Mac 9600 advice

[tld]

I am trying to determine my best option for
a Mac for a PT24 Mix+ system. Given the pci
slot limitations and all the other issues
of G3s/G4s I would like to get a 9600. The
9600/300 and 9600/350 systems are hard to
find and generally pretty expensive. The
9600/200s are much easier to find.

I'd like to know what limitations /
performance problems I might have with the
200 Mhz model. I would also like to know
if a G3 upgrade (NewerTech for example) would
be advisable for the 9600/200 systems and
if Digi has approved any of these upgrades.

I posted similar questions to daw-mac. One
response suggested that the 9600/200 may be
a bit slow with version 5 of Protools (which
I really want to get). I'd like to know
if others feel this would be the case, and
if so, whether a G3 upgrade would help.

Thanks in advance for any response...of
course if anyone out there has a great deal
on a 9600/300 that's be even better

Tom Dexter

[Anibal]

I have a 9600/233 with a Newertech G3/400 card, it works great...

[lucian]

[This message has been edited by lucian (edited 12-05-99).]

[tld]

Thanks Anibal and lucian (don't think I'm
*quite* that adventerous lucian )

On a related topic...i have had several
replies from r.a.p. and daw-mac indicating
the people have had very good luck using
9500 Power Macs with the NewerTech G3
upgrade. If anyone can give me any advise
on what the downsides could be of that as
apposed to a 9600.

From specs I can find, the only significant
difference I see is that the 9500 has half
the level one cache (32M vs 64M). I'm not
sure how much difference that will make. I
believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that other
differences may not be an issue with the G3
upgrade. The digicompat document indicates
that you need the 150MHz model or higher to
get more than 32 tracks. I see in the specs
that the 150MHz models have a 50MHz internal
bus speed vs 44MHz in the 120s. Would this
deficiency be addressed by the G3 upgrade,
or is the system bus speed determined by
other differences (in the motherboard for
example).

Thanks in advance for any advise. By the
way, this system will be strictly for audio
(no video or anything).

Tom Dexter

[This message has been edited by tld (edited 12-03-99).]

[This message has been edited by tld (edited 12-03-99).]