Comments--OWC 450 MHz G3 ZIF

Last week I took advantage of Other World Computing's special deal on a copper (IBM) 450 MHz 2:1 1 MB G3 ZIF CPU (Z450MA) for $279. I installed the CPU in my B&W G3/300 and it works great. To install it, one has to lift the warranty sticker over the CPU jumper block on the B&W's motherboard, voiding the warranty (already expired), and use a series of jumpers that came with the new CPU to set the CPU/system bus speed ratio to 4.5:1. It started right up and I found that the backside cache could be run at a 3:2 ratio instead of the rated 2:1 raising the cache speed from 200 to 300 MHz. I also discovered that the new CPU was stable at 500 MHz if the CPU/bus ratio was increased to 5:1. The OWC Mercury 450/200 can be run at 450/300 or 500/250 but I backed it down to its rated speed of 450/200 for routine use--your mileage may vary.

OWC also has a trade-in program which gave me $50 for my old 300/150 512 K G3 ZIF CPU making the net cost of going to a potential of 500 MHz with a full MB of cache only $229 plus about $10 in shipping charges. The price on OWC's web site has since increased to $315 but that's still a great deal in my opinion, especially if you have an old CPU to trade in.