Color Classic II upgrades

[adamz]

Hi All,

I have a Color Classic 2 which I’m itching to modify.

Mods I’m going to attempt

1. VGA mod to improve screen resolution.
2. Upgrade RAM to 32mb and VRAM to 512 (by adding a 256 vram).
3. Add a 33mHz co-processor.

I’d like your opinions on other mods. I’m considering an accelerator card, however I’m unsure which card to obtain. Are the MacEffects or CCBooster cards effective in a Color Classic II? If not what would be the best card to purchase?

In addition to this, what’s the best OS version to run? Would it handle OS 8 or is it better to stick to 7.1?
Your help is much appreciated!

 

[jasa1063]

I would say the RAM and VRAM upgrades are a no-brainer. The VGA mod is of course up to you. I have a Color Classic case that I run a Color Classic, LC 550 (Color Classic II upgrade ) and LC 575 (Mystic upgrade) motherboards in, so I decided against the VGA mode for full compatibility. My daily driver OS on all is System 7.1 with the System Update 3.0. I would go with System 7.5.3 or 7.5.5 as a second choice. Just my two cents based on what I run.

 

[adespoton]

Ditto @jasa1063 -- RAM and VRAM upgrades, definitely. I did the VGA mod and was happy for it, but you might be better off doing a Mystic upgrade if you're wanting to go with a faster processor. Accelerators work, but are finicky, require more fans, and can cause other failures. Doing it again, I'd either go with the VGA mod and an Ethernet card in the PDS slot, or with a Mystic upgrade with Ethernet. If you go the Mystic / LC575 route, then definitely max out the RAM and VRAM, and Mac OS 8.1 might make sense. I found that with the original board, I waffled between 7.1 SU3 and 7.6.1, eventually creating a partition for each, depending on what I wanted to do.