g3 tower model

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i have a g3 desktop given to me it came with 9.2. since then my nephew gave me an upgrade to osx works better but freezes alot and trouble with java etc he told me i would need to soup up the ram etc.so i could down load the new stuff and to go here and ask for advice so here i am this mac is a spare for our house so i can get access to web craigslist ebay i don't play games but i do use some video and digital pics so can i keep this mac as a toy with bargain upgrades it seems quite obsolete to put much cash into seeing a new pc with faster speed can be had in the three hundrud range,can i buy memory on the cheap used?thanks
 
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These G3s are not great for motion video. You would need a bigger CPU more memory Etc. There not good for DVDs,you can save data to DVD but movies are plainfully slow. Doing pics or word processing is ok even audio production with the right software is possible. It takes PC 100 memory sticks they really run at 66mgz. A 128 stick is like $18.00.
 
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mac sk can you frame out the mem stick?i am new and pick up a term here and there.is that something i would add for performance or to work pics with?does it add permanent hardware to system?



ps. thanks louishen great site!
 
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We need to know more about the machine. Is it a beige G3 desktop,or tower or B&W G3 tower. The beige memory pipeline runs at 66 mhz but can use PC 100 memory sticks,the sticks my be a little tall in the beige desktop. So you cut the fan shield off with some snips. The B&W memory runs at 100 mhz. The Beige G3 will need a usb card,it takes usb 1. You would need a camera with os9 drivers to load your pics,photoshop 6.etc.to edit. The beige has an IDE CD drive which you can change to a CD burner,I have a Mad Dog CDRW in mine. You have SCSI external connect and can use SCSI hard drives or Zip drives. I use a Canon usb N656u scanner with mine. You can connect to Ethernet and to other networked macs or laser printers.
 
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my g-3 is a smurf b&w 300 mhz only 6 gb hard drive though,it has a cd burner and zip drive,these are specs from the machine virtual mem 446mb back side cache 512k built in mem 384mb disc cache 4128 k don't know what it all means yet but machine keeps saying not enough space in hd delete files to down load more stuff like updates.i'm looking at some used hd with copies of osx on them in the 40gb to 80 gb range for cheap.will i be amazed at performance with such a small increase [by todays standards] of hd gb's?[ it's a tower]
 
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The Hard Drive is about a place to keep stuff,your data, apps, etc. A faster CPU and memory is the best way to improve the machine. Most likey the HD is full and you need to clean out some stuff. Most likely needs to be defraged too. There is a size limit on what HD you can put in the B&W and the OS needs to be on a partition of like 4 to 6 gigs to run right. Go throw the HD and find the stuff you do not use anymore and drag it to the trash can. Just don't dump any system files. It will run alot better. In the extensions manager turn off printers you do not use. If you lived here in the Atlanta area I would fix it for you....Alas your own your on, so learn more about the machine. If all your doing is Photos and Graphics you maybe able to stick with OS9,its all about what your going to do with it. Its not going to do cutting edge stuff like you see in the Mac magazines and the net. Go read this for more insight on upgrades for the B&W.

Installing OSX on your Blue and White G3
 
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g-3 tower upgrade

thanks for the advice all,after frustrating attempts to even get email accounts with the g3 and older op system,and comparing cost to replace hd .then to format it,i scanned c.list everyday and after being skunked several times,i brought home a g-4 today $ 100. came with 733mhz mach speed 768 of memory pro key board mac lcd monitor ,and 10.3.9osx the specs don't spell out hd. something called a ata has 128 mb says 117 avail is this it?also i plugged in a memory board 256 that was stickered g-3 from my old machine does it cross over to g-4?i'm a bit giddy as if this is star wars stuff!having fun suddenly i'm born again everything works like it's supposed to!l.o.l.seriously it's been on for about an hour i looked around inside and noticed a stacked hd but looks like only one is showing wires hooked up to it.any info on whats up with that? thanks again dave don;D
 
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Sounds like you bought a Qwicksilver. The memory runs at PC 133 The stick from the B&W runs at 100 mhz. Its going to slow you down a little, I would pull it out and buy a PC 133 stick. I would not give up on the B&W. Its not that hard to fix and still has uses. You can have more than one HD on the system bus like a PC can. Master,slave is what the jumpers are set to. ATTA is the Hard Drive and thats the size and space available. You know if you fix the B&W you can network it to the Qwicksilver.
 

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