- 2000.04.21
Q: I have a Power Mac
7200/75 with 48 MB of RAM, a 1 GB internal hard drive
and a 4 GB external hard drive. I am connected to the internet via
my university's high-speed ethernet system. Here is my problem: I
am connecting to the internet as slowly as when I connected at 33.6
Kbps with a 56k modem! Is there anything I can do to speed up my
internet connection?
A: I have quite a bit of experience with the 7200/75 - it's what
we used to run in the lab where I worked at the University of
Kansas. I'm sorry to say that they are dog-slow on the internet by
virtue of their hardware design, but there are a few things you can
do to help with the speed and RAM consumption of your apps.
- Go into your memory control panel and turn on virtual memory so
that you have 49 MB of RAM - only have 1 MB of virtual memory used.
That will cut your RAM requirements significantly. Resist the
temptation to jack up the VM really really high - it will slow your
computer down even more. One MB above your physical RAM amount will
suffice.
- The 7200 did not ship with a level 2 (L2) cache, although it
can easily accept a 256 KB, 512 KB, or 1 MB L2 cache. MacSpeedZone
and Sonnet
Technology show that adding a 1 MB L2 cache can improve
performance by as much as 129%! If your 7200 doesn't have a cache,
it deserves one.
- If you have some extra cash, check out ramseeker or MemoryX and pick up some
extra memory. The 7200 uses 70 nanosecond (ns) 168-pin DIMMs, so
that is what you should look for. The 7200 as maxes out at 512 MB
of RAM using four 128 MB DIMMs, so buy as much as you can afford.
There is no such thing as too much RAM.
- Expand your video memory. 1 MB is soldered to the board, but
there are 3 VRAM slots available. Adding one or three VRAM modules
enables interleaving, which improves video performance. Again,
check the sites mentioned above for VRAM. You might even call them
and speak with a tech if you're not sure.
- Make sure you're running a PPC-native operating system version.
For a 7200 with plenty of RAM available, I'd recommend investing in
a copy of Mac OS 8.6. In this same vein, try to ensure that all the
applications you are running are PPC-native. If they're not, your
7200 is emulating a slower machine to run older code - and that
slows it down.
- If you're really gutsy, your Mac can be overclocked. The
instructions reside here: http://homepage.mac.com/schrier/mhz.html
The 7200 will never be a speed demon and its upgrade path is
pretty limited, but with some work it can be a very serviceable
machine, especially for basic word processing and web use. Remember
to keep in mind the value of the computer when you are spending
money on upgrades-sometimes it is worth it to just hang onto your
money until you can afford a replacement. Good luck!
Julie Fugett is a network administrator for an almost 100% Mac
department at a large Midwestern university. Her favorite movie of
all time is Tron, and she
still can't come up with a decent name or theme for her personal
website.
