Guide to G3 Upgrades for Level 2 Cache Slot

Updated 2002.05.17

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Bare Feats studies cache size, cache speed, and motherboard cache

This page covers G3 upgrades that fit in the cache socket of the Power Macintosh 4400, 5400, 5500, 6400, 6500, 7220; Performa 54xx, 6360, and 64xx; Twentieth Annivesary Mac; StarMax 3000, 4000; Power Computing PowerBase; Umax SuperMac C500, C600. Check the manufacturer to see which models are compatible.

Each accelerator will provide several times the performance of processors installed in these older Macs. Be sure to read That extra 10% to help you decide which upgrade provides the best value for you.

IBM, Motorola, and Apple have done a phenomenal job in creating the Power PC 750 CPU (aka G3) and computers to use it. An entire industry has sprung up selling G3 cards to owners of second generation Power Macs with processor cards.

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 Prices keep dropping, so these prices may be outdated. (Prices are in $US.)

In fact, models are added and discontinued so often, it's impossible to keep track of which models are current.

Accelerate Your Mac has user reports on various G3 upgrades, and Macworld did a big comparison article in the July issue.

Note that computers upgraded with these cards may not support Mac OS X. (Apple has emphatically stated it will run on all Macs designed with a G3 processor, but has never promised any support for G3-upgraded models.)

Further, models with AV cards may require special adapters or versions of the card at additional cost.

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 T adjustable bus discontinued	320 MHz	1 MB	160 MHz	disc.
	300 MHz	512 KB	150 MHz	disc.
	260 MHz	512 KB	130 MHz	disc.

Newer Tech discontinued	400 MHz	1 MB	200 MHz	disc.
	400 MHz	1 MB	200 MHz	disc.
	300 MHz	512 KB	150 MHz	disc.

Phase 5
Maccelerate!750TA
discontinued

300 MHz

1 MB

150 MHz

disc.

PowerLogix discontinued	400 MHz	1 MB	160 MHz	disc.
	320 MHz	1 MB	160 MHz	disc.
	240 MHz	512 KB	120 MHz	disc.

Sonnet Technologies Crescendo/L2 G3 updated 5/12/03	500 MHz	1 MB	250 MHz	$250
	400 MHz	1 MB	200 MHz	$200
	400 MHz	512 KB	133 MHz	disc.
	350 MHz	1 MB	175 MHz	disc.
	300 MHz	512 KB	150 MHz	disc.
	250 MHz	512 KB	125 MHz	disc.

Vimage VPower PF discontinued	320 MHz	512 KB	120 MHz		disc.
Vimage VPower PF discontinued	240 MHz	1 MB	160 MHz		disc.

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

** Estimated value is MacBench rating divided by price. Figure is based on estimated MacBench score for untested cards. Higher numbers represent more bang for the buck.

Reviews & Overviews

Is it worth putting a G3 in an older Mac?, Adam Robert Guha, Apple Archive, 11/3/00. As always, it depends, but sometimes a used Power Mac G3 is the better value.
MacWeek and Macworld (use search to find reviews)
Mac Speed Zone
Accelerate Your Mac

This page created December 1, 1999 and updated occasionally.

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