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400 MHz MAXpowr G3 Carrier Card |
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The MAXpowr Carrier Card is Newer Technology's ZIF-adapter style upgrade solution. This card is designed for computers such as Apple's Power Mac 7x/8x/9x00 lines.
The unique thing about this upgrade is that it's actually an upgradeable upgrade. The card has a removable ZIF G3 processor, which itself can be upgraded. The Carrier Card allows Mac users to do two things: First to extend the life of older Macs and also pave the way for future upgrades.
The Hypothetical
I've got two desktop machines that I use for testing. I have a Power Mac 8500 and a Power Mac G3 B/W. Each are upgradeable in different ways. The 8500 requires a daughtercard-style upgrade and the G3 requires a ZIF upgrade. The Newer Carrier upgrade
allows me to bridge these two machines
together. Lets say I have this 400 MHz Carrier upgrade in the 8500. In the G3, lets
say I have a 500 MHz G3. Now maybe six months down the road I'm going to upgrade
to a G4 processor. When I do so, I will be able to take the 500 MHz ZIF upgrade and
place it on the Newer Carrier Card. The 400 MHz G3 upgrade just became a 500 MHz
G3 upgrade. In a similar fashion, if you were then to also buy an older Power Mac
G3 that was slower than 400 MHz, you could also then bump this upgrade down to that
system. Newer Technology states that its Carrier Cards are compatible with other Newer ZIF upgrades and Apple's G3 ZIF upgrades. While that's the company's official line, it may be possible to mix G3 and perhaps G4 processors with this card. Newer does not recommend doing this, and I pretty much agree, however I tried it and things seemed to work. I didn't test the other upgrades much more than just plugging it in and booting the machine.
Personally, the ZIF-adapter seems to make sense in the long run when you're dealing with multiple systems. But, if you only have one system, the advantages of such versatility may not be as evident. Newer lists the upgrade card by itself at $200. Newer's 400 MHz ZIF upgrade retails for $500 and this 400 MHz Carrier Card upgrade retails for $600. So the value of this card really depends on what your long term plan may be for your systems. If you plan to keep upgrading your currently system, then you can purchase less-expensive ZIF upgrades into the future. This would make the upgrade a one-time Carrier Card purchase.
Performance
Considering how old the 8500 system is, I'm always surprised at its performance.
While testing other G3 and G4 upgrades, this system is still able to pack a punch.
With this particular upgrade, I was most interested to compare it to a Power Mac
G3 system. The B/W G3's system bus is twice as fast and the drives and memory are
also significantly faster.
I first tested the upgrade in the 8500 with the Carrier Card. I then removed the
ZIF upgrade from the card and installed it into the G3 system. 
I ran two sets of tests, one being
the standard MacBench and another a complex set of Photoshop functions. As expected,
the B/W G3 did beat out the 8500 in all categories, however not by much. Even with
the architectural difference, the 8500 didn't fair too poorly. The MacBench scores
only showed a difference of around 5%. In the more real-world Photoshop tests however,
the G3 upgrade in the 8500 was about 26% slower.
The differences between the two systems is not of great consequence to someone using
an older Mac. This 400 MHz upgrade will be relatively faster than say a 250 G3 or
even 604e upgrade in the same system. In particular I was interested in the differences
between machines to justify continuing an investment in something like an 8500. Considering
this upgrade has a suggested retail price of $600, I feel users need to consider
their options carefully.
Bottom Line
Buying CPU upgrades is always a difficult choice. There is always a certain point
where buying a new machine may make more sense. But I know some people simply can
not buy a new Mac. Business can take advantage of CPU upgrades, as many times the
"suits" refuse to invest in new Apple computers. G3 upgrades allow Macs
to remain in places where they normally would have been replaced by PCs. Additionally,
many Mac users already have too much invested in memory, parts and peripherals to
buy into a new system. As a result, buying a new upgrade every few years allows these
users to keep doing what they do at a relatively low cost.
In the end, considering other options such as a new computer, this upgrade is on
the expensive side. The current landscape of Mac CPU upgrades is rapidly changing
with Apple machines such as the $999 iMac and Power Mac G4. Also new G3 and G4 upgrades
continue to push the CPU speeds further. Ultimately, the 400
MHz MAXpowr G3 Carrier Card's value is derived from its ability to use ZIF upgrades.
If this is not a concern to you, you may find more bang for your buck elsewhere.
Pros: Allows for use of wider range of future ZIF upgrades.
Cons: Expensive considering other Apple and G3/G4 upgrade options.
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