What to do with a B/W G3?

[racerblur]

Ok, I just got my hands a B/W G3... It's a working machine, I believe, but as far as upgrades are concerned... I think it's time to make another Hackie?!

I know there's limited space for DVD-drive... Does that mean a Mini ATX motherboard? Or what?

I'm excited... I think?!

[aquamac]

Hey Racer,

Check out this board:

Click Here

I just put one in a G4 case. Great board, however I can only use the ram slots nearest the processor is the only draw back. I will get a few pics up when I remember to bring my camera home from work. 100% Hackintosh compatible too. I have a core 2 duo in there running at 3 gigs. It will run up to 3.4 gigs happily, but the heat starts taking over then.

[racerblur]

How do you feel about the Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2L LGA775 Micro ATX? Would I still have the same limitations RAM?

[nikonnut]

Racer,
I'm not the Gigabyte "Guru" (That would be Aqua) but the floor plan looks really similar except for the RAM banks are offset to each other slightly and you give up a few SATA ports (4 vs. 6). However, the "limitation" Aqua speaks of means you can still run 2x2GB sticks of RAM non-interlaced. I've "suffered" with 4GB of RAM for quite a while now and can still Geekbench with a quad 2.0 Mac Pro. Just my $.02

Nik

Oh and it "only" supports 8 USB ports instead of 12

[aquamac]

As Nikon says, you lose some some functionality with the S2L and it is not a Ultra Durable 2 board, but size wise you have more chance of filling the ram slots. I wouldn't know what the over-clocking facilities are like either so that would be a "suck it and see" situation. If you are feeling really adventurous, you could look at Ritalins solution to the great CD drive problem.


Click Here

[ritalin]

nikonnut said:

I've "suffered" with 4GB of RAM for quite a while now

I wouldn't mind suffering with 4 gig of ram. Unfortunately the chipset in my hack can only use 3 gig. Enough 99% of the time, but multiple VMs can eat memory. I'd like to upgrade to a 8 gig capable board, common sense and not having Bill Gates bank account means I must resist for a bit longer.

Raceblur, Be careful when it comes to mounting the MB. The mounts must be in exactly the right spot. A fraction out an it will stress the MB causing it to fail over time. I speak from experience. Keep us posted and good luck.

[racerblur]

You really didn't study the difference in between the 'powermac' cases... Especially the Differences between the Yikes and the Yosemite... 5 slots versus 4 slots... Doh! I guess I don't need all the slots... I guess positing the agp slot is the only problem?

What did you people use the extend their power supply cables? There's isn't a power cable extender is there? More Splicing? Just curious...

How high stand off did you guys use?

Thanks again!

[ritalin]

racerblur,
Actually the Yikes! has only 4 expansion slots just like the Yosemite G3. The G4 didn't get 5 slots until the Digital Audio (1 x AGP, 4 x 64bit PCI). I believe all mATX motherboards have only 4 slots, so you lose nothing with the Yosemite case. ;D

Yes, power cable extenders are available, but I made my own for a neater finish.

I can't remember the height of the mounts, but be-careful if I remember correctly they aren't all the same length! If you like I will measure them for you.

To ensure the mounts are in the exact right place-
Fit the mounts (of the correct length) to the motherboard.
Fit expansion card to all four expansion slots on the board.
Place a small amount of epoxy resin on the end of each mount.
Carefully place the motherboard into the case.
Use the expansion cards I/O plates to hold the motherboard in the correct place.
Leave overnight to dry.
You can then unscrew the motherboard from the mounts, fit the CPU and heatsink (some heatsinks require access to the underside of the board).

[racerblur]

Oh, ok... So it doesn't matter about having only 4 slots. =) Ok... Now motherboard is my latest question... I personally like Intel motherboards because these usually have least to do as far as making a hackie work... at least in my UTTERLY limited experience... Thanks for help Rit!!! I think I'll be painting this little bugger too! We'll see...