Internet Benchmarks? A reader asked if there were any internet performance benchmarks, which I drew a blank. Due to the constant changing net "weather" I'm not sure they would be repeatable, but you can send any suggestions direct to Ron. [ 3:40 PM update]

QT 3.0/SD 8.1 update: David Badovinac replied to my request for more details with a note about removing and reinstalling SD 8.1 that may help:

" When I first put QT 3.0 in there were some anomalies.: Like when I tried to open a folder, I would end up back on the desktop instead of in the folder. I un-installed SD 8.1 (due to your reports of conflicts with QT 3.0) and ran without it for a while. Then I put SD 8.1 back in and it seems fine.

Maybe SD 8.1 has to installed after QT 3.0 is installed and operating.

>What is your Mac model?

I have a PM 7300 with the PowerForce 275/275/1 mb. running at 315/315

>Any PCI cards, unusual extensions, etc?

No PCI cards and nothing too unusual extension-wise. "

I'd like to ask the readers who reported problems to try this remove/reinstall and contact me if it helps. I've still been unable to get QT 3.0 from the web. [ 3:00 PM update]

David Badovinac just wrote to say he's not had a problem with QT3.0 and Speed Doubler 8.1 on his system (I've asked for system details). He wrote:

" I have QT 3.0 and Speed Doubler 8.1 and wanted to say that I have seen no conflicts (yet).

I also wanted to remind you (and your readers if you want) that QT 3.0F7 has a "time out feature" and will time out on April 6th, so you can't wait too long, if you are using QT 3.0F7 etc. I guess you can go back to QT 2.5."

Glad to see that the reported problems may not be common. (Note - the MCI T1 problem seems to have been fixed. Site should be accessable again worldwide.) [ 2:16 PM update]

Quicktime 3.0 Issues: I've had numerous reports of the final release (std and Pro) not having the same features as the developer version, and two reports of conflicts with Speed Doubler 8 and 8.1. I think I'll pass on this upgrade until the issues are resolved.

The MCI T1 at my ISP is still down as of this date. Some people seem to be getting through but I know a lot of readers are getting timeouts or server not responding errors. I hope the problem will be resolved very soon. [ 12:40 PM update ]

All-in-one-G3: The new model includes the RagePro graphics engine instead of the standard RageII+. Check out the features at:

http://www.apple.com/powermac/g3/allinone/allinonespec.html

(Thanks to Hunt Anderson for the tip!) [11:50 AM update ]

Server issues: I've had some reports of problems accessing the site from outside of the area (dialins to cornerstone are not affected). It affected all domains at my ISP, even their home page. They say it was a MCI T1 problem, and the problem should be resolved by 1:00 PM eastern time (per MCI).

Thanks to those that mailed me - I really appreciate the heads up on things like this. [10:30 AM update ]

36% Framerate Boost w/new ATI divers: John Coggi posted a message in the video card forum about a noticable increase in his animation program framerate after updating to the v3.1 drivers. He wrote:

"I measured a 36% speed increase in frame rate of an animation project I work on.

On my G3/266 the animation frame rate went from 80 fps to 109 fps (256-color mode). I am very pleased with this "free" speed increase.

It is definitely noticeable since after I installed the upgrade I left my computer for a while and promptly forgot about the upgrade. When I came back and booted up our animation program, I said to myself, "Self, this thing is seems unusually fast!". I turned on the framerate display and noticed I was pushing (greater than) 100 fps. Only then did it hit me that I had upgraded the drivers (Duh).

Thanks ATI (and keep the upgrades coming.)"

I've downloaded the updates to use in my coming VR and 3D card reviews. [ 10:00 AM update ]

Dual Channel SCSI cards w/PowerForce G3: I received several mails from Doug Godfrey's question in yesterday's news. To my surprise two were using the Adaptec 3940UW with the PowerForce G3 card with no problems. Tracy Broussard wrote:

" Am I the only person that has a PowerForce G3 275/275 that DOES work with an Adaptec 3940UW?

I've had the G3 (running at 315/315/45) and the 3940 installed in my PowerBase/200 for several weeks now and I've not had any problems that I can attribute specificly to the 3940. The few problems I did have while tuning the CPU speed were all pretty obvious that I was pushing the CPU board beyond its limits. The system is now as stable as it was before I installed the G3. The 3940 was upgraded to version 3.0 firmware BEFORE I installed the G3 (coinsidence, as the 3.0 update was out before I decided which G3 board to buy). I'm using Remus Lite 1.4f (I think this too was updated before the G3, but I'm not sure). I moved the 3940 to the PCI slot clostest to the CPU (because I read somewhere that it was something good to do). The 3940UW has one Seagate 4.5G Wide Cheetah on each channel. The drives have a combination of striped and mirrored partitions on them. I boot from one of the stripped partitions. I've installed extra fans to make sure everything stays cool (4 mini-muffin fans blowing on the two Cheetah's and one blowing on the CPU heatsink). PS: Your site is wonderful! Keep up the good work! "

Jose Ma. J. Lopez-Vito III wrote:

" I have a PowerTower Pro 225 which I have upgraded with a PowerForce G3/250 card. It is running at 285 Mhz at 1:1 cache ratio.

My PTP originally came configured with 2 4GB IBM drives connected to a PowerDomain (now Adaptec) 2940 UW card with SoftRaid .

I have since upgraded the card to a dual channel 3940 UW..one channel connected to my 4 GB Cheetah UW as the startup drive and the other channel to the 2 IBM 4GB drives. I have partitioned the IBM drives into 2 GB each and created a Raid 0 (striped) volume of 4 GB and a Raid 1 (Mirrored) volume of 2 GB.

