 document has the following jumper blocks:
A black jumper block (1,2,3,-,5,6,-,8,9,-,-) is for 300 MHz CPU.
A blue jumper block (1,-,-,-,5,6,-,8,9,-,-) is for 350 MHz CPU (same as the one in the previous post)
A white jumper block (1,-,3,-,5,6,-,8,9,-,-) is for 400 MHz CPU.
A yellow jumper block (-,-,-,4,5,6,-,8,9,-,-) is for 450 MHz CPU (not the yellow jumper block of the Sonnet 1GHz).

Assuming 100 MHz bus, then:
500 MHz: -,-,3,-
550 MHz: -,2,3,-
600 MHz: -,2,-,-
650 MHz: -,2,-,4
700 MHz: 1,-,3,4
750 MHz: -,2,3,4
800 MHz: 1,2,-,-

I connected a Startech PCI to PCIe bridge, a Netstor NA255A (to add some PCIe gen 3 x16 (electrically x8) slots), and a Nvidia 7800GT from a Quad G5. The 7800GT works fine in OS X (1440p60 or 4K30). It also works in OS 9 but without any acceleration.
 
joevt said:
I have the Sonnet 1GHz in my B&W G3 also. I replaced the fans with a couple Noctua NF-A4x10 5V fans since one of the old ones stopped working reliably.

The firmware update checksums match those of my dumped B&W G3 ROM.

My B&W G3 has 768 MB RAM. I forget if there was a reason why I didn't fill the 4th slot - there could have been a RAM issue?

I have a Griffin gPort which connects to the internal modem port to add an external serial port which I use for Open Firmware debugging.

My jumpers match the pictured yellow block (though mine uses individual jumpers). With #1 as the top (as shown in the photo with the blue jumper block), I have (-,-,-,4,-,6,7,-,9,-,-) set. I guess this reduces the bus clock from 100 MHz to 66 MHz?

The "Service Source" Blue & White G3 document has the following jumper blocks:
A black jumper block (1,2,3,-,5,6,-,8,9,-,-) is for 300 MHz CPU.
A blue jumper block (1,-,-,-,5,6,-,8,9,-,-) is for 350 MHz CPU (same as the one in the previous post)
A white jumper block (1,-,3,-,5,6,-,8,9,-,-) is for 400 MHz CPU.
A yellow jumper block (-,-,-,4,5,6,-,8,9,-,-) is for 450 MHz CPU (not the yellow jumper block of the Sonnet 1GHz).

Assuming 100 MHz bus, then:
500 MHz: -,-,3,-
550 MHz: -,2,3,-
600 MHz: -,2,-,-
650 MHz: -,2,-,4
700 MHz: 1,-,3,4
750 MHz: -,2,3,4
800 MHz: 1,2,-,-

I connected a Startech PCI to PCIe bridge, a Netstor NA255A (to add some PCIe gen 3 x16 (electrically x8) slots), and a Nvidia 7800GT from a Quad G5. The 7800GT works fine in OS X (1440p60 or 4K30). It also works in OS 9 but without any acceleration.
Click to expand...
> The firmware update checksums match those of my dumped B&W G3 ROM.

Thanks for confirming that my firmware is correct!

> I have a Griffin gPort which connects to the internal modem port to add an external serial port which I use for Open Firmware debugging.

I purposely purchased and fitted the modem module, as they're a rare feature.

> My jumpers match the pictured yellow block (though mine uses individual jumpers). With #1 as the top (as shown in the photo with the blue jumper block), I have (-,-,-,4,-,6,7,-,9,-,-) set. I guess this reduces the bus clock from 100 MHz to 66 MHz?

Thanks for confirming this! (I also intend to make use of SCSI jumpers instead of modifying the jumper block fitted in my machine.)

> I connected a Startech PCI to PCIe bridge, a Netstor NA255A (to add some PCIe gen 3 x16 (electrically x8) slots), and a Nvidia 7800GT from a Quad G5. The 7800GT works fine in OS X (1440p60 or 4K30). It also works in OS 9 but without any acceleration.

I intend to keep the 9200 LE Mac Edition in this machine, as again it's a rare collectable card! (The plan is to keep this card in this machine, fit one of these as well as an Nvidia 4600ti Mac Edition into my Digital Audio, and move the 9800 Pro Mac Edition currently installed in my Digital Audio into my QuickSilver, this leaves the MDD into which I was planning to fit a flashed 7800 GS)

But now you have given me an idea to maybe make use of one of these:

s-l1200.jpg

Coupled by one of these:

s-l1200-2 copy.jpg

To one of these:

51BEQ+V6vDL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg

In order to get a 7800GT up and running in my MDD system!
 
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I'm not sure the StarTech PCIe to PCI bridge works at 66MHz. I haven't tried it in my B&W G3's 66 MHz slot yet.
 
My ZIF SONNET 1GHz G4 CPU Upgrade arrived form Japan today and it's now fitted and working perfectly:

IMG_8561.jpg

IMG_8562.jpg

IMG_8563.jpg

IMG_8564.jpg

Here's the updated System Info:

Picture_1.png

Here's the new Blender Test Result: (test.blend)

Picture_2.png

It's pretty much twice the speed of the 450MHz G3, so it's performing as advertised!!! :)

Here's the Quake 3 Time Demo Four Result:

Q3FPS.png

With these settings:

Q3SET.png
 
Today I carried out some tests on the Sonnet upgraded G3 B&W and have come to some interesting conclusions, which I'll share later! (It's a significant upgrade in some ways, but not so significant in others!)

IMG_8604 copy.jpg

IMG_8605 copy.jpg

IMG_8606 copy.jpg
 
Well done!
The Sonnet 997MHz card is fast. While I had mine, I played Deus Ex on my B&W G4 and it ran very smoothly.
Did it slow down your system bus to 66MHz (from 100MHz)? Mine did but then I didn't really notice it.
If you want to go down the RAID route, you might consider the Formac ProRAID card. It is U40 SCSI card and you can RAID 0 & 1 on it.
If you are only running Mac OS X, then Highpoint made SATA RocketRAID cards that run in G4s and may run in your G3. You may want to check the version of PCI that the backward compatibility goes to.
That being said, your SSDs on SATA I are surely faster than it.
Have you considered putting in a DVD burner in your machine, maybe driven by the SATA card although an IDE one from 2002 or so would probably be just as good.
 
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