| XLR8 's MAChCarrier G3/500 is the fastest G3 CPU upgrade I've tested to date in a CPU card slot Mac. The MAChCarrier G3/500 contains an IBM copper G3 CPU with a 10X Bus to CPU multiplier (often called Bus/CPU ratio). I'll explain in more detail in later pages of this review, but basically a 10X G3 chip allows CPU speeds of up to 10 times your Mac's system bus speed. Since the MAChCarrier's design allows 50MHz or more bus speeds in many Macs (every one I've personally tested so far), the 10X ratio benefit will allow many Mac owners to finally run a 500MHz CPU. (Previous G3 CPUs had an 8X maximum Bus/CPU ratio, therefore even if your Mac could run a 60MHz bus speed (very rare), you were still limited to a 480MHz CPU speed (60MHz times 8x multiplier = 480MHz).
My original review of the CarrierZIF used a first production run model. Since then there have been several minor design changes to improve compatibility with certain Mac models such as the PowerTower Pro series. I was was glad to see that the changes did not have any negative effects (reduced bus speed tolerance, etc.) in any of the Macs here. Note that as a result of the revisions to the card design, MAChCarrier and CarrierZIF cards are no longer PowerBase compatible however. (XLR8 never officially supported the Powerbase but the first revision cards did work in those systems - Powerbase owners should contact www.star-teck.com to inquire on availability of Powerbase compatible cards).
As regular readers know from my previous reviews and comments from the front page news, I consider the XLR8 CarrierZIFTM card the best G3 CPU Slot upgrade I've tested to date. It has been stable, reliable, runs at high bus speeds (the highest I've seen so far in my Genesis and 9600/350), has great control software and a ZIF socket feature to allow upgrading the CPU. These cards are also G4 CPU compatible (XLR8 is now shipping a MAChCarrier G4) and has a Trade-Up discount program for owners of XLR8 G3 CPU cards.
Review Tests/Ratings:
- BenchMark Performance: MacBench 5.0 and Bytemark DR/3 scores of the card under test. Other system scores are shown for comparison.
- Applications Performance: How the uprade performed in real world CPU intensive tests like Photoshop, Infini-D, After Effects, Bryce 2, and demanding games. Updated to include comparisons to an Apple G4/450 AGP system.
- Software Controls: Ease of use and features of the supplied control software.
- Docs/Installation: How clear and complete the installation and setup instructions are in the supplied manual. Includes general installation information and troubleshooting tips.
- Specs/Design: Features and details on the hardware design. Includes package contents and compatibility information.
- Summary: Final comments, summary and pricing/availability.
As mentioned in my First Look at the CarrierZIF many months ago, there are many advantages of a ZIF socketed card such as:
- Lower Cost Upgrades: Only the ZIF CPU module needs replacing so you don't pay for the base card over and over again. And importantly - you retain a proven stable base card.
- Choices: You can buy the best design base card and choose from anyone's ZIF upgrade to use with it. In the future, ZIF CPU upgrades will be far more plentiful than CPU slot cards - and at lower prices.
- Recycle ZIFs: Own an Apple G3 or know someone who does? There's your source for future upgrades. Some real bargains are possible from those trading up to faster speeds. If you own both an older Mac and Apple G3 series, then it's easier to justify an upgrade when two systems could benefit by reusing the previous ZIF module.
- G4 CPU Upgradeable: XLR8 MAChCarrier/CarrierZIF cards can use G4 CPU modules already announced by XLR8 (along with a trade-up discount program for MAChCarrier owners). See my Illustrated Setup Guide to the CarrierZIF for more info on replacing CPU modules.
- Easier to Repair: If the CPU or cache should ever fail, you don't need to replace the entire card. The reverse also applies of course.
Compatibility:
The MAChCarrier G3/500 is listed as compatible with the following Mac models:
- Apple: 7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9500, 9600
- DayStar Genesis, Millennium
- UMAX S900 & J700.
- Power Computing PowerWave, PowerTower Pro*, PowerCenter, PowerCenter Pro, PowerTower
- Note: The early CarrierZIF cards were PowerBase compatible (based on a review at MacsOnly and owner reports in my Rate Your G3 Upgrade database) - however the current CarrierZIF/MAChCarriers are NOT PowerBase compatible. www.star-teck.com may have some Powerbase compatible CarrierZIFs available however.
* I recommend PowerTower Pro owners call to check compatibility with their logic board. Although XLR8 has revised the card design and this may be solved now but I suggest verifying before you buy.
For many other CarrierZIF (or MAChCarrier) G3 owner reports - check my Rate Your G3 Upgrade database for XLR8 CarrierZIF owner reports (selectable by Mac models)
System Compatibility/Stability Tests:
Here is a summary of my tests to see how the XLR8 MAChCarrier G3/500 performed in two systems here, each chosen for a particular reason:
- Genesis - This 9500 motherboard (w/512K soldered-in cache) based system has always been picky about cards it likes especially at bus speeds over 45MHz. Only XLR8's cpu cards have ran at 50MHz or faster bus speeds in this system (see reviews). The CarrierZIF has run as high as 55MHz bus speeds fine in this machine. The Genesis system is loaded with dual ATTO SCSI cards (slots 1 and 4), Formac Proformance 3 (slot 6), FUSE capture card (slot 5), boot UW Cheetah disk and 4-drive RAID 0 array. Tests were run using OS 8.1. My Genesis page has more details on this system.
- PowerMac 9600/350 - This system has no motherboard cache and is a good test of compatibility with G3 CPU Upgrades due to some previous upgrade cards initially having problems with its 'Kansas' motherboard. Since the OEM hard drive was nearly full and very slow, I've added a Cheetah U2 SCSI drive and ATTO U2 PCI SCSI card for MacBench disk tests. In addition the system had a Turbomax PCI IDE controller connected to a TrueX CDROM drive. See details below for links to reviews of these addons. The video card in this system is a OEM Rage128 (slower clock speed model) from a rev 1 B&W G3. Every CarrierZIF/MAChCarrier card I've tested in this system has been capable of running 55MHz bus speeds with interleaved RAM and 60MHz bus speeds with RAM de-interleaved.
Although both systems used OS 8.1, there are no known issues with later OS versions with the MAChCarrier/CarrierZIF card that I am aware of.
Test Systems Hardware Summary
- Daystar Genesis (9500 Mb based):
- 512MB RAM (matched pairs of 64MB FPM Dimms)
- Seagate Cheetah UW SCSI 4.5 GB HD (ST34501W)
- ATTO PCI SCSI card (2 cards installed to drive boot Cheetah and a 4 HD raid stripe set)
- Formac Proformance 3 Video Card
- Aurora Fuse Video Capture card (drivers disabled during tests)
- OS 8.1, 4MB Disk Cache, VM off, QT 4.0, QD3D 1.6 [No Libmoto]
- Apple PowerMac 9600/350:
- 320MB Interleaved RAM
- Stock 4GB narrow UltraSCSI drive
- ATTO Ultra2 SCSI PCI card
- Seagate 4.5GB Ultra2 SCSI Hard Drive (used for MB disk tests)
- Promax TurboMax PCI IDE controller driving IDE TrueX CDROM
- OEM Rage128 PCI Video card (from B&W G3 rev 1)
- ATI Universal driver update 4.01
- OS 8.1, 4MB Disk Cache, VM off, QT 3.0, QD3D 1.5.6, [No Libmoto]
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