Advice Wanted: Quadra 605/LC 475/LC 575...which to get?

[mainland]

I'm looking to put together a '040 machine with an Apple IIe card. From what I know, I think I want to find a Quadra 605, put a real '040 in it, and overclock it to 33MHz. Is there any reason to look at a 575, perhaps for the mb? Will the 575 mb fit in a 605 case? Is the only real difference between the 575 and the 475 the MHz gap and the existence of a comm slot on the 575? Other recommendations?

 

[JRL]

a 575 offers a very nice monitor, and is identical to the Quadra 605 in all respects except that you can add ethernet without taking the LC PDS slot.

The 575 motherboard uses a completely different PSU and MB form factor though, so it will not fit into the Quadra 605 case.

Quadra 605 is the best way to go, to be honest. A Quadra 630 is also another possible option, but the IIe card is not officially supported on that Mac AFAIK.

 

[Gil]

I'd go with the 575...it's convenient and compact, and offers everything that the 605 and the 475, with the addition of the comm-slot.

 

[mainland]

Thanks for the advice. My concern about the 575 is that it has the monitor attached...I'd like to get by without it! Thus my question about putting the 575 mobo in a different case---any good ways to turn it into a free-standing CPU sans monitor? It's also my understanding that the comm slot may not work when a IIe card is installed http://support.apple.com/kb/TA46886?viewlocale=en_US.

 

[Byrd]

I'm not aware of any way to make an LC575 "headless", and getting an external monitor supported on such a machine is also a bit fraught. You could always consider putting the LC575 board in a Colour Classic, and get the best of both worlds in terms of portability and power.

JB

 

[~tl]

I'm not aware of any way to make an LC575 "headless", and getting an external monitor supported on such a machine is also a bit fraught. You could always consider putting the LC575 board in a Colour Classic, and get the best of both worlds in terms of portability and power.
JB

At a guess, the video out board/harness from a Quadra 630 might work... since a Q630 board works in a CC as well (with a bit of modifying to make it fit). That being said, with the 475 being common, the difference in speed is probably not worth the hassle.

 

[JRL]

Thanks for the advice. My concern about the 575 is that it has the monitor attached...I'd like to get by without it! Thus my question about putting the 575 mobo in a different case---any good ways to turn it into a free-standing CPU sans monitor? It's also my understanding that the comm slot may not work when a IIe card is installed http://support.apple.com/kb/TA46886?viewlocale=en_US.

The 575's monitor is actually a REALLY good quality monitor. If you were worried about space, it doesn't take up much top room at all.

I don't see why a comm slot wouldn't work though. Has anybody tried before?

 

[Bunsen]

Will the 575 mb fit in a 605 case?

It might fit, but it won't be a drop in replacement. There would be a load of hackery involved.

Here's an LC575 motherboard, with a PDS card:

The white edge connector at the top goes into a slot which connects to the internal wiring harness. It has all of the connections from the mobo to the rest of the machine - power, SCSI, floppy, front panel controls, speakers and video. External back panel connections are at the bottom.

This is the slot it goes into, and part of the wiring harness:

Here's a Quadra 605/LC475 motherboard, in its case, and a clearer shot of an earlier LC pizzabox series motherboard:

As you can (kind of) see, there is no edge connector, and thus no wiring harness. Instead, it uses standard, separate motherboard connectors for everything internal.

Adapting a 575 motherboard to a stand-alone machine should in theory be possible, but you would need to strip the wiring harness out of the 575 and adapt it to your choice of case. It would not be a trivial job at all.

There is a breakout adapter for external Mac video, but they're not easy to find these days. Try ebay seller olde-mac-milt.

 

[Bunsen]

The 575 board is a popular upgrade for Colour Classics, so if you decide to go that route, you might find useful information on those sites.

 

[Dog Cow]

I have some nicer shots of the Quadra 605 if there's anyone interested:

http://macgui.com/upload/gallery/f_0/user_2/regular/upload_1103.jpg

http://macgui.com/upload/gallery/f_0/user_2/regular/upload_1105.jpg

http://macgui.com/upload/gallery/f_0/user_2/regular/upload_1104.jpg

But the last one is just for show, anyway. :I

 

[Bunsen]

Here's another pic of a 475/605:

comm slot may not work when a IIe card is installed http://support.apple.com/kb/TA46886?viewlocale=en_US.

