WGS 9650/350

[Byrd]

Hi,

Today I picked up a WorkGroup Server 9650/350 - nigh on my idea of the "ultimate" Mac (just short of a Quad G5!). Super expandability with a super case to work on. Total cost: $80, and from a fantastic seller.

This Mac came specced to me as:

- 896MB RAM

- PCI 100mbps NIC

- ATI Nexus 32MB graphics card (this is just a Rage 128, right?). Has connector on it to add more video RAM

- ATI Xclaim 3D 8MB

- Sonnet Tempo 133 IDE card

- SCSI-3 Jackhammer RAID card (with single LVDS 36GB drive)

- Original manuals, system discs

- External SCSI-3 16X SCSI CD burner

I'll have to look in my tub o' mac crap to see what else I can shove in there, quite a lot no doubt

JB

 

[Bunsen]

That is indeed a beastly conquest! Might I ask where you found it?

I agree with you that that is about the best pre-G3 Mac there is, and possibly some way into the G3 era. A 350MHz 604ev beats out my twin 200MHz 604 for OS 9, easily. Nice set of accessory cards too.

Looks like you still have a PCI slot empty, too.

 

[Byrd]

Hi B,

It happened via Mactalk - member jmd (serious collector and no doubt on here too!) contacted me, was offered this and had no need for it, so I contacted the seller and went from there. This particular 9650 was used to create monstrous digital images/artwork/fabric designs and printed on one of those equally monstrous printers the size of a small car in the late 90s. The 9650 in it's day set him back well over $15K with all the upgrades - scary stuff!

The "WorkGroup Server" moniker is a bit of a crock though - it came shipped with a PCI 10/100 NIC, JackHammer SCSI card and has some additional cache on the 350Mhz 604e - nice stuff, but almost doubled the price of the machine compared to a stock 9600.

JB

 

[LCGuy]

Great score...that RAM alone would be worth the $80! Anyway, it must be quite a machine, I remember back when I was 12 (and the 9600/350 was the fastest Mac money could buy), I would have killed to even get anywhere near a machine like that :O

 

[beachycove]

The extra cost of a WGS9650 over a 9600 was due to the scsi card, large drive, and presumably extra RAM (small RAM in the order of 32MB was stock, remember, and not nearly enough for a server), all of which were a big deal back in 1997-8, but mostly due the the AppleShare software, which drove up the cost about another $1000.

A 604ev machine is a good deal different than a 604e machine with extra cache, but $15k sounds a little de trop for one, methinks, all the same. Maybe it was ordered at the time with a bucketful of RAM and with the printer?

 

[Bunsen]

No way. The printer would have been in the $10k-$50k plus range alone. And retail on a stock 9600/350 was $5400.

 

[Byrd]

+ 20" Apple ColourSync display, methinks (+ software, etc, etc)

Oh one more thing: a legit CD of OS 9.1 - a first for me!

JB

 

[macgreg]

Nice work - this will be an awesome machine.

 

[Temetka]

It's no Genesis tower but it should do in a pinch.

Kidding, it's a great machine. May it serve you well.