powermac 8500 expansion

geekmeet · October 1, 2003 7:19PM

i just bought a 8500 av mainly because it has the A/V capabilities and because it has internal and external scsi.

im looking to expand it.

i did not buy a monitor yet.

i would like to add a very fast CDRW drive and or DVD drive and i would like to add firewire and usb ports to this thing.

i also want to add a g4 processor to this.

i would like to get at least a 17 inch trinitron quality monitor.

my main apllications will be bias peak 2.5 and digitla performer 2.7.

how should i go about this?

any help would be appreciated

fotns · October 1, 2003 8:31PM

I'd tell you that it is not worth upgrading. The video captures at only 320x240 15fps. The internal scsi is only 10MBps, and the RAM only runs at 50MHz. Finally, it does not have AGP, so the video won't be all that great. The 8500 is around 8 years old; this would be like getting a Pentium 120 and wanting to put a PIII in it.

splinemodel · October 1, 2003 9:10PM

Sorry to say, pal, but it's a waste. Sell it back. . . it probably hasn't deteriorated much at all (if at all) in terms of cost.

Just pick up a decent analog video card and put it in a decent machine. More expensive yes, but it will work much, much better.

ghost_user_name · October 1, 2003 9:47PM

About the only good those systems are anymore are running older Avid Media Composer systems. And even then, we're talking a 9500, not an 8500.

But if you're really insistent, I can sell you a FireWire PCI card

geekmeet · October 1, 2003 9:56PM

my main reason for buying the 8500 was the external scsi.

my main application will be bias peak 2.5 vst.

im going to using it with my sampler for SMDI dumps,in other words the 8500's SCSI capabilities will allow me to use my samplers (ensoniq asrx) scsi port to send samples to peak and edit them in the digital domain and then send them back to my sampler.

that is the main use for the 8500.

drboar · October 2, 2003 2:18AM

Well if the 8500 work as it is that is good but to upgrade?

For just SCSI internal and external that is a 40 dollar SCSI card in any modern Mac (or PC)

"i just bought a 8500 av mainly because it has the A/V capabilities and because it has internal and external scsi.

im looking to expand it.

i did not buy a monitor yet.

i would like to add a very fast CDRW drive and or DVD drive and i would like to add firewire and usb ports to this thing."

===>Sure a PCI combo card IDE/Fire Wire and USB card (http://eshop.macsales.com) 180 dollars and a burner say 50 dollars

a 20 dollar optical USB mouse is a good thing as well

i also want to add a g4 processor to this.

===> G4/800 at 400 dollars or so

i would like to get at least a 17 inch trinitron quality monitor.

Sure 200 dollars and 100 dollar to get a ATI 7000 graphical card as the motherboard graphics is dog slow and 50 dollars to get a decent sized hard disk

my main apllications will be bias peak 2.5 and digitla performer 2.7.

how should i go about this?

any help would be appreciated

==> Including the monitor you have spent 1000 dollars on something that lack OS X support and is way slower than a eMac...

At least Peak 2.6 and 3.0 seem to manage with any powermac so you might do OK with the 8500 as it is. If you really need more CPU power you will fare much better with a second hand AGP G4 and a 40 dollar SCSI card or even a B&W G3 and a SCSI card then trying to get real speed out of a 8500.

Getting a 180 MHz 604E card for 20 dollars on ebay if you have the 120 and 132 MHz is a good upgrade as is some RAM but that is about it. I would avoid the 200 MHz as many of the L2 caches has problem with the 50 Mhz bus of the 200 Mhz card (own experience)

geekmeet · October 2, 2003 4:17AM

actually,it already has a g3 card in it.

also it comes with office 2001 and appleworks already installed.

im not looking to do a lot with this computer.

i already have an imac 350mhz that im typing this on.

it doesnt have firewire otherwise i could have bought a firewire to scsi adapter.

believe me ive looked into it.

ive also had a bw powermac 300.

i bought it lest than a week after they were announce in san francisco.

i know mac.

im just making due with this 8500 until i get back on my feet.

im unemployeed.

not unlike myself · October 2, 2003 8:06AM

Not that I condone this lunacy... but you at least should read this stuff..

Cache Upgrade

Proc Upgrade

The ram would be 128MB 168 Pin Mac 5V DIMM 60NS 4K EDOs

For HD and CDRW check here

The best graphics card is going to be an ATI RADEON 7000 MacEdition PCI Graphics Card. It'll run you about $100 (less on ebay)

I have 'rebuilt' dozens of macs like this but the 8500 isn't the best choice. I'd go with a G3 Tower or 95/9600 (or even a blue and white). All of these can be had uber cheap. If you are gonna slave 4 or 5 to be a 'work horse' I'd use 6100s or 7200s. Best of luck with your project mate.

luca · October 2, 2003 2:36PM

My experience has been to just let the machines do what they were originally designed to do. They will work just as well as new if you don't push them too hard. I don't think it's worth it to put a G4 upgrade or a nice graphics card or even a CD burner in one of these old machines. Generally, 192-256 MB of RAM, a 4 GB+ hard drive, and a 200 MHz or faster processor (604e or G3) is fine. Use the internal video unless you find a good deal on a Rage 128 PCI, you won't be doing any gaming with it anyway. These can be quite nice machines, probably about as fast in OS 9 as a 400-600 MHz iMac in OS X, or faster. But don't get any ideas about hacking them to run OS X or putting a really fast G4. Anything higher than a G3/450 is just wasted on such a machine.

And if all you need is SCSI, just buy a SCSI card. It'll be faster than the external SCSI port on the 8500, and it'll work directly with your main computer instead of having to transfer stuff between the two.

geekmeet · October 3, 2003 4:30AM

im trying to get a beige G3/300 instead of the 8500.

i think that will be a little easier to expand rather than a 8500.

i dont plan to run os/x on it.

powermac 8500 expansion

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