December 3rd, 1999

[8:00 AM] Sonnet Brings G4 Upgrades To NuBus PowerMacs!
by Staff

Sonnet Technologies has announced a G4 upgrade that is compatible with the first generation of Power Macs, the 6100, 7100, and 8100 series machines. G4 cards, at reasonable prices, can breath new life into these old Mac workhorses. According to Sonnet:

Sonnet Technologies, announces a 360 MHz G4 upgrade for 6100, 7100 and 8100 NuBus Power Macs. The Sonnet product is available immediately. For the first time, NuBus Power Mac owners can reap the benefits of G4 technology.

The Crescendo G4/NuBus is rated at 360 MHz with 1M backside cache at a 2:1 ratio. The G4 processor will run at 360 in 40 MHz bus machines, such as the Power Mac 7100/80, 8100/80, and Power Computing Power 120. The G4 processor is limited to run at 9x bus speed, however, and the Crescendo G4/NuBus will run at 270, 300, and 330 MHz in 30, 33.3 and 36.7 MHz bus machines, respectively. The Sonnet Crescendo G4/NuBus includes Altivec Enabling software, complete Mac OS 9 Velocity Engine compatibility, Adobe Photoshop Altivec Plug-In Enabling software, Sonnet Metronome Profiler Utility software, and unequaled ease-of-installation and reliability.

Compatibility

  • Power Mac 6100, 7100, 8100
  • Performa 611X
  • WGS 6150, 8150, 9150
  • Power Computing 100, 120
  • Radius System 100, 81/110

The Sonnet Crescendo G4 upgrade ships with superior Altivec Enabling software, giving all applications access to the Altivec processing engine in the G4 processor. The unique Sonnet Enabler extends Altivec support to even MacsBug, which is an important distinction for software developers and sophisticated users.

The Crescendo G4/NuBus is available for US$599. You can find more information at the Sonnet Technologies web site.

The Mac Observer Spin: Wow! We did not think any of the upgrade companies would be able to offer a G4 solution for NuBus Macs. It took some time to even get G3 upgrades for the first generation of PowerMacs. The price is right too, so for those who have not upgraded to a G3, the time may be right to bump up to a G4. Kudos to Sonnet!

Sonnet Technologies