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 7200's 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. 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. 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. The Sonnet Presto, Crescendo and Encore cards work in every compatible Macintosh without the need for the antiquated methods of hardware configuration.