PowerMac G5: Good deal?

TorCoolguy · Feb 12, 2013

Recently i've been searching on creigslist for a PowerMac G5 or iMac G5 to play around with and I found one for sale for 140 dollars. Detailed specs are:

Dual 1.8 GHz
1GB RAM
80 GB Hard Drive
Superdrive
Keyboard & Mouse (not specified if 3rd party or not)
10.5.8 Leopard
Office 2008
iLife
Creative Suite CS2
Apple Studio Display (Not specified ADC or not and buyer listed some of the "anti-reflective coating" whatever that is, is gone)

Is this a good deal? and, would it be able to play 360p or above youtube without sucking down the whole processor? One more thing, does this model require an external airport & bluetooth antenna?

MisterKeeks · Feb 12, 2013

I wouldn't say so. I would look for one a Dual 2.3 or higher, or perhaps a dual 2.0.

TorCoolguy · Feb 12, 2013

For any particular reason? Im kind of rusty on what is consitered a reasonable price for a G5 these days. Or are you saying that it won't be able to run what I want very decently? I did say it was a Dual 1.8 GHz G5 right?

Goftrey · Feb 12, 2013

Far too expensive. Unless it had an aluminium cinema display with it... Which it doesn't. If the seller said that there's an anti-reflective coating on it, then it must be the CRT monitor, as the LCD studio displays were matte.

But as MisterKeeks said, definitely look at at the DC 2.3ghz, as they are known to be the fastest air-cooled G5 around (although the quad did introduce a revised LCS so I'd maybe take a look at them too).

TorCoolguy · Feb 12, 2013

Whats a reasonable price for this machine. (Its a studio display by the way, he had a picture. It was the 17" easel LCD kind)

MisterKeeks · Feb 12, 2013

TorCoolguy said:
Whats a reasonable price for this machine. (Its a studio display by the way, he had a picture. It was the 17" easel LCD kind)

I got my DP1.8 for $50. I'd say with the display, 75$-80$.

noodle654 · Feb 12, 2013

That price is a little high. I got back in December a DC 2.3GHz and a DP 1.8GHz for $150. I wouldn't pay anything over $100 for a DP.

Lancer · Feb 12, 2013

This is depressing, I was hoping to sell my G5 later this year and get a few hounded dollars for it. Just got an iMac but some of the older PPC software won't work on Intel based systems with the current OS X, so I'm holding on to it for the foreseeable future until I find alternates.

GermanyChris · Feb 13, 2013

Lancer said:
This is depressing, I was hoping to sell my G5 later this year and get a few hounded dollars for it. Just got an iMac but some of the older PPC software won't work on Intel based systems with the current OS X, so I'm holding on to it for the foreseeable future until I find alternates.

remember these folks are talking US prices, and US prices only. That dual 1.8 with Studio display would likely bring 200-250 Euro here. ($269.88-$337.38 according to XE)

666sheep · Feb 13, 2013

TorCoolguy said:
10.5.8 Leopard
Office 2008
iLife
Creative Suite CS2

If you'll get installation discs of these (original ones, not "copies") it's worth it.

TorCoolguy · Feb 13, 2013

666sheep said:
If you'll get installation discs of these (original ones, not "copies") it's worth it.

Sadly, copies.

I've found a Dual 2.0GHz w/ a 3 port FW800 card and what looks like a SCSI card for $75, but with no hard drive, is that worth it?

Lancer · Feb 13, 2013

GermanyChris said:
remember these folks are talking US prices, and US prices only. That dual 1.8 with Studio display would likely bring 200-250 Euro here. ($269.88-$337.38 according to XE)

I'm in Australia and have not Studio display, just a base model 2.0Ghz duel CPU from early 2005. The last model before the duel core they release in late 2005 just before the switch to Intel the next year.

Not that long ago I got about $150 for a GigEthernet G4, but that had a heap of upgrades including faster CPU, USB2 card, bigger HDD and loads more RAM than when I got it new in late 2000.

