Power Macintosh

Guide to G3 CPU Upgrades for G3 Power Macs

Updated 2003.05.11

Got a Power Mac? Join the Power Macs email list.

If you have a Power Mac G3, whether the original beige model or the blue & white one, moving to a faster CPU is as easy as removing the current one and inserting a new on in the zero insertion force (ZIF) socket.

Benchmark scores are MacBench 5 (note that these are roughly 7% lower than MacBench 4 scores). For comparison purposes, the beige Power Mac G3/300 has a CPU score of 1000, the new $1,600 blue & white G3/300 scores 926 (due to a smaller L2 cache), the G3/350 reaches 1145, and the top of the line G3/400 hits 1310.

Be sure to read That extra 10% to help you decide which upgrade provides the best value for you.

The information is as accurate as I can find, but specifications and availability are subject to change; I suggest you check with the manufacturer to verify current models. Prices may be outdated. (Prices are in $US, and no price is listed for discontinued upgrades.) In fact, models are added and discontinued so often, it's impossible to keep track of which models are current.

NOTE: Not all upgrades are compatible with the Blue G3.

Discontinued accelerators are listed for historical reasons.

Manufacturer CPU
Speed		 Cache
Size		 Cache
Speed		 MacBench
5.0 rating*		 Estimated
Street Price

Estimated
Value**
metabox
joeCARD Z
adjustable bus
discontinued		 500 MHz 1 MB 250 MHz
Newer Technology
MAXpowr G3
discontinued		 500 MHz 1 MB 250 MHz
phase5
G3 Power Booster
discontinued		 466 MHz 1 MB 233 MHz
450 MHz 1 MB 225 MHz
400 MHz 1 MB 200 MHz
PowerLogix
PowerForce ZIF
adjustable bus
updated 9/11/07		 500 MHz 1 MB 250 MHz

1 GHz 1 MB 1 GHz $140

1.1 GHz 1 MB 1.1 GHz
Sonnet Technologies
Encore/ZIF
discontinued		 500 MHz 1 MB 250 MHz
XLR8
MACh Speed G3z
adjustable bus
discontinued		 500 MHz 1 MB 250 MHz
466 MHz 1 MB 233 MHz
450 MHz 1 MB 225 MHz
400 MHz 1 MB 200 MHz 1341

9.00
366 MHz 1 MB 183 MHz 1228
333 MHz 1 MB 167 MHz 1117

3.29
300 MHz 1 MB 200 MHz 1005

* Processor score from MacWeek or Macworld when possible, but most MacBench ratings are from manufacturers. End user results may vary based on a number of factors including bus speed and OS used.

** Estimated value is MacBench rating divided by price. Higher numbers represent more bang for the buck.

Reviews & Overviews

This page created May 19, 1999 and updated occasionally.

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
  Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2016 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
  Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0
Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
The Vintage Mac Museum
Deal Brothers
DealMac
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Macgo Blu-ray Player
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0
at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link