Apple Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower vs Apple Power Macintosh 9600/300

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Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower compared with Power Macintosh 9600/300

	ApplePower Macintosh G3 Mini Tower	ApplePower Macintosh 9600/300
Overview
Released
Released	November 1997	August 1997
Performance
Processor
Processor	PowerPC G3 233 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower), PowerPC G3 266 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower), PowerPC G3 300 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) or PowerPC G3 333 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower)	PowerPC 604e 300 MHz (Power Macintosh 9600/300)
CPU cores
CPU cores	1	1
Graphics
Graphics	ATI 3D RAGE II+ (2 MB), ATI 3D RAGE II+ (6 MB) and IX Micro 2D/3D PCI card (8 MB), Built-in graphics (6 MB SGRAM; factory revision varies), Built-in graphics (6 MB SGRAM) and IX Micro 2D/3D PCI card (8 MB) or ATI RAGE Pro Turbo (6 MB)	IXMICRO Twin Turbo 128M8 (8 MB VRAM)
Memory
Memory	32 MB, 64 MB or 128 MB (better)	64 MB
Storage
Storage	4 GB to 9 GB (better)	4 GB
CPU
CPU	233 and 266 MHz PowerPC G 3 with 512 KB backside L 2 cache; later 300 and 333 MHz with 1 MB. Apple’s exact Mini Tower Service Source confirms all four clocks and the 66 MHz system architecture. The factory processor supplier is not identified per machine.	300 MHz PowerPC 604e with 64 KB L1 cache, 1 MB L2 cache, 100 MHz cache bus and 50 MHz system bus
GPU
GPU	Built-in 2D/3D accelerator with 2 MB SGRAM, expandable to 6 MB. Original maker sheet specifies ATI RAGE II+; later logic boards changed the accelerator. Optional IX Micro 128-bit PCI graphics card has 8 MB EDO VRAM. EveryMac identifies RAGE Pro Turbo in the later 333 MHz configuration.	Bundled IXMICRO Twin Turbo 128M8 PCI video card with 8 MB VRAM; Apple lists output up to 1600 × 1200 pixels
Memory type
Memory type	Three 168-pin 64-bit JEDEC-standard 3.3 V unbuffered SDRAM DIMM slots; maker-supported maximum 384 MB. Stock memory of 32, 64 or 128 MB is tied to the factory ordering table. Unofficial 768 MB upgrades are excluded.	64 MB standard with twelve 168-pin DIMM slots, expandable to 768 MB according to Apple
Storage type
Storage type	May 1998 Apple factory pairs: 233 MHz/32 MB/4 GB IDE (M6431LL/A); 266 MHz/32 MB/6 GB IDE/Zip/audio-video (M6142LL/A); 266 MHz/128 MB/4 GB Ultra Wide SCSI/additional 8 MB PCI graphics (M6459LL/A); 300 MHz/64 MB/4 GB Ultra Wide SCSI (M6572LL/A); 300 MHz/128 MB/two 4 GB Ultra Wide SCSI drives/additional 8 MB PCI graphics (M6494LL/A). All have 24x CD-ROM. Later 333 MHz/128 MB/9 GB/Zip is from EveryMac’s exact record. Optional drive/RAM cross-products are omitted. Internal 1.44 MB floppy and optional 2x DVD-ROM.	4 GB internal SCSI hard drive, 1.44 MB floppy, 24× CD-ROM and built-in Iomega Zip drive
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	Three PCI slots accept three 12-inch cards; PERCH I/O card connector and modem slot. Optional SCSI, Ethernet and graphics cards consume PCI slots. Free internal storage bays vary by configuration.	Six PCI slots, one occupied by the bundled graphics card; pre-wired 5.25-inch SCSI expansion bay and two 3.5-inch drive bays
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	Ethernet, headphone jack	Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet	0.01 Gb/s	–
Back ports
Back ports	One ADB, one DB-15 monitor, one DB-25 SCSI, two GeoPort-compatible serial ports, 10BASE-T Ethernet and stereo audio input/output. Optional 10/100BASE-T and FireWire cards are excluded from the standard count.	Apple Desktop Bus, external DB-25 SCSI, two serial ports, AAUI and 10BASE-T Ethernet, DB-15 video on the graphics card, stereo audio input and output
External displays
External displays	Built-in video supports up to 1600 × 1200, with colour depth depending on SGRAM. Optional PCI graphics card connects a second monitor.	Bundled graphics card supports one external display at up to 1600 × 1200 pixels
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	15.015 kg	–
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	243.84 × 452.12 × 386.08 mm	–
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker gives 33.1 lb and 15.2 × 9.6 × 17.8 inches height × width × depth. Main fields are direct conversions using 25.4 mm/inch and 0.45359237 kg/lb; actual weight depends on fitted devices.	Apple lists 17.3 × 9.7 × 17.3 inches (height × width × depth) and 35 lb
Power supply
Power supply	240 W maximum; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz (current Apple Mini Tower support table).	Apple lists a 560 W maximum
In the box
In the box	Mac OS 8.0 originally; revised stock includes Mac OS 8.1. November 1997 month is supported by Apple’s opened Store selling the new Desktop/Mini Tower, with stock deliveries in two working days and BTO about two weeks; no exact first delivery day is proven. Server G3 shares the chassis but its bundled server configurations are excluded.	Apple's 5 August 1997 announcement says the 9600/300 was available immediately worldwide with Mac OS 8. Its support sheet lists original system software as 7.6.1.