Molar Mac (Power Macintosh G3) Upgrades!

SadMac

SadMac

New Tinkerer
Aug 24, 2022
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Hey everyone, I am proud to say that I finally got my Molar Mac restored and working! I currently am going to outfit it with three 256mb low profile modules but, that’s the only upgrade I will have done minus a full recap of all three circuit boards inside.

My question to all of you is what other upgrades can I do?

I have three PCI slots open and ready for use. I already have the Wings Personality Card to allow audio and video input/output. Would love to upgrade the old 4GB IDE HD, install an internal Zip drive, look for upgrades for the floppy and CD drive (if there are any), and of course fill the PCI slots with some useful cards! I would appreciate everyone’s help! Please, if you have recommendations, attach a url so I can buy it!

Thank you!
 

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Nixontheknight

Nixontheknight

Tinkerer
Nov 3, 2021
124
19
18
SadMac said:
Hey everyone, I am proud to say that I finally got my Molar Mac restored and working! I currently am going to outfit it with three 256mb low profile modules but, that’s the only upgrade I will have done minus a full recap of all three circuit boards inside.

My question to all of you is what other upgrades can I do?

I have three PCI slots open and ready for use. I already have the Wings Personality Card to allow audio and video input/output. Would love to upgrade the old 4GB IDE HD, install an internal Zip drive, look for upgrades for the floppy and CD drive (if there are any), and of course fill the PCI slots with some useful cards! I would appreciate everyone’s help! Please, if you have recommendations, attach a url so I can buy it!

Thank you!
Click to expand...
you can also replace the G3 processor with a G4, though it is a very involved process. Dosdude1 actually made a video a few years ago about doing the same to a Powerbook G3
 
Nixontheknight

Nixontheknight

Tinkerer
Nov 3, 2021
124
19
18
3lectr1c said:
Yeah, that's what I thought. I believe 3rd party upgrade makers released G4 daughtercards for them. Not sure about the molar specifically, but other PM G3s and G4s.
Click to expand...
though, if you have the expertise to replace the G3 with a G4, it would make your molar G3 that much more unique
 
SadMac

SadMac

New Tinkerer
Aug 24, 2022
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3lectr1c said:
Plenty of choices. CD drive can be replaced with a DVD drive, SATA card, FireWire/USB card. Lots of stuff to do! You can never have enough upgrades.
Click to expand...
do you have recommendations for any dvd drives? i just got the tango 2.0 card installed. i plan on getting a 1GHz ZIF upgrade for it. IDE replacements?
 
3lectr1c

3lectr1c

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May 15, 2022
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Any old IDE DVD drive should work, or a SATA drive if you install a SATA card. As for installing a SATA card, you need one with a certain chipset that's been flashed to work on these old Macs. Not sure exactly what because I haven't done it myself, but I know that's necessary.
 
SadMac

SadMac

New Tinkerer
Aug 24, 2022
11
6
3
3lectr1c said:
Any old IDE DVD drive should work, or a SATA drive if you install a SATA card. As for installing a SATA card, you need one with a certain chipset that's been flashed to work on these old Macs. Not sure exactly what because I haven't done it myself, but I know that's necessary.
Click to expand...
What about an IDE to SATA adapter and I get an SSD?
 
3lectr1c

3lectr1c

Active Tinkerer
May 15, 2022
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It should theoretically work, although it will still be limited to the speed of the IDE bus. I must warn that the Power Mac G3s are known for having really picky IDE controllers that don't cooperate well with adapters, so it may not work.
 
SadMac

SadMac

New Tinkerer
Aug 24, 2022
11
6
3
3lectr1c said:
It should theoretically work, although it will still be limited to the speed of the IDE bus. I must warn that the Power Mac G3s are known for having really picky IDE controllers that don't cooperate well with adapters, so it may not work.
Click to expand...
yeah the first adapter I got did not work at all. I'm just running off the old 4GB one right now but I plan on buffing everything out so I thought I would replace it too. I am lost at what is compatible with these machines.
 
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