joshc Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Just collected a B&W G3 today, which I got off eBay for £10 ($14.39). Just updated the firmware and installed 9.2.1. My first PowerMac and this will be my main system for running OS 9 for all the old software/games I like. I can now say goodbye and good riddance to Basilisk and Sheepshaver. Project plans, in order of priority: - Up the RAM, currently 320MB. - Get a Sonnet, or other brand, of IDE controller so I can use larger disks. This is a Rev. A model, so unfortunately the on-board IDE controller completely sucks. - Then put in a nice large capacity HD. - Somehow make the case fan and PSU fan quieter, or alternatively install a quiet ATX PSU and do a little trickery to make it work. - Upgrade the graphics card from Rage 128 to Radeon 9200. - Get a faster processor - what I *want* is a 1.0 GHz G4 Sonnet Encore/ZIF, but they are too expensive for me. - Get a fast Ethernet card? - Add more USB ports via a PCI card? - Upgrade CD-ROM drive to a CD/DVD combo that is fast and quiet. Will post pictures soon -- the case is in decent condition, some scratches and other marks, and one side of the door doesn't close flush to the rest of the case. But for a computer TEN years old, this aint bad at all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
istar1018 Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Did everything you are proposing to do, and I can say that you will not be disappointed. My $9.99 B&W started life as a stock 300 MHz Rev. A, and is now quite happy with maxed ram, a big ATA hard drive, a DVD-RW drive, a Sonnet 1 GHz G4 processor upgrade (finding a cheap one of these was a big help), and PCI USB 2.0, Radeon 9200 & ATA-133 cards. Most of these parts were hand-me-downs / surplus, and didn't cost an arm and a leg, either. Running Tiger, it's hard to believe that this is a 10-year old machine. Good luck with your project! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MacMan Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 I've heard it is pretty easy to overclock B&W G3s, it is just a case of shifting some jumpers about (no soldering required). My B&W G3 was overclocked from 350MHz to 450MHz by the previous owner and it has served reliably for years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Unknown_K Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 I stuffed a g3-400/1mb with 1GB of RAM, Radeon 7000 mac edition video, 40gb, 20gb, 6gb for OS 9.2.1/osx 10.3.9/dump drive) along with a SCSI card and a ATA/66 card in the B&W in my room. I have a g4-450/1mb, Radeon mac edition, 512MB RAM, 64 bit SCSI card with 9GB scsi HD , Matrox RTMAC video editing card, and 2 10 or 20GB HDs for OS 9 and osx 10.3.9 in that machine. Both machines are revision 2 IDE, the G4 has a DVD reader while the G3 has a 40x liteon cdrom drive. Nice cool running machines and you can still use all your old ADB stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
System7 Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 I would really try getting a 350 or 400 cpu module. Those are slower by a little than the beige's. Less L2! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MultiFinder Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 £10 for a B&W isn't bad at all! Enjoy, you lucky little... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Christopher Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I hear the 1000MHz G3's are better because it doesn't downclock your bus speed from 100MHz to 66MHz. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
joshc Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Pictures as promised: B&W G3 with 22" Hanns.G display, 15" Sharp LCD, iMac 17" Core Duo: In this one, you can see the damage to some of the casing, which means the side-door doesn't close properly, but meh. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Christopher Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 ^^^ Pretty. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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