Performa 5200

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Overview

The 5200/75 was the first Power Mac with an integrated monitor. Although the PPC 603 CPU was superior to the older 601, the overall computer design kept performance of the 5200 and it's monitor-less twin, the 6200, comparable to a 6100/66. To save money, Apple based the motherboard on the Quadra 605 with its 25 MHz bus and 32-bit memory. (Remember, the 603 is a 64-bit chip.) Apple also used an 8-bit IDE controller for the hard drive. This is the kind of thinking that crippled the LC with a 16-bit bus in 1990.

Because of unusual architecture, installing a 25-pin SCSI terminator to the SCSI port (if you have no SCSI devices attached) will improve network stability.

If you are using a serial printer and no modem, connect the printer to the modem port to avoid network problems.

FWB HD Toolkit is a much better driver for the IDE hard drive than Apple's.

OpenTransport 1.2, which ships with Mac OS 8, solves many network problems.

A word of warning: the serial ports don't support hardware handshaking, which is required for all modems 9600 bps and faster. You must use a comm slot modem for good throughput.

Be sure to read Performa and Power Mac 5200, 5300, 6200, 6300 Issues. Then you'll understand why it's called a Road Apple.

Details

introduced April 1995, discontinued April 1996
requires System 7.5.1 or later
CPU: 75 MHz PPC 603
bus: network and SCSI run at 10 MHz, RAM and IDE at 22.5 MHz, CPU at 37.5 MHz, graphics at 30 MHz
performance: XXX (relative to SE)
ROM: 4 MB
RAM: 8 MB, expandable to 64 MB using 70ns 72-pin SIMMs (two slots, each supports a 4, 8, 16, or 32 MB SIMM), 32-bit memory bus, installing RAM in pairs of identical speed gives slightly more efficient performance
VRAM: 1 MB, not expandable
Video: thousands of colors at 640x480, 256 at 832x624
L2 cache: 256 KB
Sound: may have 8-bit or 16-bit (if capacitor C255 is present, motherboard has 8-bit sound)
ADB port for keyboard and mouse
DIN-8 serial ports on back of computer (modem port disabled when comm slot modem present; printer port disabled when comm slot ethernet card present)
DB-25 SCSI connector on back of computer
one LC PDS slot, one comm slot, one TV slot, one video I/O slot

Accelerators & Upgrades

5400, 5500 motherboard

Online Resources

Can I Speed a 6200 or 5200 on the Net?, Mac Daniel
Performa 6300, 5200 questions, Mac Daniel
Performa and Power Mac 5200, 5300, 6200, 6300 Issues by Scott L. Barber
Modem performance using FreePPP and OT PPP on at 5320, Adrian Winnard
Apple Specs Online for Power Macintosh 5200

Cautions

This highest PIO mode this model supports is Mode 3, Apple TIL 16335
Macs with IDE hard drive do not provide SCSI termination power, depending on external SCSI devices to provide it. For more details, see SCSI Termination Power.
On most models, the serial ports do not support hardware handshaking necessary for high speed (9600 bps or higher) modems. However, Global Village Teleport Platinum modems implement handshaking on the modem, providing 28.8 kbps and faster telecommunications. (The final revision of the motherboard does support hardware handshaking.)

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