Upgrading Beige G3 cards for OS X

srupert

I need some advice.



I have grown tired of waiting for companies to release upgraded drivers/firmware for some of my hardware in my Beige G3 266 tower,

and so have decided to replace that hardware with compatible stuff.



1) ATA Card-

My 60 GB Western Digital IDE Harddrive is unusable in OS X because of the incompatible ATA Card it is attached to: a VST Ultratek/66.



Which ATA Card(s) are compatible with Mac OS X?



Of the ones that are compatible; which vendors seem the likeliest to keep updating their drivers/firmware for Mac OS X and up?



2) Video Card-

My built-in ATI II card, and my ATI Xclaim 3D card (Rage II or Pro) are crippled under Mac OS X.



I need some recomendations for new ones.



I don't play a lot of games, so I don't necessarily need the fastest ones; but would still like to be able to play games occasionly, and be able to work with graphics programs.



Will ATI continually fall behind with drivers? I have heard some people say that if gaming is not involved; ATI is better. Is nVidia good for 2D too?



I run two monitors off of the G3; so is there a best choice for dual monitors?



Also, I occasionly watch TV with an external Xclaim TV tuner; which I hear is also imcompatible with Mac OS X! Are there any compatible cards with built in TV tuners? If not, are there any good recomendations for low-cost external USB or Firewire TV tuners?



3) G3/G4 chip replacements -

I will be getting a new desktop Mac in August; and replacing the kids Performa 631! with the Beige G3.



I'd like to upgrade the 266 G3 chip with a much higher G3, or a G4.



Which accelerator company appears to be the best bet to keep their accelerators working with OS X into the future?



And what would be minimum reasonable jump up in speed to really make the Beige G3 usable under OS X?



Also I might like to upgrade the chip on my G3 Powerbook (Pismo) in August also. The same questions apply as above.

bogie

Sonnet cards [I am told] are compatible with Mac OS X, but best to check <a href="http://www.xlr8yourmac.com"; target="_blank">http://www.xlr8yourmac.com</a>;



As far as processor cards go [if you are looking at that] you can get a 500MHz G3 for $200 or a 400MHz G4 for about the same at <a href="http://www.owcomputing.com"; target="_blank">http://www.owcomputing.com</a>; that is where I bought my G3 400MHz chip two years ago for $200 and I think you would have good luck there.



As far as video cards nVidia cards are not PCI so we can't use 'em, sigh. 3dfx cards are not supported in Mac OS X but ATi cards are, I wouldn't spend the money on a Radeon if you can find a Rage128 based card. For a good reason as to why you can check out <a href="http://www.barefeats.com"; target="_blank">http://www.barefeats.com</a>; as they did some comparisons between the two.

thinkingdifferent

[quote][QB}

3dfx cards are not supported in Mac OS X but ATi cards are,[/QB]<hr></blockquote>



This is not true. I have a 3dfx Voodoo3 and it works fine with OSX.

powerdoc

[quote]Originally posted by srupert:

<strong>I need some advice.



I have grown tired of waiting for companies to release upgraded drivers/firmware for some of my hardware in my Beige G3 266 tower,

and so have decided to replace that hardware with compatible stuff.



1) ATA Card-

My 60 GB Western Digital IDE Harddrive is unusable in OS X because of the incompatible ATA Card it is attached to: a VST Ultratek/66.



Which ATA Card(s) are compatible with Mac OS X?



Of the ones that are compatible; which vendors seem the likeliest to keep updating their drivers/firmware for Mac OS X and up?



2) Video Card-

My built-in ATI II card, and my ATI Xclaim 3D card (Rage II or Pro) are crippled under Mac OS X.



I need some recomendations for new ones.



I don't play a lot of games, so I don't necessarily need the fastest ones; but would still like to be able to play games occasionly, and be able to work with graphics programs.



Will ATI continually fall behind with drivers? I have heard some people say that if gaming is not involved; ATI is better. Is nVidia good for 2D too?



I run two monitors off of the G3; so is there a best choice for dual monitors?



Also, I occasionly watch TV with an external Xclaim TV tuner; which I hear is also imcompatible with Mac OS X! Are there any compatible cards with built in TV tuners? If not, are there any good recomendations for low-cost external USB or Firewire TV tuners?



3) G3/G4 chip replacements -

I will be getting a new desktop Mac in August; and replacing the kids Performa 631! with the Beige G3.



I'd like to upgrade the 266 G3 chip with a much higher G3, or a G4.



Which accelerator company appears to be the best bet to keep their accelerators working with OS X into the future?



And what would be minimum reasonable jump up in speed to really make the Beige G3 usable under OS X?



Also I might like to upgrade the chip on my G3 Powerbook (Pismo) in August also. The same questions apply as above.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Chips upgrade for mac are not very interesting for the moment (even if the prize are far more better in the US : totally stupid prize in france : 50 % more expansive).

Why the G3 speed is limited to 500 mhz when there is G3 chips able to go at 700 mhz, the G4 can clock at 866 mhz and G4 upgrade are stuck at 500 mhz. Many poeple here (including me) complains because the speed of the new macs are too slow. The upgrade are worse in this case. Stuck at 500 mhz when the P4 is at 2,2 ghz (even if it is a crappy chip it toast any PPC chips at 500 mhz) Worse for the prize of an athlon xp 2000 you may have a g'4 500.

I have a b&w G3 350 that i will wish to upgrade , but upgrading only to 500 does not make much sense. i want 700 mhz.

bogie

3dfx cards aren't supported. They do work, but there is no hardware acceleration for 2d or 3d, and Apple will not help with any issues you have regardless if you pay them.