IIfx
Well-known member
I have a dead IIcx and a dead IIci that both require recaps to bring them back to life. Unfortunately I only have the parts to completely restore one of the two machines and it's difficult to decide which machine should get the full restoration treatment first. I'm short on superdrives, working power supplies, and SCSI hard disks. Both were made in the Freemont, CA plant.
It's difficult for me to make up my mind. The system will probably be made into a dedicated System 6 machine as I have tons of System 7 machines. A 33mhz Rocket will be used with RocketWare as a CPU accelerator.
Here is how I see the two choices:
IIcx Pros:
- Older machine
- Original Apple video card is in place
- Battle hardened ex-school district owned, has a traceable lineage
- Architecture is related to the IIx, SE/30
- Motherboard is in very good condition with minimal, if any corrosion
- Kept working longer than the IIci
IIcx Cons:
- Case is somewhat rough, yellowed
- Slow compared to the IIci
- Lack of onboard video
- No cache slot/PDS
- Apple video card has corrosion from bad caps
- Some refer to the motherboard design as "awful" in comparison to the IIci
IIci Pros:
- Faster than the IIcx
- Case is in good condition
- Cache card is present
- Worthy of accelerated video cards
- "Cult Classic" status
IIci Cons:
- Slightly more corrosion damage, although not a showstopper. Mostly contained to the 1 small chip behind the outer Nubus slot which has a cap can located adjacent. Cache card also has some very minor damage. Can probably be cleaned.
- Failed earlier than the IIcx
- No story attached to this specific IIci
- Outer Nubus slot may be completely lost due to cap corrosion
It's difficult for me to make up my mind. The system will probably be made into a dedicated System 6 machine as I have tons of System 7 machines. A 33mhz Rocket will be used with RocketWare as a CPU accelerator.
Here is how I see the two choices:
IIcx Pros:
- Older machine
- Original Apple video card is in place
- Battle hardened ex-school district owned, has a traceable lineage
- Architecture is related to the IIx, SE/30
- Motherboard is in very good condition with minimal, if any corrosion
- Kept working longer than the IIci
IIcx Cons:
- Case is somewhat rough, yellowed
- Slow compared to the IIci
- Lack of onboard video
- No cache slot/PDS
- Apple video card has corrosion from bad caps
- Some refer to the motherboard design as "awful" in comparison to the IIci
IIci Pros:
- Faster than the IIcx
- Case is in good condition
- Cache card is present
- Worthy of accelerated video cards
- "Cult Classic" status
IIci Cons:
- Slightly more corrosion damage, although not a showstopper. Mostly contained to the 1 small chip behind the outer Nubus slot which has a cap can located adjacent. Cache card also has some very minor damage. Can probably be cleaned.
- Failed earlier than the IIcx
- No story attached to this specific IIci
- Outer Nubus slot may be completely lost due to cap corrosion