Beige G3 Powermac

In November 1997, Apple Computer Inc announced the latest mac based on a newly designed motherboard (code-named "Gossamer") which ran at a blazing-fast 66 MHz. The latest released Apple-branded Mac shipped with the new PPC 750 Processor and was named the G3.

The G3 came in either a mini-tower case (similar to that of the 8600 & 9600, but shorter) or a 7300-style desktop case, and operated at either 233 or 266 MHz, with a 512 kB backside cache operating at 117 and 133 MHz, respectively. The PowerMac G3 Desktop, available at 233 or 266 MHz came with 16-bit Audio In and Out on a separate "personality" card and an internal Zip drive (The Gossomer motherboard was so small that the main HD could be mounted on the floor of the case, leaving room for the Zip, and an additional half-height drive).

The G3 MiniTower model, which initially was only available at 266 MHz, had a different personality card, which offered all the features of the desktop card, plus 4 MB of VRAM (expandable to 6 MB) and S-Video In and Out. The Gossamer motherboard had 3 industry-standard SDRAM slots, allowing for 384 MB of RAM, but due to the height restrictions of the case, the G3 Desktop could not hold 128 MB modules, giving it a maximum of 192 MB (Low-profile modules have since been released). In early 1998, Apple made a 233 MHz tower model available, and added a host of new add-on features for all models including a 4 GB fast/wide SCSI disk, and a faster graphics card.

In March 1998, Apple added a 300 MHz option on all built-to-order machines, as well as a dual-SCSI configuration, with RAID software, and an optional DVD-ROM drive. (a 3rd-party solution were required for MPEG-2 video playback.) A 333 MHz version was made available in September 1998. The PowerMac G3 was discontinued in January 1999, when it was replaced by the "Blue" G3.

These macs remained popular for many IT managers running Apple Hardware right into the turn of the century. Their rugged design, use of cutting edge technology and interchangability with older Powermacs meant that they offered a solid advantage as servers. Used in research centers and University run campus networks around the world, the beige G3 offered SCSI and ide storage solutions, instant connectivity to existing cat 5 networking and a solid operating system for central backup.

Coupled with Dantz Retrospect, the G3 offered on and off-site automated backup of data for mac and PC users, with little intervention required by Network administators. The result was that many computers, previously seen state as of the art were retired to the server room, where they became backup units to the machines that had superseeded them. Evn without third party software, they could easily be configured for access by both PC and mac users from any network. The advent of OS 9 was of course the driving force behind all this.

The desktop G3 came as a 233, 266 or 300mHz machine

CPU
CPU: PowerPC 750
CPU Speed: 233/266/300/333 MHz
FPU: integrated
Bus Speed: 66 MHz
Data Path: 64 bit
ROM: 4 MB
RAM Type: PC66 DIMM
Minimum RAM Speed: 66 MHz
Onboard RAM: 0 MB
RAM slots: 3
Maximum RAM: 768 MB
Level 1 Cache: 32 kB data, 32 kB instruction
Level 2 Cache: 1 MB backside, 1:2
Expansion Slots: 3 PCI, 1 x personality (filled)
Video:VRAM: 2 - 6 MB (2 MB onboard, one socket)
Max Resolution: all resolutions supported
Video Out: DB-15

The Beige G3 tower

Storage
Hard Drive: 4 GB
ATA Bus: EIDE
Floppy Drive: 1.4 MB SuperDrive
Zip Drive: optional
Optical Drive: 24x CD-ROM
 
Input/Output
ADB: 1
Serial: 2
SCSI: DB-25
Audio Out: stereo 16 bit mini
Audio In: stereo 16 bit mini
Speaker: mono
 
Networking
Ethernet: 10Base-T
 

Blue and White G3 Powermac

Although it shares the name of its predecessor, the "Blue and white " PowerMac G3 is an altogether different machine. Sporting an all new translucent "easy-open" case design (code named "El-Capitan"), the new G3 was the first Apple model to support FireWire, Apple's new high-speed serial standard. It was also the first professional model to include USB, although it also came with a "legacy" ADB port for backwards compatibility.

In a controversial move, Apple chose not to include standard serial ports, a floppy drive, or on-board SCSI (Apple instead chose the cheaper Ultra ATA). An internal Zip was available, however, as were SCSI expansion cards. The G3 was available in a number of configurations. In late April, the "Blue" line was speed-bumped by 50 MHz, bringing the high-end model to 450 MHz as the final model in this line.

Ease of Access and upgrading makes the G3 the first in a long line of fold down cases for Apple

G3 upgrades and G4 solutions were eventually made available by XLR8 and Sonnet. Similarly, the G3 could easily take advantge of SCSI upgrade cards from Adaptec including the 2906, 2930uw and 2940 range of scsi fast and wide cards. Further modifications including cdrw/ dvdrw drives, additional pc100 (512MB) memory sticks, larger hard drives (ATA133), firewire 800, usb 2.0 meant that this mac remained a viable option for many low end users right up to th end of 2005, making it a very long lived computer.

The ability to run even th latest software on these macs kept them in the loop for many years. With sufficient memory, these computers were able to run Tiger (OS 10.4) and coupled with their solidity and reliability meant that as with their predecessors, they could be retired to the server room, where many were able to run 10.4 server, incorporating innovative solutions including FTP server, website hosting and email server. The solution was seen by many IT managers as being somewhat more cost effective

CPU
CPU: PowerPC 750
CPU Speed: 300/350/400/450 MHz
FPU: integrated
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Data Path: 64 bit
ROM: 1 MB ROM + 3 MB toolbox ROM loaded into RAM
RAM Type: PC100 DIMM
Minimum RAM Speed: 100 MHz
Onboard RAM: 0 MB
RAM slots: 4
Maximum RAM: 1 GB
Level 1 Cache: 32 kB data, 32 kB instruction
Level 2 Cache: 1 MB backside, 1:2
Expansion Slots: 3 64-bit 33 MHz PCI, 1 32-bit 66 MHz PCI (filled)
 
Video
Video Card/Chipset: ATI RAGE 128
VRAM: 16 MB
Max Resolution: all resolutions supported
Video Out: VGA
 
Storage
Hard Drive: 6-12 GB (up to 3 36 GB available BTO)
ATA Bus: Ultra ATA
Zip Drive: optional
Optical Drive: 32x CD-ROM, DVD/DVD-RAM available
 
Input/Output
USB: 2
Firewire: 2
Audio Out: stereo 16 bit mini
Audio In: stereo 16 bit mini
Speaker: mono
 
Networking
Modem: optional 56 kbps
Ethernet: 10/100Base-T
 
Miscellaneous
Codename: Yosemite