Info-Mac 1992 August/info-mac-1992.iso/Report/IIsi Upgrade Options.txt

Internet Message Format | 1992-08-28 | 6KB

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Summary on IIsi upgrade
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1992 23:30:20 GMT

Many thanks to everyone who answered my query on how to improve the
performance
of a Mac IIsi. My original query is as follows:

>>A friend of mine has a Mac IIsi with which she does desktop publishing
and
>>graphic design. She has an Apple 13" color monitor, and the slowness
>>of the Mac in refreshing the screen is getting to her. She is considering
>>some kind of upgrade.

>>Is it better for her to get (1) an accelerator that upgrades the CPU
(maybe
>>one with a 50-mhz 68030 chip), or (2) a graphics accelerator that
>>specifically speeds up the video? Are (1) and (2) incompatible (i.e. does
>>getting a CPU accelerator board makes it impossible for her to install a
>>graphic accelerator when she ready to go to 24-bit color?) What options
for
>>IIsi are there in the market?

First, a summary of the responses: The first thing to try is to get more
memory, set Disk Cache to 512K, and see what difference it makes. After
that,
you should analyze the requirements. Because a IIsi lacks dedicated
videoRam,
using color slows down the Mac. If this is the source of problem, a
graphics
card that provides memory to the monitor and a co-processor to drive it
will
help. One netter recommended Applied Engineering 'QuickSilver' Cache/FPU
card.
On the other hand, the operation of the IIsi may be slow because DTP and
graphic design work are CPU-intensive. Thus, one should find out the
effects of
COLOR vs CPU processing. One heavy user of DTP programs suggested that CPU
is
the limiting factor on programs like Quark and PM 4.0, and my friend should
consider CPU accelerators. Among the accelerators, two people recommended
Daystar Powercache. DayStar bundles DualPort adaptor, so the PDS slot is
still
available for other add-on cards.

Here are excerpts from the responses that elaborates on the summary:

"Dieder B." <[e-mail]> wrote:
>>the IIsi/ci are hybrid machines with no dedicated
>>VideoRam...instead, they use a portion of normal memory as the video ram,
>>swapping between the video display and the actual memory. The CPU (68030)
>>has to work pretty hard doing all this swapping, so there is a
performance
>>hit. To see the difference, just change bit depth from 8, to 4, to 2, to
1
>>and see how much faster (though less pretty) your applications will run.
..
>>Either way you'll have to get an adaptor board to plug into the IIsi's
>>slot...if you go for as much speed as you can afford, use the 030 PDS
>>option, since there is no NuBus overhead to deal with (NuBus operates at
>>half the speed of the IIsi -- 10Mhz vs 20Mhz). Get yourself the
>>Applied Engineering 'QuickSilver' Cache/FPU card, and then get a 030
>>video card. Sure...it might be a bit more expensive than going NuBus
>>adaptor, and NuBus card...but you'll get more speed (if that's what you
>>really need!). Plus, most of the cache (if not all that I've seen in the
>>mags.) cards for the IIsi only provide a PDS slot to expand...so, for
cheap
>>acceleration, get the AE Q.S. and an appropriate video card for your
>>monitor. Sure...you'll have managed to take up all the slots for the
IIsi,
>>but you knew that going into the purchase of it didn't you? :) Why would
>>it be faster than just going with an accelerator?
>>AE Q.S. =>> $279 w/o shipping charges, or about $285 total.

"David C. Roessli" <[e-mail]> wrote:
>>I own a IIsi in which i added a DayStar PowerCache 40Mhz w/FPU (Great
firm
>>and really great product!!). It comes bundled with DayStar's DualPort
>>adapter, so you still have a PDS slot available even though the cache
card
>>is plugged in. You won't recognize your mac once you turn it back on..
(and
>>i don't own the 50MHz ..!).

>>A few words about 24bits display graphic cards/accelerators. One of the
>>problems you'll encounter when choosing your board is that there isn't
many
>>display boards that plug into a PDS slot .. they're mainly NuBus.. The
one
>>i tried was Supermac's Spectrum 8/24 PDQsi. I never managed to get both
to
>>work together .. they both worked fine independently, on either adapters,
>>but once you plugged them in together the whole thing froze!

>>DayStar blamed SuperMac and SuperMac blamed DayStar ..

>>Apparently, you would need SuperMac's Zero Adaptor (which wasn't shipping
>>at the time i tried..). I suspect SuperMac of not 'respecting' one
>>requirement or another .. having seen the DualPort work fine with other
>>boards .. Now, this was in October 91 - things must have evolved since.

>>All this to say to be careful when doubling boards in a IIsi ..

"Eric G. Taylor" <[e-mail]> wrote:
>>    As part of an organization that publishes textbooks in Quark and
>>Pagemaker (8 hrs a day), I can safely tell you that you need to speed up
the
>>Mac to see real improvements in either Quark or PM 4.0. We have 3 grafix
>>accelerator cards, and while they do provide some improvement, there's
not
>>enough to make it worth your bother and expense.
>>    As to which accelerator is good, the Daystar Powercache has got my
vote.
>>I don't personally own one, but MacWeek did a review of it several months
>>back and gave it an absolute rave review. They said they experienced no
>>crashes with it (the 50 mhz model), and also clocked it as being faster
than
>>a IIfx! I should point out that this is the only "solid" bullet rating
I've
>>ever seen given by MacWeek. Currently we're working on IIci's at work,
but
>>theoretically we're all going to PowerCache cards sometime during the
>>spring.

Again, many thanks to everyone who responded!!

Samson
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