Please consider a donation to the Higher Intellect project. See https://preterhuman.net/donate.php or the Donate to Higher Intellect page for more info.

Power Macintosh 9500

From Higher Intellect Vintage Wiki

The 9500 is a PCI based Power Macintosh which features six expansion slots, one of which must hold the video card.

It was powered by either a 120 or 132 Mhz PowerPC 604 processor, a second-generation PowerPC chip which was considerably faster than its predecessor, the PowerPC 601. The big news about the 9500, however, was its 6 PCI slots. It was the first Mac to comply with the PCI industry standard. The 9500 came in a full tower case, and had 7 internal drive bays. Like the old Macintosh II, the 9500 came with no graphics capability -- a third party add-on card was required. The most innovative feature of the 9500 was that its processor came on a daughtercard, making future upgrades much less expensive. The 9500 cost $5,300, and was "speed bumped" to 150 Mhz in April 1996. In August 1996, the 9500 was speed bumped again to a 200 Mhz 604e processor and a multiprocessing twin 180 Mhz 604e-based 9500 was released. The 9500 was replaced in early 1997 by the 9600.

General Information[edit]

The minimum system software version for this system appears to be 7.5.2. Similar Macintosh models include the Power Macintosh 7200, Power Macintosh 7500 and Power Macintosh 8500.

The microprocessor for the Power Macintosh 9500 Series computers is on separate plug-in card, which allows for easy upgrades. The Power Macintosh 9500 family includes five versions: the 9500/120, the 9500/132, the 9500/150, the 9500/180MP (multi-processor), and the 9500/200.

CPU[edit]

The 9500 was available in numerous configurations between 120-200MHz using the PowerPC 604 and 604e processors. There was also a dual CPU model with two 180MHz processors.

The Power Macintosh 9500 Series computers feature the highest performance PowerPC processor available: the PowerPC 604 RISC microprocessor. Designed to bring unprecedented levels of performance to desktop computers, the Power PC 604 processor offers up to 1.5 times the performance of the PowerPC 601 processor at the same clock speed. Features include

  • Full RISC processing architecture
  • Parallel processing units: one load-store unit, two integer units, one complex integer unit, and one floating point unit
  • Separate built-in caches for data and instructions, 16 KB each, four-way set associative
  • Advanced branching techniques for improved throughput

The PowerPC 604 processor is installed via a processor card that plugs into the Macintosh 9500 Series logic board, allowing for maximum flexibility with future upgrades.

Memory[edit]

The Power Macintosh 9500 Series logic board has 12 DRAM DIMM slots, each with a 64-bit data bus. You can increase the computer’s DRAM to a total of 1536 MB using 5-volt, 64-bit-wide, 168-pin fast-paged mode, 70 ns DIMMs. When installing DRAM DIMMs in the Power Macintosh 9500, fill slot A6 first, followed by B6, then A5, followed by B5, and so on. DRAM DIMMs can be installed individually; however, to take advantage of memory interleaving, which provides maximum performance, you must install the DIMMs in matching pairs and in paired slots (A6 and B6 first, then A5 and B5, and so on). DIMMs purchased from different manufacturers can be paired as long as they are the same size and speed.

Note: Memory interleaving allows the computer to read or write to its memory while other memory reads or writes are occurring, thus providing for faster performance.

Video[edit]

The 9500 does not include onboard video, so you must install at least one PCI video card. As the target market for this sort of system would have included A/V professionals looking to use more powerful third-party video cards anyway, it makes sense to save the cost of onboard video. The 9500 would often ship with the IXMicro Twin Turbo 128 or ATI Mach64 video cards.

SCSI[edit]

The Power Macintosh 9500 Series computers offer Fast SCSI support on the internal SCSI connector, which provides for significantly enhanced data throughput. The internal SCSI bus on these computers supports transfer rates up to 10 MB/sec.

Cache[edit]

The 9500 model has 512KB L2 cache directly on the board.

Notes[edit]

  • The plastic pieces used in this case design become very brittle with age, and even the most basic actions such as trying to remove a front bezel piece will probably break the plastics.

Troubleshooting/Repair[edit]

Capacitor replacement (logic board)[edit]

The SMD capacitors will likely soon leak electrolyte due to age. These should be replaced before this happens.

  • 27 x 47uf 16v
  • 3 x 100uf 6v
  • 8 x 10uf 16v

Capacitor replacement (power supply unit)[edit]

For long term reliability, you may want to consider replacing the aluminum capacitors in the PSU. This list SHOULD be an accurate list of capacitors:

  • 3 x 1uf 50v
  • 1 x 22uf 50v
  • 2 x 4.7uf 50v
  • 2 x 470uf 16v
  • 2 x 820uf 200v
  • 1 x 33uf 50v
  • 1 x 470uf 35v
  • 2 x 2200uf 16v
  • 2 x 3300uf 16v
  • 1 x 1000uf 35v
  • 1 x 470uf 25v
  • 1 x 1200uf 16v
  • 1 x 47uf 25v
  • 1 x 100uf 25v
  • 1 x 100uf 35v

Resetting the Logic Board[edit]

Resetting the logic board can resolve many system problems. Whenever you have a unit that fails to power up, you should follow this procedure before replacing any modules.

  1. Unplug the computer.
  2. Remove the logic board.
  3. Using a small flat-blade screwdriver, pry open the latch at the end of the battery holder and lift off the battery holder cover.
  4. Remove the battery from its holder.
  5. Verify the power supply cable is disconnected from the logic board and then press the Power On button.
  6. Wait at least 10 minutes before replacing the battery. Make sure the battery is installed in the correct +/- direction.
  7. Reassemble the computer and test the unit.

Note: This procedure resets the computer’s PRAM. Be sure to check the computer’s time/date and other system parameter settings afterwards.

Diagrams/Schematics[edit]

Gallery[edit]

Documentation[edit]

See Also[edit]

External Resources[edit]

The Power Macintosh Series from Apple Computer
Power Macintosh 4400 -- Power Macintosh 5200 -- Power Macintosh 5260 -- Power Macintosh 5300 -- Power Macintosh 5400 -- Power Macintosh 5500 -- Power Macintosh 6100 -- Power Macintosh 6200 -- Power Macintosh 6300 -- Power Macintosh 6360 -- Power Macintosh 6400 -- Power Macintosh 6500 -- Power Macintosh 7100 -- Power Macintosh 7200 -- Power Macintosh 7300 -- Power Macintosh 7500 -- Power Macintosh 7600 -- Power Macintosh 8100 -- Power Macintosh 8500 -- Power Macintosh 8600 -- Power Macintosh 9500 -- Power Macintosh 9600 -- Power Macintosh G3