As G4 speeds continue to, well, do nothing, those wanting to boost the performance of an older machine will rejoice in the news that Sonnet and Newer have slashed prices across their line of upgrade cards. Users can now speed up performance, and add lifespan, to older Apple machines.
According to Sonnet:
Sonnet Technologies, the worldwide market share leader in processor upgrade cards for Apple Macintosh computers, is offering special pricing of $399.95 on 500 MHz Crescendo G3 upgrades for the PCI Macs. This special pricing on the 500 MHz Crescendo G3/PCI is for the month of October only and will go back to the price of $499.95 after October 31.
Sonnet is also lowering its prices on the 500 MHz Encore G3 for Power Mac G3s to $399.95, and the 400 MHz Crescendo G3/L2 to $349.95. These prices will remain intact until the next Sonnet price drop on these specific products is announced. By offering these substantial and periodic price reductions, Sonnet Technologies maintains its market leadership by setting the best price/performance standard for G3 and G4 processor upgrades.
Crescendo G3/PCI 500/1M $399.95 (was $499.95, and will be back at this price as of November 1, 2000) Sonnetis full line for Crescendo G3 and G4 PCI cards are compatible with the following Macintosh models:
- Power Mac 7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8515, 8600, 9500, 9515, 9600
- Workgroup Server 7350, 8550, 9650
- Power Computing PowerCenter*, PowerCenter Pro*, PowerCurve*, PowerTower*, PowerTower Pro, PowerWave
- UMAX J700/S900
- DayStar Genesis 360, 400, 528, 600, 720, 800, 900, 932
- Mactell XB-Pro
- (* Compatible with Crescendo G3/PCI cards only.)
Encore G3/ZIF 500/1M $399.95 (was $499.95) Sonnetis full line of Encore G3 and G4 cards are compatible with the following Macintosh models:
- G3 All-in-one
- G3 Blue & White
- G3 Desktop
- G3 Mini Tower
- G3 Server
- G4 Graphite
Crescendo G3/L2 400/1M $349.95 (was $399.95) Sonnetis full line for Crescendo G3/L2 cards for "upgrade-challenged" Macs are compatible with the following Macintosh models:
- Power Mac 5400, 5500, 6400, 6500
- Performa 5410, 5420, 5430, 5440, 6360, 6400, 6410, 6420, 6430, 6440
- 20th Anniversary Mac
- Power Computing PowerBase
- UMAX C500, C600, C600X.
Sonnet has recently restated its commitment to OS X compatibility for its PCI and ZIF upgrades, including the 500 MHz models discussed in this press release. Full details are available from the Sonnet website. Please refer to: http://www.sonnettech.com/news/macosx_update.html
And according to Newer:
Newer Technology, the technology leader in Apple [NASDAQ: AAPL] Macintosh CPU upgrades, announces the reduction in pricing of the worldis most highly rated G3 and G4 CPU upgrade cards. Improved pricing covers cards from 300MHz to 500MHz. Including cards utilizing Neweris award winning MAXpowr hardware ROM compatibility circuitry. These are the only cards on the market that are truly 100% compatible with Appleis 7300-9600 series of Power Macintosh computers.
"Leveraging our continual improvements in manufacturing, made possible through our partner Tri-M Technologies, we are able to bring attractively priced upgrade cards to market," stated John Nelson, Neweris iPresident.
You can find more information at the Newer Technology and Sonnet Technologies web sites.