I'm comparing the specs and these machines looks almost identical, minus the CPUs that they use. The system bus speed is the same, it has the same amount of PCI slots, everything. I know that the later 9600s switched over to the Kansas boards so the soldered-in cache problem is outta the way, but other than that I'm not seeing a difference between the 200mhz 9500 and the 200mhz 9600. Am I missing something?
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Is there much of a difference between the 9500 and 9600?
- Thread starter Syntho
- Start date
Hi,
They are very similar in that both have 12 RAM slots and 6 PCI slots, but the 9600 is the 9500's successor and will provide better performance and compatibility. And of course the 9500's case is a nightmare to get around compared to the 9600's rugged, easy to upgrade casing. The test of time shows that 9600/G3 Minitowers continue to keep going while the 9500's I've come across tend to have more PSU issues, and the case starts to disintegrate!
JB
They are very similar in that both have 12 RAM slots and 6 PCI slots, but the 9600 is the 9500's successor and will provide better performance and compatibility. And of course the 9500's case is a nightmare to get around compared to the 9600's rugged, easy to upgrade casing. The test of time shows that 9600/G3 Minitowers continue to keep going while the 9500's I've come across tend to have more PSU issues, and the case starts to disintegrate!
JB
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What Byrd said! My experience might be analogous with having switched years ago from running an 8500 as my main machine to an 8600. The X500 cases are far less robust and an utter PITA to work with. My 8500 was dead by about 2002 (case, power, and memory problems) but my 8600 keeps humming along nicely today.
So far as I know the motherboards are indeed identical, at least so far as using the same ASICs at the same clock speeds. Perhaps the later versions of the boards fixed some bugs but, yes, unless you're talking about the "Kansas" models they're the same thing
The 8/9500 cases are indeed pure unadulterated crap; based on that alone if you were choosing one or the other take the x600, but, yeah, unless someone knows something I don't the boards are the same.
There seems to be more chips on the 9500 motherboard going by google pics (could just be the cache chips actually), and the power supplies are different.
Overall the 9600 case is MUCH better as stated by others plus the bezels are easy to get (same as the G3 tower) and you can have multiple optical drives and more HDs installed on the 9600.
Overall the 9600 case is MUCH better as stated by others plus the bezels are easy to get (same as the G3 tower) and you can have multiple optical drives and more HDs installed on the 9600.
I need a 6-slot machine and as far as I'm aware, the 9500 and 9600 are the only powermacs to have that feature. 9600s are hard to come by, I only see them on ebay every so often. I'm on the hunt for a Kansas 9600 but I may settle for a 9500 or even a Tsunami 9600 if a Kansas 9600 isn't available.
I'd say go for it if cheap, and even consider modding the 9500 guts into an ATX case - could be fun! The 9500 case really is that cheap and flimsy and will drive you insane if you need to work on it often. I'd also consider the weaker 9500 PSU to be taxed with six PCI slots filled. The 9600 you can just chuck it all in and be assured the rugged PSU can handle it.
Think of the 9600 motherboard as being more refined, probably able to handle higher bus speeds (if you have a G3 card that lets you adjust the bus) and I'd still bet slightly faster overall stock for stock config.
Think of the 9600 motherboard as being more refined, probably able to handle higher bus speeds (if you have a G3 card that lets you adjust the bus) and I'd still bet slightly faster overall stock for stock config.
There were two distinct 9600 models and one 9500 model. The 9600 models are the original 9600 and the PM 9600 Enhanced, also know as the Kansas 9600.
There are three differences between the 9500 and the 9600. The power supply connector on the logic board is different (IIRC), the case is different, as others have mentioned, and the ROM has been updated from 77D.28F2 to 77D.34F2. Chips are marked 341S0168 - 341S0171 and 341S0280 - 341S0283 respectively. Otherwise the 9500 and original 9600 logic board are identical and the ROM revision provides little if any change in performance.
The difference between the 9600 and the 9600 enhanced are slight changes in the pinout of the CPU slot to support the new CPU card (more 3.3V supply?, haven't mapped it out), the L2 cache is removed from the logic board, and the ROM is once again updated to 77D.34F5. Chips are marked 341S380 through 341S383.
If you want to use an ATX case, your best option is to find a Power Computing (PCC) Power Tower Pro logic board or machine. It will fit properly in an ATX case adn use an ATX power supply without modification. Logically it is identical to a PM9500 logic board.
Another alternative is the Umax S900 logic board, but the power supply required adapting to use an ATX and the lower four slots have various issues, which are easy to deal with once you understand them, but simply make it impossible to use some combinations of PCI cards.
There are three differences between the 9500 and the 9600. The power supply connector on the logic board is different (IIRC), the case is different, as others have mentioned, and the ROM has been updated from 77D.28F2 to 77D.34F2. Chips are marked 341S0168 - 341S0171 and 341S0280 - 341S0283 respectively. Otherwise the 9500 and original 9600 logic board are identical and the ROM revision provides little if any change in performance.
The difference between the 9600 and the 9600 enhanced are slight changes in the pinout of the CPU slot to support the new CPU card (more 3.3V supply?, haven't mapped it out), the L2 cache is removed from the logic board, and the ROM is once again updated to 77D.34F5. Chips are marked 341S380 through 341S383.
If you want to use an ATX case, your best option is to find a Power Computing (PCC) Power Tower Pro logic board or machine. It will fit properly in an ATX case adn use an ATX power supply without modification. Logically it is identical to a PM9500 logic board.
Another alternative is the Umax S900 logic board, but the power supply required adapting to use an ATX and the lower four slots have various issues, which are easy to deal with once you understand them, but simply make it impossible to use some combinations of PCI cards.
A 9500 board won't fit in a 9600 case, despite all this, as it isn't possible to connect the cables. I forget the details, but I tried it and failed a few years back. However, I think that most everything else was a fit, i.e., ports etc.
Could I put a 300/350 Kansas board inside a 200/233 Tsunami machine and use the same power supply and the rest of the internals? Not sure how interchangeable the Tsunami and Kansas 9600s are. There are usually more Tsunami 9600s floating around so maybe I could buy a 200/233 machine and switch out the mobo with a new Kansas board if i can't find a complete 300 or 350 machine.
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The two types of 9600 logic board should swap okay, provided you have compatible CPU cards for the type you switch to.
The problem with putting the 9500 board in the 9600 case is simply that the power supply connector was changed. You can still do it by either swapping the power supply (fit?) or by building an electrical adapter.
The problem with putting the 9500 board in the 9600 case is simply that the power supply connector was changed. You can still do it by either swapping the power supply (fit?) or by building an electrical adapter.
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Oh, I found another variation on the 9500 logic board. I didn't realize it, but the one I have has an earlier ROM than is usually found on them. Mine has the $77D.28F1 ROM (instead of ...F2) and the chip numbers are 341S0106 through 341S0109. I've seen these early ROMs on a few 7200 boards as well, but they do not seem to be common. I wonder what Apple updated in the ROM change...
...Is it possible to put the Tsunami ROM in a 9500? Any benefit of doing so?
Either of the two ROM versions found in the 9600s will work in the 9500. However, there's no apparent advantage to the .34F1 code. The .34F5 (from the "Enhanced" or Kansas machines) has a speculative processing fix which will let you enable that feature on G3 upgrades without danger of problems.
But, the Kansas ROM will prevent you from running systems earlier than 7.6.1 on the machine.
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