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What to do with two free PowerMac G4s....

AlBDamned

AlBDamned

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 14, 2005
2,641
15
This..

Edit: Sorry - I didn't think this had gone through - and I also can't believe a one-word post got 6 replies!! :D

Ok, well due to an office move, I've got my mits on two PowerMac G4s. One is a 400 with 128MB RAM, 20GB HDD and ATI 128MB graphics card. The other is a 350 with four RAM cards but until I switch them on I don't know if they're 32 or 64MB cards, 10GB HDD and an ATI 128 card.

Now, what are the options? I'm going to pick up a cheap, 2nd hand tft screen and I was thinking I could cannibalize the 350 and put it the four hundred as a server for my house, to store downloads, music and stuff (with upgraded HDD of course) and use it like that.

But these are prelim ideas. Until I can borrow someone's screen tomorrow, I don't even know what OS they're running (though I assume it's 9.1 or .2.).

Open to all suggestions! :)
 
Brundlefly

Brundlefly

macrumors member
Oct 4, 2003
78
0
Hamilton Ontario
well I would give one to our

new designer, we have her programming on a 15 inch ti book, and although her work is great, a desktop is always better to design on.
 
Mord

Mord

macrumors G4
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
i'll buy one off you, (postcode: w10 4ds) seriously, i need a g4 for servering, pm me.
 
AlBDamned

AlBDamned

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 14, 2005
2,641
15
katie ta achoo said:
i hope your signature has no bearing on what you're going to do! :eek: :p
Click to expand...

Nope - well, hopefully not anyway ;)

Brundlefly said:
new designer, we have her programming on a 15 inch ti book, and although her work is great, a desktop is always better to design on.
Click to expand...
.

I think the TiBook would be faster than these things are at the moment. :eek:
 
Mord

Mord

macrumors G4
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
if you cannibalize the 350 i'd still be interested, assumeing it's an agp g4, to check open it up and if they slot the graphics card is in is brown (agp) or white (pci).

i have HD's, ram, optical drives and even a spare 450MHz cpu.
 
sam10685

sam10685

macrumors 68000
Feb 2, 2006
1,763
1
Portland, OR
upgrade them to better specs... sell them on ebay... keep the money in a Paypal account that pays interest... get a nice new Intel Powermac when it comes out this august. they're supposed to be really fast.
 
AlBDamned

AlBDamned

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 14, 2005
2,641
15
sam10685 said:
upgrade them to better specs... sell them on ebay... keep the money in a Paypal account that pays interest... get a nice new Intel Powermac when it comes out this august. they're supposed to be really fast.
Click to expand...

hmm..

a) I'm not that they'd be worth even a 10th of a new Pro Mac; and

b) Nobody outside of Apple and Intel knows how fast the new ones will be - yet.

I'm not really into the idea of selling them per se. Maybe one, but the idea is to see what they can do.
 
J

joeyjoejoe

macrumors newbie
Apr 11, 2006
5
0
Have fun making it a basement server

I have a 400mhz B&W G3 in my basement. I installed Tiger on it and use it for downloads and watching stuff. My setup is basically like this:

Cable internet from wall to modem in basement
Modem to built-in ethernet of B&W G3 (this lets it have a real IP address for accessing it remotely)
Ethernet out via a second ethernet card in a PCI slot (pulled from a spare beige G3)
50' Cable to my wi-fi router upstairs (for better reception)

Then I installed "Share My Desktop" on the B&W G3. Using "VNC Viewer" on my Powerbook, I can remotely manage the basement computer. I have a crappy CRT connected to it for when I need to maintain it in person (updates/restarts, etc.). I download stuff using Bittorrent directly to the server this way. It runs 24/7, so it doesn't matter how long a download takes -- I don't have to occupy my PB with it. Then I view it by "Connect(ing) to Server" in the Finder on my PB and opening it with "Mplayer" -- important since it can buffer the files before playing them to avoid skips and hiccups (which I had when I tried watching with Quicktime or VLC).

I've also crammed 5 hard drives into the machine by pulling the CD drive and internal zip drive and using those IDE cables, and also adding a Sonnet PCI card to let me add a couple more. I also have two external firewire drives connected, so a total of 7 drives running from this one humble B&W G3 that I got for $50 on Craigslist.

So yeah, I'd recommend keeping it and Frankenmac-ing the server of your dreams on the cheap. Have fun!

p.s. I also have folding@home running 24/7 on it. Might as well do some good with your toys.
 
