Apple Powermac G3 300mHz Tower Computer (Beige)

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Apple Powermac G3 Tower

The Apple Power Macintosh G3/300 Minitower, based on the compact Gossamer architecture, features a 300 MHz PowerPC 750 (G3) processor with 1 MB of backside cache, 64 MB or 128 MB of RAM, a 4.0 GB or 8.0 GB hard drive, a 24X CD-ROM drive, ATI 3D Rage II+ or Rage Pro (starting May 1, 1998), or Rage Pro Turbo (after August 12, 1998) graphics acceleration with 6 MB of VRAM (some configurations offer additional VRAM on a PCI card), and either the “Whisper personality card” with audio input/output or the “Wings personality card” with audio/video input/output — all packed into an easily expandable minitower case.

The Power Macintosh G3 models were the first Apple Macs to use the “third-generation” (G3) PowerPC 750 processor which also unveiled a new “backside” level 2 cache for a substantial performance boost compared to earlier systems using a “lookaside” level 2 cache.

There were at least three different “standard” configurations of the Power Macintosh G3/300 Minitower — the original version (M6572LL/A) equipped with 64 MB of RAM, a single 4 GB Ultra/Wide SCSI hard drive, and 6 MB of VRAM for US$3399. A second original configuration (M6494LL/A) was configured with 128 MB of RAM, dual 4 GB Ultra/Wide SCSI hard drives, 6 MB of VRAM installed onboard and an additional 8 MB of VRAM on a 2D/3D graphics PCI card, dual display support, and both 10Base-T and 10/100Base-T Ethernet.

The second model (M7247LL/A) — introduced August 12, 1998 — shipped with a single 8 GB IDE/ATA-2 hard drive, a Zip drive, Rage Pro Turbo graphics with 6 MB of VRAM and the “Wings personality card” with audio and video input/output for US$2399. Custom configurations also were available.

Introduction

Date:

 1997 Discontinued

Date:

 1998
Processor Type: 1 x PowerPC 750(G3) Processor

Speed:

 300 mHz
Processor

Upgrade:

 Daughtercard FPU

(Integrated):

 1 x PowerPC 750 (G3)
System Bus

Speed:

 66mHz Cache Bus

Speed:

 150 mHz

(Built-in)
ROM Size: 4 MB (Mac ROM) Data Path: 32-bit
Level 1 Cache: 64k Level 2 Cache: 512 KB
RAM Type: PC66 (Unregistered, unbuffered DDR 333) VRAM Type: 2MB soldered to video card
Standard RAM: 32 MB Maximum RAM: 768MB
Motherboard

RAM:

 None RAM Slots: 3
Standard VRAM: 2 MB Maximum VRAM: 2 MB
Standard Hard

Drive:

 6 GB (7200

RPM)

 Int. Hard Drive

Type:

 ATA33
Optical Drive: CDrom or DVD RAM Standard Disk: None
Standard Modem: 56k Standard

Ethernet:

 10/100 Base T
Case Type: Tower Form Factor: Apple Powermac 9600 Form factor
Exp. Slots: 3 x PCI slots Exp. Bays

(Free):

 1 x Hard Drive (3.4 inch), 1 x ZIP drive slot
Battery Type: 3.6V Lithium Battery Life: N/A
Built-in

Display:

 None (Supports 2 x External Screens (Extended Desktop) Supported

MacOS:

 OS9, OS X to 10.2
Dimensions: 15.2 x 9.6 x 17.8 Avg. Weight: 33 lbs. (15 kg)

In the default configuration, this model has three open 33 MHz PCI slots and the “personality card” slot that is occupied by a “Whisper personality card” providing audio input/output.

It has one “internal” 3.5″ bay (for a hard drive) and three external 5.25″ bays (which can be used by hard drives and removable media drives). By default, one external 5.25″ bay is free.

Video:

ATI 3D Rage II+ graphics onboard originally, upgraded to ATI Rage Pro starting May 1, 1998, and upgraded to ATI Rage Pro Turbo starting August 12, 1998 (M6508LL/A).