Well, it would be important to confirm that before dismantling a 575 in any case. At least you *have* a comm slot on there!

 

[JRL]

Here's another pic of the LC 475 motherboard (my own) with a LC PDS video card if that helps:

 

[Scott Baret]

You could always put a video card in the 575. You'd have to set it up so that it always defaulted to this card but it just might work (I've done this on an LCII with a Radius card before but have never tried using a card-based video system on the integrated LCs). You do lose your PDS slot, unfortunately, making the machine far less expandable.

The 475 is a great machine too, but the 605 (identical to the 475 under the hood) will give you a slightly different case bottom with four large feet (which some on this board affectionately refer to as "feets"). The integrated video on the 475 will support 1MB, which works fine if you are using a smaller display and want a decent bit depth (and want to free up the PDS slot for something else). It's also very easy to get replacement parts (namely power supplies) for the 475/605 because of the number of LC series machines on the used market. Many parts are interchangeable with the ubiquitous LC/LCII/LCIII.

If you're looking to use a 500 series without a monitor, you may also want to consider the 580, which uses IDE drives instead of the less common, pricier SCSI. The monitor on the 580 is a shadow mask display, not a Trinitron, and is generally considered to be inferior to the older 575's display. (The 580 was the "cost-cutting" model of the 500 series released late in the cycle as a lower-priced alternative to not only the 575, but also the 5200).

 

[MacJunky]

If you're looking to use a 500 series without a monitor, you may also want to consider the 580, which uses IDE drives instead of the less common, pricier SCSI. The monitor on the 580 is a shadow mask display, not a Trinitron, and is generally considered to be inferior to the older 575's display. (The 580 was the "cost-cutting" model of the 500 series released late in the cycle as a lower-priced alternative to not only the 575, but also the 5200).

I liked to stick my 580 board into my 6500's case and use an external 15" or 17" display. You could use a 6400 case as well.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I had a longer post all ready to go and lost it when I tried to preview . . . without copying to "clipboard" first. :I

short version: You're right, the Q605 is the best bet for your original spec/purpose.

Added advantage: crap doesn't slide off when you pile it on top of the MicroQuadraFeetsMac™ like it does off the 475. [)] ]'>

 

[Bunsen]

I had a longer post all ready to go and lost it when I tried to preview . . . without copying to "clipboard" first. :I

There's a Firefox addon called Lazarus that automagically saves and restores everything you type into web forms. It's designed for recovery from crashes, so I don't know if it would help with the particular loss you sufffered there. I've found it invaluable.

With that, Firefox in Login Items, and the box ticked in System Preferences for automatic restart after power loss, it's as if the Mac never went down in the first place

Back on topic: If the OP requires use of the PDS slot for the Apple II card, that's going to restrict the choice of motherboards quite a lot, especially if networking is also required. If onboard or slot Ethernet proves unavailable, consider a Localtalk to Ethernet converter such as the Farallon Etherprint, or another Mac running Localtalk Bridge. Or a SCSI->Ethernet converter.

I agree that a CC with 575 would be the most elegant, but it all depends on the resolution of the issue described in the Apple technote linked above, and of course the availability of a CC. If a 575 proves unviabe, perhaps a 520 or 550.

5) What logic board upgrades are available for the Color Classic?

You could always put a video card in the 575

Not if you want the PDS slot for a ][e card.

 

[Scott Baret]

The 550 board is, if I recall, identical to the Color Classic II and is easily swappable. Keep in mind the 520 and 550 use the 68030; the machines mentioned in the original post all use the 680LC40; if you need that newer processor for some reason, steer clear of the 520/550. Also worth noting is that the LCIII and LCIII+ are to the 520 and 550, respectively, what the 475 is to the 575 in terms of specifications. (The pizza box LCs are the "400 series", as evidenced by the related Performas; 500 series are the same thing but with integrated monitors).

 

[netfreak]

I grew up having used the 475's quite a bit. A good friend of mine had a 575 and I agree those are very neat machines and the display is great. For some reason I really like the 475's look and would probably take it over the 575. Never seen a Q605 in person.