Hi-Res mod and Sonnet Presto Plus

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Hi-Res mod and Sonnet Presto Plus

Thanks to everyone who responded to my previous posts... I have decided to perform the Hi-Res "hack" to my CC. I am aware of the potential for extra strain on the components, but I am willing to take this risk for the 67Hz refresh rate advantage over the 60Hz VGA mod. This being said...

1. Would installing an extra cooling fan help to relieve some of the extra strain on the components that the Hi-Res hack causes?

2. Would the Sonnet Presto Plus PDS daughter board be compatible with the CC after the Hi-res hack?

Thanks again!
Andrew

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Should be okay

The Presto should be okay -- you'll still have the same analog board, and the presto will still be talking to it via the sense lines in the original motherboard.

Matt

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Presto Plus

My personal opinion, which you may feel free to ignore, is that the Presto Plus is not worth it. If someone is not comfortable fiddling with computers, it's an ok option. But I think anyone comfortable enough with the innards of computers to do the hi-res or VGA mod is probably comfortable enough to do a motherboard replacement. The Presto Plus looks nice... except that the $100 price tag is many times what you would pay on ebay for an LC575 motherboard, which, with an ethernet PDS card, gives you pretty much exactly the same thing. I would read the instructions on the CC Faq pages and see if you think you could manage the upgrade and possibly save yourself a ton of money. I'm pretty sure I've seen 575 motherboards on ebay for $10-20.

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550 or 575 board?

I was originally leaning towards the Sonnet Presto Plus board because of it's supposed 66MHz speed. But I have been informed that this claim is bogus, so I no longer see an advantage in it. So any reason to get a 575 logic board over a 550? Beee

Thanks again!
Andrew

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Speed

A 550 board uses a 33MHz 68030 CPU. A 575 board uses a 33MHz 68LC040 CPU. The latter is much, much faster, and will be even moreso if you upgrade the 'LC040 chip with a full 68040 CPU chip. The 575 board also has a Comm Slot in addition to the LC PDS slot.

The only real point in the 550 board's favor is that the CC's rear port cover will fit as-is, whereas with the 575 board you have to modify it or make a custom one because the port alignment on the rear of the board is different.

Matt

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575 and back panel

By far the easiest solution to the Mystic back panel issue is to get a panel from a 575 and cut it down with a very fine hand saw.

Stuart

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Mystic (575 logic board)

is the way to go for simplicity, and even can be upgraded to PPC via a Daystar PowerCard. Mind you the Daystar still ain’t exactly speedy (think PM6100), but with OS 8.6 or 9 it’s quite usable. Worst feature is 36MB ram limit, as it can’t use the larger SIMMs when in PPC mode.

dan k

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