I guess price is subjective and depends on the customer and how much they need a particular model used Mac. My G4 was sold to a studio I think. Mind you my current new iMac would be load quieter and run a lot cooler, but useless if you need to run OS9.

GermanyChris · Feb 13, 2013

Lancer said:
I'm in Australia and have not Studio display, just a base model 2.0Ghz duel CPU from early 2005. The last model before the duel core they release in late 2005 just before the switch to Intel the next year.

Not that long ago I got about $150 for a GigEthernet G4, but that had a heap of upgrades including faster CPU, USB2 card, bigger HDD and loads more RAM than when I got it new in late 2000.

I guess price is subjective and depends on the customer and how much they need a particular model used Mac. My G4 was sold to a studio I think. Mind you my current new iMac would be load quieter and run a lot cooler, but useless if you need to run OS9.

17" studio ebay complete 90-100 euro

23" studio I have sitting on my shelf 200-220 euro ebay compete.

Lancer · Feb 13, 2013

GermanyChris said:
17" studio ebay complete 90-100 euro

23" studio I have sitting on my shelf 200-220 euro ebay compete.

Not going to buy a Studio LCD since I have a new 27" iMac and a few months back I got a nice 24" Benq for the G5 at a local shop for less.

GermanyChris · Feb 13, 2013

Lancer said:
Not going to buy a Studio LCD since I have a new 27" iMac and a few months back I got a nice 24" Benq for the G5 at a local shop for less.

I don't need one either, but thats not the point. The point is things have different values in different places. If I were to sell in Switzerland Mac's don't hold as much value but displays seem to hold more.. Australia is a big place like America, localities change prices.

Lancer · Feb 13, 2013

GermanyChris said:
I don't need one either, but thats not the point. The point is things have different values in different places. If I were to sell in Switzerland Mac's don't hold as much value but displays seem to hold more.. Australia is a big place like America, localities change prices.

I agree, if you need X model Mac for a set job then you're likely to pay more than it's worth, and right now the only reason I'm holding onto the G5 is Adobe GoLive which I still use and a bit of AppleWorks for some old documents. I need to move to newer software (and convert my AW stuff to text/word but that takes time.

It's a shame no one has developed a emulating program to run the older software in Intel Mac, like they used to with OS 9 and continue to do with Windows.

GermanyChris · Feb 13, 2013

Lancer said:
I agree, if you need X model Mac for a set job then you're likely to pay more than it's worth, and right now the only reason I'm holding onto the G5 is Adobe GoLive which I still use and a bit of AppleWorks for some old documents. I need to move to newer software (and convert my AW stuff to text/word but that takes time.

It's a shame no one has developed a emulating program to run the older software in Intel Mac, like they used to with OS 9 and continue to do with Windows.

This is the subjective part..

Jethryn Freyman · Feb 13, 2013

Why do you want it, what for, and what is your budget?

What graphics card does it comes with?

Also, included software does not actually add any value. Their system is probably full of bloated crap anyway.

Clean OS install. Easy to get a Leopard DVD if you know where to look.

My similar G5 with Radeon 9600 XT cost me $150 18 months ago.

TorCoolguy · Feb 14, 2013

Jethryn Freyman said:
Why do you want it, what for, and what is your budget?

What graphics card does it comes with?

Also, included software does not actually add any value. Their system is probably full of bloated crap anyway.

Clean OS install. Easy to get a Leopard DVD if you know where to look.

My similar G5 with Radeon 9600 XT cost me $150 18 months ago.

No set budget, would like to keep under $150 or so.
I want to use it as a secondary computer to my custom built PC (running Gentoo) using a KVM switch. I want to play classic games in an emulator, games for 10.2-10.5 and to use the loads of semi-old software I have for semi-old computers like it. The graphics card is probobly stock, not 100% sure.

PowerMac G5: Good deal?

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