PowerMac 6100 Upgrade Guide

Introduction

This site is a comprehensive resource for a variety of upgrades to the Apple PowerMac 6100 and related machines. Contrary to popular press and opinion, the PowerMac 6100 is a very expandable and upgradeable machine! From its humble beginnings as a “beginner’s” Performa, my venerable PowerMac is now a G3-powered, multimedia authoring workhorse machine with all manner of options, input devices, peripherals and cross-platform capabilities. It took a little elbow grease and a lot of reading, but now that the leg work has been done, it’s really quite easy! Here’s a table of contents:

Contents

• Default configuration
• Cache upgrades
• RAM upgrades
• CPU upgrades
• Hard drives
• CD-ROM Drives
• Graphics upgrades
• Monitors
• Operating System
• Networking
• Windows Interoperability
• DOS cards
• Peripherals
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Maintenance

Caveats: I’m running these tests on my own equipment and maintaining this page during my free time. I don’t have the budget to purchase equipment for testing purposes, so I have to rely on readers’ data for some of the test results. On that note, if you have data that supports, contradicts, or fills in the gaps of mine, please send it to me and I’ll incorporate it into the page. Feedback is always welcome, but please read the FAQ before you ask a question that may already have been answered.

Is your Mac a member of the 6100 family? If your Mac has a four digit model number beginning with 61 then yes. Otherwise, no. Please note that the Performa 5xxx series(meaning any Performa model number that begins with a 5) and the Performa 62xx series are not related. Sorry :(