The 80 MHz Power Mac 8100 was the fastest Power Mac when Apple introduced the line in March 1994, and it was the only model to ship from the factory with a 256 KB level 2 cache installed.

Built into a Quadra 800 case, the 8100 (a.k.a. 8115 in Japan as well as Apple Workgroup Server 8150) contains three NuBus slots and a PDS (processor direct slot). Like the other first-generation Power Macs, the 8100 uses system memory for video (up to 615 KB, depending on resolution and bit-depth). It also has a separate PDS video card with its own memory, making it very easy to work with two monitors. For best performance, use the video card, not motherboard video, when using just one display.

The 8100 was upgraded to 100 MHz January 1995, and a 110 MHz version was added in January 1995. It was replaced by the 8500 in August 1995.

Specs (via Low End Mac)

• Cpu: 80-110 MHz PPC 601
• Bus: 33-40 MHz
• Performance: 2.6/3.3 (80 MHz/110 MHz, relative to Centris 650); 35.77 (80 MHz), MacBench 2.0; 4.18, 80 MHz, Speedometer 4; 38,462 (100 MHz) Whetstones
• Ram: 8 MB on motherboard, expandable to 264 MB using pairs of 80ns 72-pin SIMMs in 8 SIMM sockets. Supports 4, 8, 16, and 32 MB SIMMs. Will not recognize more than 32 MB per SIMM even if you install 64 MB SIMMs.
• Rom: 4 MB
• L2 Cache: 256 KB standard, supports 256 KB to 1 MB cache
• Hard Drive: 250 MB to 2 GB
• Video: internal supports thousands of colors at 640 x 480 and 256 colors at 832 x 642 2 MB PDS card and AV card support millions of colors at 640 x 480 and 832 x 624, thousands of colors at 1024 x 768 and 1152 x 870 4 MB PDS card supports millions of colors at 640 x 480, 832 x 624, 1024 x 768, and 1152 x 870
• Vram: none on motherboard, 2 MB on PDS video card (expandable to 4 MB), 2 MB on AV card (not expandable)
• Gestalt Id: 65 (80 MHz), 55 (100 MHz), 40 (110 MHz)
• Adb: 1 port for keyboard and mouse
• Scsi: DB-25 connector on back of computer
• Serial: 2 DIN-8 GeoPorts on back of computer
• Ethernet: AAUI connector on back of computer, requires AAUI adapter
• Pram Battery: 3.6V half-AA
• Weight: 25.3 lb
• Cd-Rom: 2x standard
• Microphone: standard 3.5mm minijack, compatible with line-level input including Apple’s PlainTalk microphone
• Nubus Slots: 3
• Power Supply: 200W
• Height: 14.0 in
• Width: 7.7 in
• Depth: 15.75 in
• See: Online resources and links for the Power Mac 8100