Centris 650

A Low End Mac Best Buy

Got a Centris? Consider joining the Quadlist email list.

Overview

Creating a midpoint between the Mac II line and the Quadra series, the short-lived Centris models were introduced in February 1993. The Centris 650 used the same chassis as the IIvx and IIvi. Some models came with a 68LC040 (no math section), only 4 MB RAM, and no ethernet. Most used the full 68040 and had ethernet, as well as 8 MB of motherboard RAM.

The 650 introduced a higher speed SCSI bus to the Macintosh line as well as accelerated internal video. It also used interleaved memory to squeeze out about 10% more performance. All this made the Quadra 700 obsolete; it was dropped from Apple's lineup with the Centris rollout.

The Centris 650 and Quadra 800 were the first Macs to ship with a bootable CD-ROM.

Apple earns a Road Apple for the Centris name, which was discontinued after 9 months. Despite that, the Centris 650 is an excellent value on the used market, especially versions with ethernet and the full 68040 processor.

Details

introduced February 1993 at $2,700; discontinued October 1993
requires System 7.1 or later
CPU: 25 MHz 68040 or 68LC040
performance: 12.0, relative to SE; 0.99, Speedometer 4; 22 MIPS
ROM: 1 MB
RAM: 4 MB or 8 MB on motherboard, expandable by 128 MB using four 80ns 72-pin SIMMs; motherboard had 4 SIMM slots which can be filled individually but should ideally be filled in neioghboring pairs to take advantage of interleaved memory; can use 4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB, and 32 MB SIMMs
video: 512 KB VRAM, upgradable to 1 MB; supports 512x384, 640x480, 640x870, 832x624, 1024x768, and 1152x870 resolutions
L2 cache: optional, PDS
ADB ports: 2
DIN-8 serial ports: 2
DB-25 SCSI connector on back of computer
NuBus 90 slots: 3
one PDS slot
upgrade path: Power Mac PDS card, Power Mac 7100

Accelerators & Upgrades

Output Enablers 28.6-29.5 MHz clock accelerator
Griffin Mac-celerator (variable speed to 28 MHz, incl. fan)
MicroMac Speedy variable speed oscillator (to 29 MHz), available from Outpost.com
Sonnet QuadDoubler (50 MHz 68040), available from Outpost.com
Apple Power Macintosh Upgrade Card/Daystar PowerPro 601 runs at twice the speed of the original processor (50 MHz) and has a 1 MB level 2 cache (resource: Unofficial PowerPro 601 Page)
Daystar PowerPro 601 (100 MHz 601), discontinued
Power Mac 7100
Sonnet 100 MHz PowerPC 601 Presto PPC, available from Outpost.com

Accelerator Reviews

Sonnet Quad Doubler

Online Resources

6100 DOS Cards, Quadras, and You. How to use a Power Mac 6100 DOS card with 66 MHz 486DX2 CPU in a Quadra
72-pin SIMM memory pricing, RAMseeker
What Can I Do with a Quadra or Centris 650?, Mac Daniel
Is upgrading my Centris 650 worth it?, Mac Daniel
Apple TIL: Centris 610, 650, 660av compared
Quadlist, the email list for 68040-based Macs
Memory Upgrade Guide
Interleaved Memory in the Centris & Qaudra by Dale Adams
Centris & Quadra Onboard Video by Dale Adams
AppleFacts Online for Centris 650
This Old Mac in MacAddict
Printed reviews: Macworld, April 1993; Mac User, April 1993

Cautions

You must have a "fat" system installed to use a PowerPC upgrade.
Serial port normally restricted to 57.6 kbps; use of a 56k modem may be limited. See 56k modem page. For more information on Mac serial ports, read Macintosh Serial Throughput on the Macintosh Online Technical Journal.

<back to Centris/Quadra page or home page> MacPromote Xchange

Low End Mac established April 7, 1997. This page, the entire Low End Mac site, and all subsites of <http://lowendmac.net/> copyright ©1997-99 by Dan Knight unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

LINK POLICY: This site allows and encourages links to any public page, so long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking the linked page.

Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, and iMac are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are hereby acknowledged.