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