Sonnet Encore G4 ZIF in Daystar Carrier thoughts

[Bolle]

I just acquired a Sonnet Encore G4 ZIF 800MHz that was supposed to be dead from eBay. I wanted to use it in a Daystar Carrier in my 9600.

I tested the card in a Beige G3 and it booted straight without any problem.

At the moment there is a 500MHz Sonnet ZIF in the Carrier in the 9600 which is running just fine.

My guess was that the 800mhz should just run as well then. Only problem is that it wont fit physically.

I noticed that the ZIF has two missing pins on the edges so that you theoretically can install it in two directions. After studying the user manual I saw that you indeed have to install it in a different way when you use it in a B/W than the way you plug it into the Beige - while the original ZIF in those two plugs in the same way. The card has to sense how it is plugged in somehow.

So while the card wont fit into the Daystar the way it boots with the Beige it will fit just fine the way it should boot in the B/W.

If I plug everything in the 9600 does just nothing but turn on and no chime at all - same happens when i put it in the "B/W-way" in the Beige.

Anyone got an idea what else I could try?

 

[Unknown_K]

Simple solution is to keep the 500 in the 9600 and use the 800 in a B&W or Beige G3. On higher speed CPU's the slow memory BUS and FSB (50mhz) of the 9600 will slow it down, best bet is to go 8 x 100 in a B&W G3 which would be pretty snappy.

Sounds like you got that CPU cheap (dead) so you got a good deal.

 

[Byrd]

I'd say it's an incompatibility - noting that Sonnet G4 ZIF chips 400 - 500Mhz in a MACH Carrier Card refuse to be overclocked regardless of the bus and multiplier speed set on the Carrier card itself. Perhaps the Sonnet card is trying to run at 100Mhz FSB on the 9600, or 66Mhz which isn't possible - and the Carrier card can't help you here.

JB

 

[CJ_Miller]

I need to agree with Byrd here, pushing 500 MHz in a 9600 is not going to be worth the trouble. I have a 500 MHz Sonnet G3 in my 8600. It runs nice, but the bus and RAM are a bottleneck it can't overcome. Beige G3s make a more versatile old-world box, and a Rev.2 B&W would be ideal. My 600 MHz B&W is considerably faster than the 500 MHz 8600, it is not just the CPU, it is the whole system.

 

[jpolster2009]

plus if u do the beige g3, you could have yourself a nice atx conversion if you want, and load up that atx tower with jazz drive, zip drive, dvd burner, and auto ejecting floppy drives

 

[johnklos]

If you want a faster G4 in your PowerMac 9600, look for a Sonnet Crescendo G4. They came in 700 and 800 MHz models with 1 meg of L3 and a 1 GHz model with 2 megs of L3 cache. You might be able to find them used.