Apple · Power Mac
Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower
A beige PowerPC tower with three PCI slots, internal floppy and optical drives, and configurable audio/video expansion.
- Type
- Tower
- 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)
- Memory
- 32 MB – 128 MB
- Storage
- 4 GB – 9 GB
- Screen
- –
- Weight
- 15.015 kg
Specifications
Report a wrong or missing specPerformance
- 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)
- CPU cores
- 1
- 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)
- Memory
- 32 MB, 64 MB or 128 MB
- Storage
- 4 GB to 9 GB
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Display
- Screen
- None built in
Connections
- Ports
- Ethernet, headphone jack
- Ethernet
- 0.01 Gb/s
- 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.
- External displays
- Built-in video supports up to 1600 × 1200, with colour depth depending on SGRAM. Optional PCI graphics card connects a second monitor.
Design and power
- Type
- Tower
- Weight
- 15.015 kg
- Width × depth × height
- 243.84 × 452.12 × 386.08 mm
- Operating system
- macOS
- 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.
- Power supply
- 240 W maximum; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz (current Apple Mini Tower support table).
- 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.
Configurations
| Processor | Memory | Storage | Storage type | Graphics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PowerPC G3 233 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) | 32 MB | 4 GB | Hard drive | ATI 3D RAGE II+ (2 MB) |
| PowerPC G3 266 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) | 32 MB | 6 GB | Hard drive | ATI 3D RAGE II+ (2 MB) |
| PowerPC G3 266 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) | 128 MB | 4 GB | Hard drive | ATI 3D RAGE II+ (6 MB) and IX Micro 2D/3D PCI card (8 MB) |
| PowerPC G3 300 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) | 64 MB | 4 GB | Hard drive | Built-in graphics (6 MB SGRAM; factory revision varies) |
| PowerPC G3 300 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) | 128 MB | 8 GB | Hard drive | Built-in graphics (6 MB SGRAM) and IX Micro 2D/3D PCI card (8 MB) |
| PowerPC G3 333 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) | 128 MB | 9 GB | Hard drive | ATI RAGE Pro Turbo (6 MB) |
Pros and cons
Pros
- Accessible side panel
- Three PCI expansion slots
- Optional audio/video capture
Cons
- No standard USB or FireWire
- Small base memory allocation
- Early logic boards lack IDE slave-drive support
Closest rivals
Model | Type | Processor | Memory | Storage | Screen | Weight | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower | PowerPC G3 300 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Blue and White), PowerPC G3 350 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Blue and White), PowerPC G3 400 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Blue and White) or PowerPC G3 450 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Blue and White) | 64 MB – 128 MB | 6 GB – 12 GB | – | 13 kg | Jan 1999 | |
| Tower | PowerPC 603e 300 MHz (Power Macintosh 6500) | 64 MB | 4 GB – 6 GB | – | – | 1997 | |
| Tower | PowerPC 604e 300 MHz (Power Macintosh 9600/300) | 64 MB | 4 GB | – | – | Aug 1997 |
Newer model: Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White).
Sources
- support.apple.com/en-us/112045
- macdat.net/files/pdf/apple/servicesource/powermac_g3_minitower.pdf
- macdat.net/files/pdf/apple/servicesource/powermac_g3_desktop.pdf
- apple.com/ca/fr/press/1997/11/PowerMacG3.html
- apple.com/ca/fr/press/1997/11/AppleStore.html
- everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g3/specs/powermac_g3_333_mt.html
- apple.com/ca/fr/press/1997/11/newEra.html
Photo: upload.wikimedia.org
