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PowerMac advice, please!

R

RedCroissant

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Aug 13, 2011
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So there's a PM G5 Quad 2.5 that keeps coming up on CL in my area and I really want it but would like some advice before I actually decide to do anything. The seller is offering a 23" Apple monitor(LCD), 4GB RAM, Airport cards installed, bluetooth as well, and including the keyboard(white wireless) wired mouse, and all original system discs as well.

It has dual 500GB HDD(one serves as an incremental backup and is essentially a clone of the system). It's running OS X 10.4.3

The only issue that this seller says exists is a "minor fan issue" that "kicks on after some use and is a bit noisy." The price is amazing because no one is buying it and I know that if I contact this guy again then I'm pretty sure that he would hold it for me if I showed interest.

I'm just wondering if the fan issue could be a major problem or not.

Are there any other concerns with that model PM that I should be concerned with? Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Swampus

Swampus

macrumors 6502
Jun 20, 2013
396
1
Winterfell
It's normal for the fans to kick up with use. It could be as simple as a noisy fan. It happens sometimes as fans age.

If you go look at it, I would check the temps under load. If it gets above 60C or so, there could be a problem with the cooling system. Even if so, it could still be something simple. Maybe needs new thermal compound? Or it could be a problem with the liquid cooling system. I've never owned an LCS Mac, but I'm sure others will be able to give you advice about things to look for--Especially where to look for signs of leakage.
 
R

RedCroissant

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MisterKeeks said:
What is the price?
Click to expand...

Hi MK!

I actually just got back with it because the price was just too good to pass up AND when I tested it, the fan didn't seem to be problem at all. The seller advertised 4GB RAM but it really only had 2GB. So he lowered the rice to $200 for it. How awesome is that?!

So I now have a PowerMac G5 2.5GHz Quad(which I never thought I would own) with 2GB RAM and 2 500GB HDDs. I'm feeling pretty good about it and in the process of installing Leopard on it right now. Once everything is set up, I will let you guys know.
 
M

macuser453787

macrumors 6502a
May 19, 2012
578
151
Galatians 3:13-14
RedCroissant said:
Hi MK!

I actually just got back with it because the price was just too good to pass up AND when I tested it, the fan didn't seem to be problem at all. The seller advertised 4GB RAM but it really only had 2GB. So he lowered the rice to $200 for it. How awesome is that?!

So I now have a PowerMac G5 2.5GHz Quad(which I never thought I would own) with 2GB RAM and 2 500GB HDDs. I'm feeling pretty good about it and in the process of installing Leopard on it right now. Once everything is set up, I will let you guys know.
Click to expand...

Nice! Anything specific that you'll be using it for? I believe the RAM goes up to 16GB if needed...
 
R

RedCroissant

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macuser453787 said:
Nice! Anything specific that you'll be using it for? I believe the RAM goes up to 16GB if needed...
Click to expand...

Not anything truly specific that would require professional power or anything, but I am getting into coding(a little) I like burning my own movies and using HandBrake, GeekTool, actually going to be able to stream my iTunes library now...things like that. I've been going with my two iBooks since last August and when I saw this deal, I just couldn't pass it up.

The seller actually listed it several times over the course of two months but kept getting screwed over by CL people and other flakes. So I just happened to look at CL again on the right day.

Well I spent the money that I was given for graduating, so if you know where I could get more RAM from somewhere for a VERY reasonable price(or from someone willing to trade RAM for an iBook) then feel free to let me know right away!

Swampus said:
Nice deal! :)
Click to expand...

I am REALLY happy about the deal. And it's lucky for me that it was a business machine and it was accounted for that way and fully depreciated and written off, so there was no emotional attachment to deal with and it was just an awesome straightforward deal.
 
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M

macuser453787

macrumors 6502a
May 19, 2012
578
151
Galatians 3:13-14
RedCroissant said:
Well I spent the money that I was given for graduating, so if you know where I could get more RAM from somewhere for a VERY reasonable price(or from someone willing to trade RAM for an iBook) then feel free to let me know right away!
Click to expand...

Well, for really low prices you could see what ebay has to offer. For new RAM (and keep in mind, I'm not up on what's considered good pricing for G5 RAM, so just FWIW), OWC seems to have pretty good prices.
 
jbarley

jbarley

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2006
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cocacolakid

cocacolakid

macrumors 65816
Dec 18, 2010
1,108
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Chicago
Congrats! That's still such a cool looking beast. I picked up a cheap dual 2.0 one last year and now it's my brother's everyday machine (the old MDD 1.42 finally croaked, I think it was the power supply).
 
R

RedCroissant

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ihuman:D said:
IMO I wouldn't learn C first, it's better learn a language like Ruby, Python or C# first. I'd also learn C++ not C. :)
Click to expand...

Why is that? Why C++ over C? The reason I started getting into this was a college computer class that introduced HTML and then I wanted to begin learning so that I could develop stuff on my own like apps and stuff.
 