I have no problems at all with the operation of the drives. All drives auto-mount. I have even installed a System 8.1 in the striped volume and used it as a start-up drive...both by choosing the volume as the startup drive in the startup disk control panel or keying in "delete-option-command-shift" on start-up.

I did the conversion before your SCSI card tests and the issue of Adaptec cards (both single and dual channels) came out and before Adaptec themselves wrote that their cards do not work with PowerForce G3 cards. I guess my situation can be likened to the bee which, with it's stubby body and short wings, should not be able to fly...but not knowing anything about the laws of aerodynamics, flies merrily along! Ah, innocence.

Could the following contribute to my "success" with the Adaptec card and Powerforce G3 ? :

- my Ultra-Wide SCSI drives were configured by an "old" Conley SoftRaid Software v. 1.2 (although my Cheetah has an Apple driver)

- the Adaptec card is on the top slot nearest to the processor

- I have not touched nor re-configured the settings of the PowerDomain Control Panel (v. 2.0.1) and assume they are at "Default"

Hope I have been of help."

Paul Veronin wrote that the Hammerstorage DC (dual channel version of the Jackhammer0 card works fine:

" The HammerStorage certainly works and recognizes my external raid array. Using this dual channel card along with a powerforce 250, has never been a problem. I cannot say enough about their plug and play ease with the few configuration I have tried them on.

A quick note on a different topic. The custom raid I ordered and received from one of your sponsors (MacGurus) was of the highest quality components I have ever seen. Even better was the personal attention I received from Stephen Trujillo. He called me twice, once even after the product was shipped, just to check that everything was satisfactory."

Thanks to all that responded! Doug, I hope this helps. The Hammerstorage DC card may still be a safer bet.

Radius Thunder 3D Info: Michael Viksna and I had been discussing the performance of the higher end Mac 3D cards, including the Radius Thunder 3D. I had asked for a review loaner, but got no reply (my contact there was laid off some time ago). Michael forwarded this quote he received from Radius in regards to the card:

" 'Thunder 3D is not compatible with any G3 motherboard as far as we know though we have not tested with the PowerLogix upgrades.

Radius is moving away from video cards and into digital video so there will be no AGP version or upgrade.

Radius Technical Support'

Doesn't sound like they're terribly interested in selling/promoting this product. They didn't bother answering the rest of the questions I posed and made no comment about a loaner for you. Looks like if I want fast 3d I'm not going to find it on a Mac. :-( Then again, I may just wait for the price to drop and pick one up anyway."

I was surprised to hear that the Thunder 3D was not G3 system compatible. Any Apple G3 system owners out there that can verify that? If so contact me.

For a summary of the high end ($$$$) 3D accelerators for both platforms, read New Media's Executive Summary. You can buy a nice Mac for the price of most of those cards!

News.com has a story on a new Apple subnotebook (2400) model to hit Japan next month.

Latest Bottom Line Specials: For a complete list of this weeks Bottom Line Specials, click here. And if you haven't already, be sure to sign up for the XLR8YOURMAC.COM specials mailing list!

PowerCenter Pro/Speed Doubler 8.1 Feedback: I received several mails from PowerCenter Pro owners - all but one stating they were running fine with the combo. All these owners reported using the stock 2930B SCSI card, not the Initio card used by the owner reporting problems. I still suspect some sort of extensions conflict with another piece of software or possibly a disk driver issue as the real cause the problems that were reported.

Orb Removable Drive: A viewer sent the following update on the status of this interesting drive:

" I don't know if you have heard much about the Orb drive from Castlewood Systems(similar to a Syquest Syjet, but 2.16 GB, and only $199 for drive and $29.95 per 2.16 gig cartridge!--and the ultra-SCSI interface gives sustained transfer rates from 6-12 MB/sec!) Check it out at: www.castlewood.com

After hounding CastleWood for weeks on when they will be shipping (originally scheduled for quarter 1, 1998), they finally responded:

'The ORB drive will ship at the end of April and be sold in CompUSA, Fry's Electronics and Office Max' "

The drive looks very attractive, just hope another removeable media standard can survive. At under $30 for a 2GB cart., that's tempting!

PowerForce/Bravado 1000 Feedback: In response to my post in the G3-ZONE regarding issues with the Miro DC20 video capture card and the Apple G3 systems, I had asked for feedback on the Bravado 1000 in a G3. No response yet, but several G3 CPU card owners wrote to say the Bravado 1000 works fine. Mike Tyo wrote that the card may have a limit on CPU speed:

" I'm using the Bravado 1000 in a PowerBase180 with a PowerForce 250/250/1M card. Video capture and playback fails at speeds above 300mHz, but works fine up to that speed."

I asked him if backing off the cache speed helped, he said no. Any CPU speed over 300mhz would not work with the Bravado in his system.

Review Feedback: Scott Tucker sent his comments on the Vision 3D Pro II review:

" Mike - I really appreciate the time it takes you to do these excellent video card reviews. I just got finished reading your eagerly anticpated review on the Mactell Vision 3D Pro II and I saw again something that's been a common theme on your site: the engineering of the drivers can be much more important than the awesome chips on the cards. For now that card is just too much money for my blood and your review helped me decide that - thank you."

I rated the card a 10 for 2D speed, and 3D speed was fine except for the Walker spin tests, but I feel the chip can really do better than that, and hope that future driver releases will make it even faster. I really liked the card overall - it's a barn burner in 2D, and has a great set controls. Due to the price, it's out of reach for some of us though.

In case you missed the 7 PM update to yesterday's news, I retested the Vision 3D Pro II graphics card under OS 8.1 with Speed Doubler 8.1 and the results were literally identical to those ran under OS 7.6. Some scores were 3 to 4% lower, but basically that's a wash. The review has an update with links to the new graphs comparing the card performance under both OS versions.

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