AlBDamned

AlBDamned

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 14, 2005
2,641
15
joeyjoejoe said:
I have a 400mhz B&W G3 in my basement. I installed Tiger on it and use it for downloads and watching stuff. My setup is basically like this:

Cable internet from wall to modem in basement
Modem to built-in ethernet of B&W G3 (this lets it have a real IP address for accessing it remotely)
Ethernet out via a second ethernet card in a PCI slot (pulled from a spare beige G3)
50' Cable to my wi-fi router upstairs (for better reception)

Then I installed "Share My Desktop" on the B&W G3. Using "VNC Viewer" on my Powerbook, I can remotely manage the basement computer. I have a crappy CRT connected to it for when I need to maintain it in person (updates/restarts, etc.). I download stuff using Bittorrent directly to the server this way. It runs 24/7, so it doesn't matter how long a download takes -- I don't have to occupy my PB with it. Then I view it using Mplayer -- important since it can buffer the files before playing them to avoid skips and hiccups (which I had when I tried watching with Quicktime or VLC).

I've also crammed 5 hard drives into the machine by pulling the CD drive and internal zip drive and using those IDE cables, and also adding a Sonnet PCI card to let me add a couple more. I also have two external firewire drives connected, so a total of 7 drives running from this one humble B&W G3 that I got for $50 on Craigslist.

So yeah, I'd recommend keeping it and Frankenmac-ing the server of your dreams on the cheap. Have fun!
Click to expand...


Now this is what I'm talking about! If I utilized everything from both Macs, I'd have two ethernets (?), two HDDs and enough RAM to Panther, maybe even run Tiger, depending on what's in the four slots in the 350mhz (does anyone know what RAM they shipped with?).

I've got an ethernet router to run it through with a 6Mb connection so that should be plenty. The only place to have it is in the living room but as part of the TV/DVD setup so as said I'm hunting for a little, unimposing TFT screen for its head (maybe even 10").

Thanks for the tip on the desktop sharer and VNC viewer too. I've never set up a "server" machine before, much less taken apart an old PowerMac, so this is all new territory for me. Cool though. :)


joeyjoejoe said:
p.s. I also have folding@home running 24/7 on it. Might as well do some good with your toys.
Click to expand...

Definitely. The processor will likely get bored just being a storage facility...
 
sam10685

sam10685

macrumors 68000
Feb 2, 2006
1,763
1
Portland, OR
AlBDamned said:
hmm..

a) I'm not that they'd be worth even a 10th of a new Pro Mac; and

b) Nobody outside of Apple and Intel knows how fast the new ones will be - yet.

I'm not really into the idea of selling them per se. Maybe one, but the idea is to see what they can do.
Click to expand...

keeping one might be a good idea now that i think of it.
 
S

sintaxi

macrumors member
Dec 15, 2005
71
0
I have an old pentiumII laptop I use for downloads. It is nice having a utility computer for such things.
 
baby duck monge

baby duck monge

macrumors 68000
Feb 16, 2003
1,570
0
Memphis, TN
Yank the HD and as much memory as you can from the slower machine and put them in the faster one. Then go on with anything else you were planning. You really won't gain much performance-wise by using both computers, so you might as well make one as good as you can.
 
AlBDamned

AlBDamned

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 14, 2005
2,641
15
baby duck monge said:
Yank the HD and as much memory as you can from the slower machine and put them in the faster one. Then go on with anything else you were planning. You really won't gain much performance-wise by using both computers, so you might as well make one as good as you can.
Click to expand...

Yep, I think that's the way forward. A nice big HDD upgrade, cheap tft screen, all the RAM I can find (hopefully it'll take up to 2GB) and I'll be set. There's a few old G3 iMacs around with the same RAM specs, so I should be able to fit it with the maximum it can take.
 
generik

generik

macrumors 601
Aug 5, 2005
4,116
1
Minitrue
I'd sell them, on one hand it may seem good to use it as a file server, but if that's what you need, you may actually save money in the long run (from electricity bills) if you use a older PPC mini instead.

Some people actually measured one of those puppies in operation and it seems like it only uses 20W of power! Now that's thrifty to run!
 
AlBDamned

AlBDamned

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 14, 2005
2,641
15
generik said:
I'd sell them, on one hand it may seem good to use it as a file server, but if that's what you need, you may actually save money in the long run (from electricity bills) if you use a older PPC mini instead.

Some people actually measured one of those puppies in operation and it seems like it only uses 20W of power! Now that's thrifty to run!
Click to expand...

The only problem there is that I don't have a mini ;).
 
jamesW135

jamesW135

macrumors 6502a
Apr 30, 2005
609
0
You Could donate to the JamesW135 relief charity we give older computers a loving and carring home and we pay shipping:)

J. Senzer
Manager of macs
 
mozmac

mozmac

macrumors 6502
Apr 28, 2005
332
15
Austin, TX
AlBDamned said:
The only problem there is that I don't have a mini ;).
Click to expand...

If you sell them both you could have a nice instant discount on a PPC Mini. You could probably pick up a used one at a discount.
 
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