R

RedCroissant

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cocacolakid said:
Congrats! That's still such a cool looking beast. I picked up a cheap dual 2.0 one last year and now it's my brother's everyday machine (the old MDD 1.42 finally croaked, I think it was the power supply).
Click to expand...

Thanks! I love this machine. Even with only 2GB of RAM, just the CPU power of this machine makes me not want to use my iBooks anymore. And I might even sell the larger one. I can see the difference between a typical consumer machine and a professional machine now and can only imagine how a MacPro would perform in comparison to this machine. I love the speed boost, the fact that Home Sharing works now, and that all the ports work so now all my accessories and peripherals are connected properly.

Now I have a shopping list:

1.)16GB RAM kit(just because I want it maxed out)
2.)Better graphics card to support higher resolution
3.)Higher capacity HDD(cannot afford SSD)
4.)great speakers
5.)iSight camera
 
R

RedCroissant

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Mapping RAM slots?

Hello again, everyone. It turns out that my new PM has 4GB RAM installed but 2 of the modules failed. The Power On Self-Test showed this:

Last Run: 7/17/2013
Result: Failed
Failure Type: Memory
Memory Slots: DIMM0/J6700, DIMM1/J6800

Does anyone have a diagram that shows the labels for each slot for the PM G5 Quad 2.5? Or if the labels are on the board, could someone tell me where? I've been doing searches and I'm having trouble locating the information. Thanks in advance for any help!
 
cocacolakid

cocacolakid

macrumors 65816
Dec 18, 2010
1,108
20
Chicago
RedCroissant said:
Hello again, everyone. It turns out that my new PM has 4GB RAM installed but 2 of the modules failed. The Power On Self-Test showed this:

Last Run: 7/17/2013
Result: Failed
Failure Type: Memory
Memory Slots: DIMM0/J6700, DIMM1/J6800

Does anyone have a diagram that shows the labels for each slot for the PM G5 Quad 2.5? Or if the labels are on the board, could someone tell me where? I've been doing searches and I'm having trouble locating the information. Thanks in advance for any help!
Click to expand...

Try this

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA23726?viewlocale=en_US
 
I

ihuman:D

macrumors 6502a
Jul 11, 2012
925
1
Ireland
RedCroissant said:
Why is that? Why C++ over C? The reason I started getting into this was a college computer class that introduced HTML and then I wanted to begin learning so that I could develop stuff on my own like apps and stuff.
Click to expand...

It can be confusing going from C to C++, and vice-versa, C++ also has more support than C. C++ could also be viewed as a "modern", improved, updated version of C. For me, personally, I wouldn't choose either, I'd go with C# - It's fast, powerful, efficient and the code that you write in C or C++ is much shorter to write in C# in most cases, it's also got a similiar syntax to C++ so it makes it a great starter language if you want to go onto something more powerful later, it's syntax is also similiar to Java's.

Unfortunately C# support on PowerPC in Mac OS X isn't very good.
 
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cocacolakid

cocacolakid

macrumors 65816
Dec 18, 2010
1,108
20
Chicago
ihuman:D said:
It can be confusing going from C to C++, and vice-versa, C++ also has more support than C. C++ could also be viewed as a "modern", improved, updated version of C. For me, personally, I wouldn't choose either, I'd go with C# - It's fast, powerful, efficient and code that you write in C or C++ is much shorter to write, it's also got a similiar syntax to C++ so it makes it a great starter language if you want to go onto something more powerful later.

Unfortunately C# support on PowerPC isn't very good.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. Thanks.
 
R

RedCroissant

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Aug 13, 2011
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Shopping list ideas?

This is my wish list as of right now for my PM and I'm hoping that someone out there has some ideas on where I could save a lot.

1.)16GB RAM kit(just because I want it maxed out)
These are the prices that I found from 3 sources and I was wondering if anyone knew of sites/vendors with good reputations but more reasonable prices.
OWC: 247.96 (16GB kit, 8 x2GB modules)

Crucial: 287.96(16GB kit, 8 x2GB modules)

NewEgg: 152.00 (8GB kit, 8x1GB modules)

2.)Better graphics card to support higher resolution
I doubt that I'll be connecting any other monitors at this point of any time in the future, so this one is sort of off the list since the stock card works just fine for my needs.

3.)Higher capacity HDD(cannot afford SSD)
I have a 1TB WD MyBook Studio external HDD and I was wondering if I could simply remove that from the case and install that in the bay and use one of the 500GB internals installed at the moment with my external case.

4.)Great speakers
I would just like something simple that does not require its own power supply that would also look nice with or attach to the display. USB bus-powered is fine as well.

5.)iSight camera
Of course a good iSight camera is most likely going to be hard to come by, but other ideas/advice on not only good but also compatible webcams would be greatly appreciated.
 
Andropov

Andropov

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2012
742
987
Spain
IMHO, yo should go for a SSD before everything else. In eBay, you can find a good one for about 80$, and the PowerMac would feel like a whole new, faster computer. About the RAM, I'd buy it in eBay or forums. Way cheaper, same quality.
 
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