Release date August 7, 1996 Discontinued August 1, 1997 | Introductory price 2400, 2800 Operating system | |
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CPU PowerPC 603e @ 180 or 200 MHz Memory 16 MiB, expandable to 136 MiB (70 ns 168-pin DIMM) | ||
The Power Macintosh 6400 (Codenames: "InstaTower", "Alchemy", "Hacksaw"; also sold under variations of the name Performa 6400) is a mid-range personal computer that is a part of Apple Computer's Power Macintosh and Macintosh Performa series of Macintosh computers. The two Performa variants were introduced in August 1996, while the Power Macintosh variant arrived two months later. They were discontinued in favor of the uniformly named Power Macintosh 6500 in August 1997, ending the Performa brand.
Contents
The 6400 shares its logic board with the Power Macintosh 5400, only without an integrated monitor. Its new "InstaTower“ case, however, features an integrated subwoofer. The Performa 6360 uses the same logic board in a Power Macintosh 6200-style desktop case. The 5400/6400 is generally believed to be superior to its 5200/6200 predecessors since it had a 64-bit data path to main memory.
All 6400 series computers used a PowerPC 603e processor. This central processing unit (CPU) was soldered to the computer's "Alchemy" main logic board and cooled by a fanless heat-sink. Though initially considered non-upgradable, CPU upgrades did come to market that overrode the fixed CPU by use of the Level 2 cache slot.
Models
Power Macintosh 6500
The Power Macintosh 6500 (Codename: "Gazelle") is a mid-range desktop computer in Apple Computer's Power Macintosh series. It was introduced in February 1997 in speeds of 225 and 250 MHz, replacing the very similar Power Macintosh 6400. In April 1997, two faster models at 275 and 300 MHz were added. The 6500 was discontinued in March 1998, with the Power Macintosh G3 minitower remaining as the only similar model. The Power Macintosh 5500 uses the same logic board in a 5200 style all-in one case.
The 6500 uses the same "InstaTower" case as the 6400, and is also internally similar. However, there are some differences apart from the faster processor: The 6500 has no RAM soldered to the logic board (the 6400 had 8 MiB, which also explains its higher memory ceiling), and uses a different graphics processor. Models from 250 MHz upward also include video in/out capability, some of them with a hardware-accelerated Avid capture card. Some models also include a Zip drive.
The Power Macintosh 6500 was the first personal computer, Mac or PC, to reach 300 MHz.