Is there anyone running the latest OS X on the B&W G3 model towers? Just curious if this is a viable option or not (for testing, email, browsing, small development). What is the max RAM on these boxes?
Im doing it on a 400. It is a better experience than the iMac 350 I had before.
RAM is really the key, the iMac with 192 can run _1_ application without grinding to a halt.
256 and you get a couple of apps.
This applies to any system running OS X tho.
Dont ask too much of it, it wont be very happy editing movies, or running iphoto. I use mine for IM ( adium ), testing web sites in Safari and IE mac, and running a few mac specific programs. Notably omni outline and omni graffle. I also use it for tex editing with LyX, which works great.
If you are looking at setting someone up with a computer, or using it as a second machine for 'net and 'mail then it will be fine.
The 350MHz B/W G3 here at the house is the home server... running MacOS X Server 10.3.5 on it, and it works great. But no, I don't run iMovie on it, just iPhoto and iTunes.
Plop some RAM in what ever you get - I've got 256MB in the server, and it's... adequate. At least for a server. Logging in for direct use is a bit, um, painful. But for a server? It works great.
I have a G3 300/512 B&W overclocked to 350 Mhz an it runs Panther 10.3.4 at least as good as my G3 Beige 333/, overclocked to 366 Mhz.
Both computers have 384 MB RAM. The G3 B&W has a better video acceleration because of a 66 MHz PCI slot.
But of course, any G4 with an AGP slot is faster.
Internet speed is better on a G3 b&W than on a G3 Beige because the B&W has 10/100Base-T ethernet.
Some advice:
If you buy a blue & white G3, insist on getting a Revision 2 system. The best way to make sure you're getting a Rev. 2 motherboard is the "402" marking on the CMD646 IDE controller chip.
The new IDE controller improves slave drive support and solves a drive corruption problem and these Macs have a faster version of the ATI Rage 128 video card. So therefore, avoid a G3/300.
It's that crazy what the G4 systems go for. I just saw a Dual 450Mhz G4 system, just the system, with 768MB ram and 60GB go for $950. That's just crazy.
And in case your G3 won't be supported anymore by Tiger, there is always XPOSTFACTO. I am running Panther on my unsupported G3 Beige and it is rock stable...
My B & W has a Gig of ram, 32 MB Radion PCI card and a 450 Mh G4 upgrade card. It's plenty snappy for web, email, etc. Upgrading these is cheap! All the ram and the 7200 rpm Maxter Hard drive make it feel more snappy then my 867 Mhz G4 laptop. ( At least the GUI)
However, it is unusable for any real Illustrator or Photoshop work in OS X. (Very workable in OS 9).
I have a Rev. A which is a pain. Only get a Rev. B which will support a 2nd hard drive. (The Rev. B's have a visible bracket for mounting for a stacked second hard drive, noticeable at the back where the Hard drive is when you open the case).
Another issue that I have, that other B & W may or may not have is that it won't deep sleep with the fan staying on. I'm not sure if this is a firmware issue from the G4 upgrade or something else. (If anyone has any ideas on fixing this, please let me know!)
My B & W currently sits unplugged right now as it's been bumped out of the way by a dual 2 Ghz. G5.
If I can figure out the deep sleep issue and shut the fan up when it's not being used, I'll hook it back up and us it as a server, for back up or give it to my dad so he can start using OS X instead of OS 9 and is beige G3.
<major-sarcasm> Ya but I get pretty water logged after having to wait for the screen to redraw the image for 15-20 seconds every time I should want to move a couple of clicks to the left right or up or down.
But hey since I only do that a few trillion times per doc (slight exaggeration), I guess it's not too unusable. </major-sarcasm>
Don't buy one with a rev "A" logic board, they are unstable. I think you are prety safe with 400mhz or faster machines. As it happens I have a G3-300 with a 500mhz G4 upgrade card and whilst it is unstable it isd fast enough for most things. I would not consider using it for video editing.But it is OK for email, word , photoshop, quark,dreameaver, but it can't burn and occasionally freezes.
It isn't just my machine Rev "A" logic boars are a problem.
Comments
Usability is somewhat subjective. So long as you realise that it will be slow, it should be fine.
For detailed info on the models, try apple-history.
RAM is really the key, the iMac with 192 can run _1_ application without grinding to a halt.
256 and you get a couple of apps.
This applies to any system running OS X tho.
Dont ask too much of it, it wont be very happy editing movies, or running iphoto. I use mine for IM ( adium ), testing web sites in Safari and IE mac, and running a few mac specific programs. Notably omni outline and omni graffle. I also use it for tex editing with LyX, which works great.
If you are looking at setting someone up with a computer, or using it as a second machine for 'net and 'mail then it will be fine.
Originally posted by auslander
I'm running Tiger on my old B&W G3 400. It's got a GB of RAM in it. It's definitely not fast, but it's faster than Panther.
Will Tiger make all machines seem faster? Will my ibook here seem a bit faster when Tiger is released? It feels slow to me sometimes.
As for Tiger, no one knows... but the trend has been that each update has gotten a little faster, while providing more features. Gotta love that.
Both computers have 384 MB RAM. The G3 B&W has a better video acceleration because of a 66 MHz PCI slot.
But of course, any G4 with an AGP slot is faster.
Internet speed is better on a G3 b&W than on a G3 Beige because the B&W has 10/100Base-T ethernet.
Some advice:
If you buy a blue & white G3, insist on getting a Revision 2 system. The best way to make sure you're getting a Rev. 2 motherboard is the "402" marking on the CMD646 IDE controller chip.
The new IDE controller improves slave drive support and solves a drive corruption problem and these Macs have a faster version of the ATI Rage 128 video card. So therefore, avoid a G3/300.
Little sukkas hold their value a bit here in OZ, G4/400's are crazy prices !
Originally posted by Kickaha
As for Tiger, no one knows... but the trend has been that each update has gotten a little faster, while providing more features. Gotta love that.
That is reason enough to love Apple. M$ should be ashamed of itself.
However, it is unusable for any real Illustrator or Photoshop work in OS X. (Very workable in OS 9).
I have a Rev. A which is a pain. Only get a Rev. B which will support a 2nd hard drive. (The Rev. B's have a visible bracket for mounting for a stacked second hard drive, noticeable at the back where the Hard drive is when you open the case).
Another issue that I have, that other B & W may or may not have is that it won't deep sleep with the fan staying on. I'm not sure if this is a firmware issue from the G4 upgrade or something else. (If anyone has any ideas on fixing this, please let me know!)
My B & W currently sits unplugged right now as it's been bumped out of the way by a dual 2 Ghz. G5.
If I can figure out the deep sleep issue and shut the fan up when it's not being used, I'll hook it back up and us it as a server, for back up or give it to my dad so he can start using OS X instead of OS 9 and is beige G3.
But hey since I only do that a few trillion times per doc (slight exaggeration), I guess it's not too unusable. </major-sarcasm>
It isn't just my machine Rev "A" logic boars are a problem.