SONNET ANNOUNCES POWER MAC 7200
G3 UPGRADE
APPLE EXPO, PARIS, FRANCE September 13, 2000. Sonnet Technologies, the
worldwide market share leader in processor upgrade cards for Apple
Macintosh computers, announces the first G3 upgrade for the Power Mac
7200. Once considered impossible to upgrade, this best-selling system has a
new future due to the unprecedented achievement of Sonnet’s engineering
team. The first product in this new Crescendo line will be G3 400 MHz/1M
model, and will boost performance up to eight times as fast as the original
system.
“There were numerous challenges in designing an upgrade for the 7200 which
we have been able to overcome using the knowledge and breakthroughs weve
accumulated from our years of previous upgrade designs,” states Sonnet’s
Chief Engineer, Henry Kanapell. The first challenge was to determine where
the upgrade would be installed. The only option was to place the 7200
upgrade card in an available PCI slot, which had not previously been
attempted. The original PowerPC 601 processor in the 7200 is soldered onto
the logic board, so there is no processor slot. The cache slot in this
system does not carry the necessary signals.
With the processor working on the PCI bus, the only way to get truly
top-tier performance was to place local RAM on the card. To address this,
Sonnet has provided 3 DIMM sockets that match those on the 7200
motherboard. While one small DIMM must remain in place to handle initial
start-up duties, the remaining memory can be moved to the Crescendo card to
minimize the need for incremental RAM purchases. Users can also opt for
additional or larger DIMMs as desired.
The next hurdle to overcome was to surpass the maximum performance
available on the 7200s motherboard, which run at bus speeds starting at 30
MHz. Sonnet felt it imperative that users be able to upgrade to truly
modern performance levels, and this too has been achieved. Using design
elements from Sonnets recently announced Fortissimo technology, Sonnet
created an independent bus to run on the new processor card. This bus runs
at a speed of 66 MHz, which allows the Crescendo 7200 to take full
advantage of a 400 MHz G3 processor and beyond.
While weve had our share of industry-leading developments, its not every
day you can announce something people thought to be impossible, says
Robert Farnsworth, Sonnets president and CEO. The Crescendo 7200
represents a tremendous achievement by our team, and will give thousands of
Mac users a new way to more productively use their computers.
Pricing and Availability
The Crescendo G3/7200 will be available in Q4, 2000:
Crescendo G3/7200 400/1M $499.95
Sonnets Crescendo 7200 G3 upgrade card is compatible with the following
Macintosh models:
– Power Mac 7200, 7215
– Workgroup Server 7250
– Power Mac 8200
Simply Fast
Sonnet cards have unequaled ease-of-installation and reliability. The
Sonnet Presto, Crescendo and Encore cards work in every compatible
Macintosh without the need for the antiquated methods of hardware
configuration. Free from switches, jumpers, and control panels, the Sonnet
upgrade cards are Simply Fast. Sonnet products are guaranteed to operate
reliably over variations of machine, time and temperature. The ability to
move an upgrade card from one machine to another without the need to tweak
any jumpers, switches or control panels is a significant advantage to
resellers and organizations that want to maximize their flexibility, while
minimizing the long term technical support requirements.
About Sonnet Technologies, Inc.
Sonnet Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Irvine, California, is the
worldwide market share leader in processor upgrade cards and enhancement
products for Apple Macintosh computers. Founded in 1986, Sonnet upgrades
more Macintosh models with processor upgrade cards than any other company.
Sonnet products are easy to install, are backed by a three-year warranty,
include free technical support, and require no switches, jumpers, or
control panels. To locate an authorized reseller or purchase product, visit
the Sonnet Technologies web site at (http://www.sonnettech.com), or call
the company at 1-800-786-6260 (USA and Canada) or 1 949-587-3500
Sonnet Technologies
15 Whatney
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 587-3500
Fax: (949) 457-6350