Apple's G3 Series Offers Breakthrough Performance

Joanne Hallisey

The Power Macintosh G3 series from Apple features innovations in processor technology and system architecture that significantly increase performance and flexibility.

The G3 series is based on the PowerPC G3. This third-generation chip builds on features pioneered in the PowerPC 603 and 604 chips, but goes beyond them in several ways:

 Processor design specifically optimized for the Mac OS

 Doubling of level 1 (on-chip) data and instruction cache from 32k to 64k

 Innovative level 2 backside cache

 Small, low-power chip design, made possible by a 0.25 micron process

As a result, G3 models provide nearly twice the performance of systems based on the 603e chip.

The G3 Lineup
The Power Macintosh G3 series includes two desktop models and a minitower. These systems come with a 24x-speed CD-ROM drive, high-quality audio, Ethernet networking, a communications slot, and three PCI expansion slots. The two higher-end models have Zip drives for easy file transfer and backup. Apple also makes the Macintosh PowerBook G3. It has a 20x-speed CD-ROM drive, a four-speaker sound system, built-in Ethernet and 33.6-Kbps modem, 2MB of VRAM, and a video controller for enhanced graphics.

Configurations and Pricing
Prices listed below are from the MCC/Online-NECX catalog at http://web.mit.edu/ecat/mcc/

 Power Macintosh G3 desktop
(M6141LL/A)
233-MHz processor, 32MB RAM, 4GB hard drive
NECX #110063 $1760.80

  Power Macintosh G3 desktop
(M62021LL/A)
266-MHz processor, 32MB RAM, 4GB hard drive
NECX #110058 $2114.22

 Power Macintosh G3 minitower
(M61421LL/A)
266-MHz processor, 32MB RAM, 6GB hard drive
NECX #110054 $2642.78

 Macintosh PowerBook G3
(M5993LL/A)
250-MHz processor, 32MB RAM, 5GB hard drive
NECX #110054 $5021.80

For the latest product information, see the Apple Web site at http://www.apple.com/