" System: 7200/90
Upgrade: Sonnet G3 400/133 w/512k cache
Comments:

Machine also has 4MB ATI Xclaim VR Rage II video card and Asante 10/100 Ethernet. Hard disk is Barracuda 2 GB in 4 equal partitions, formatted with HDT 3.0.2. No video-RAM upgrades on motherboard. Sonnet software is version 1.0.

General Comments:
1. Installation was relatively simple - no special tools needed. Printed instructions contained unnecessary steps.

2. Initial installation with 144MB RAM on the Sonnet card and 16 MB on motherboard would start-up under systems 8.6, 7.5.5, but not (no surprise) under 7.5.2. Photoshop 5 would run fine under either working system. Canvas 3.5.4 would run under 8.6 but not 7.5.5. Apple System Profiler, TimeDrive 3.0.1 and most other applications would crash the system with black video. Never any disk damage, however. Using built-in video, could see only half the desktop - as if through a picket fence! Most applications still crashed.

3. Added 8MB to motherboard (total there now 24 MB). Apple System Profier and TimeDrive now ran, as did Canvas 3.5.4, but many others still failed. Did not test built-in video.

4. Moved 16MB from Sonnet card to motherboard, giving 128 MB on Sonnet card, 40MB on motherboard. Everything tested to date now runs! With built-in video, or with Xclaim VR. Able to update System 7.5.2 to 7.5.3 (under 7.5.5) and 7.5.3 would now run. Subjectively, System 7.5.5 seems fastest, but have not done actual timed comparisons.

5. Using MacBench 3, speeds relative to basic 7200/90 under 7.5.5 are: processor 3x, floating point 6x, disk 3x, built-in video about 10% faster.

Surprise:
I expected RAM on motherboard would be 'lost'. All RAM shows up under "About this Macintosh". I have trouble, however, believing that any appliacation can run across the two memory locations! Have not tested this hypothesis, however. Symptoms might be explained if System must fit within RAM on motherboard.

Other comment:
The system folders I used were originally installed on a Mac 7500 and contain many extensions (and no 7200-specifec extensions). I did no changes other than install the the Sonnet software. I expect improvements would be possible by optimizing/pruning extensions etc. No sound problems. (ATI warns of sound problems on 7200s.)

My goal here was to be able to run older software (that will not run properly on a G4 with System 9) but at reasonable speeds. It looks like that goal is realistic. I was especially pleased to see the upgrade from 7.5.2 to 7.5.3 to go without a hitch and then to see the machine start up from 7.5.3.

Bottom Line:
Upgrade card works effectively, but RAM on motherboard may need to be substantially greater than advertised.
Harold M. Merklinger "

Upgrade Card Revisions: (from the 8/21/2001 www.xlr8yourmac.com news page)
(From a Rate Your CPU Upgrade database report added today)

Mac Model: 7200/90
Upgrade: Sonnet G3/400 [PCI 7200/8200 model]
Comments:
" We upgraded a whole stable of 7200s here at work, and we had a few problems with some of the 7200/90s. At first, the upgrades in general were less stable in the oldest (late 1995-era) 90MHz models than the 120MHz. We found that the least stable cards were marked Rev A. Sonnet suggested we return the Rev A cards, which they claim "had some problems." They replaced them with Rev B models, which have mostly been flawless.

One problem we have not solved in someof the older 7200/90s is a video glitch. Many G3 upgrades caused video display problems using the built-in video port (I see it on my 8500 w/ G3, then a G4 upgrade). One of our 7200/90s has it so bad the video output is completely unusable. Just huge blank lines, like looking through a picket fence.

This is pretty unfixable, as the first MB of VRAM is soldered to the MB. A Rage Orion PCI video card solves the problem, and even allows us to play 3D video games. Still, an added expense we didn't expect (though not really Sonnet's fault, as our other 7200s are fine).

Doesn't beat a new machine, but we don't have the budget for that at the moment. Since we can't buy used machines though our school purchasing department, upgrading is the only option. I think Sonnet knows that, and they worked so hard on this upgrade for this situation. There are a lot of 7200s in schools (they were almost half the price of a 7500 in late '95, early '96) who are stuck in the same hole we are.
Thanks Sonnet, I appreciate having the choice.
Phil Lefebvre "

Note - I had forgotten about the old (1998) issue noted here in the FAQ still regarding the "7200 Graphics Accelerator" extension (also installed on PowerCenters) causing video artifacts with the first G3 CPU upgrades. (First noted in this 1998 PowerForce G3/PowerCurve Tips page.)

If this was a problem with the Sonnet 7200 upgrade, I'd surely think they would have seen it in testing there and noted it in the manual however, unless Phil didn't spot it. (I later checked Sonnet's site for info on the 7200 upgrade. Their driver page links to a readme file that notes the upgrade is not compatible with any of the "graphics accelerator" extensions. See www.sonnettech.com/support/read_me/7200_read_me.html )

Onboard video artifacts are also common with other onboard video Macs and may be bus speed or video ram speed related, but the Sonnet 7200 upgrade is a PCI card, not a CPU card slot model so the bus speed would not be a factor for it. (I saw the problem in my 1997 Newer Tech G3/250 review with my 8500, but that system had no video problems like that with a Powerlogix upgrade.)

As I noted in the FAQ and main www.xlr8yourmac.com site news last fall, although Sonnet has lowered prices since I commented on it, before you spend that much money (appx $400) on a sole source upgrade for a mac without a CPU card slot, - Read this Cost/Benefit Example for a Better Alternative. (Stripped 7500 w/G3 400 CarrierZIF card for about the same money, but more upgradeable in the future and better performance. )