Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Outlook for the dual 2GHz G5/ upgrading

TheG3Guy

TheG3Guy

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 18, 2008
66
0
New Milford,CT
I recently bought a dual 2GHz Powermac G5. It really is a powerful machine, and dont preach at how much faster intel is thanks...I'd love one but I dont have multiple grand for a mac pro as Im 16. Im just wondering....what is the difference between dual processor, like mine, and dual core, like the 2.7GHz G5's. Besides the fact that its on the same chip and you save power and space, what are the advantages? As for my 2ghz dual I think that these powerpc' s still have some life left in them, and I do wish to upgrade the cruddy stock 64mb radeon 9600 with a x800 256mb card or something like that to bring its graphics up to par with its power. What are some decent games that will run on my computer?? and finally, here are the specs:



Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: PowerMac7,2
Processor Name: PowerPC 970 (2.2)
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 3.5 GB
Bus Speed: 1 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.1.4f0
 
California

California

macrumors 68040
Aug 21, 2004
3,885
90
I don't know about games but stuff it with ram.

the dual cores were faster and used faster ram and better video cards.

I just sold my 1.8 single with eight gigs of ram and 900mhz bus.

it was pretty decent but yours was faster than that.

I have the dual core 2.0 and it is pretty fast for my needs.

I like it even more for everyday stuff than the new al macbook I just bought which is faster.

I plan on keeping a G5 for that odd moment when I have to run Tiger or Panther (I have the discs) to use my ancient files. I have denuded myself of every PPC except the G5 and i STILL LOVE IT.

P.S. keep it clean inside. dust buildup is a killer.

PPS email me when you want to sell your video card. I know someone who needs one for an old G4
 
TheG3Guy

TheG3Guy

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 18, 2008
66
0
New Milford,CT
yes I probably will get rid of this card, and I really dont know what I can do with any more than my 3.5GB's right now, 8gb almost seems like overkill, or more than one could possibly use/////is it?
 
C

Catch Them

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2008
129
0
TheG3Guy said:
I recently bought a dual 2GHz Powermac G5. It really is a powerful machine, and dont preach at how much faster intel is thanks...I'd love one but I dont have multiple grand for a mac pro as Im 16. Im just wondering....what is the difference between dual processor, like mine, and dual core, like the 2.7GHz G5's. Besides the fact that its on the same chip and you save power and space, what are the advantages? As for my 2ghz dual I think that these powerpc' s still have some life left in them, and I do wish to upgrade the cruddy stock 64mb radeon 9600 with a x800 256mb card or something like that to bring its graphics up to par with its power. What are some decent games that will run on my computer?? and finally, here are the specs:



Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: PowerMac7,2
Processor Name: PowerPC 970 (2.2)
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 3.5 GB
Bus Speed: 1 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.1.4f0
Click to expand...

well i think you have a great machine here...

the difference between the two are a bit of pick...dual-core vs dual cpu...to the OS/Computer itself...see them quite similar as a single processor with two cores can run multiple threads just the way a dual cpu (two single core processors) could.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=23
might be a good indulgent read (ol dbut relative to your situation)


id recommend the x800 or the i think its the 6600 or might be 6800 by nVidia, which was a great GPU

As far as games go, as long as the games support the architecture of the cpu in your machine i think theyll run just fine as long as you have a good amount of ram, id say atlest 4gb and a upgraded GPU.


goodluck and hope it works out for you!
 
disconap

disconap

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2005
1,810
3
Portland, OR
You could up the RAM, especially since G5 RAM is so cheap, but really there's little need unless you're running multiple RAM-intensive apps, like the entirety of CS3 at once or something. 3.5gb is a solid amount of RAM.

The main difference from what I've been told between dual-core and dual-processor is heat/energy use, dual-cores are apparently more efficient. And, of course, the dual-cores were newer as was already mentioned, so the motherboard and RAM were newer/faster.

On games you're basically stuck with Mac-only, and pre-Intel or Universal ones at that. Sorry, it's the only down to Mac, and was remedied mostly with the switch to Intel, but the PPC machines can only play PPC games. On the plus side, there are quite a few good ones, and your options increase dramatically if you have classic installed (OS9, there were tons of older games for it)...
 
disconap

disconap

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2005
1,810
3
Portland, OR
TheG3Guy said:
yes that is true, but i cant run classic because im running leopard, which does not support it
Click to expand...

Then you're pretty much limited to PPC OSX games (and emulators, which work fine for older era games but not too well for modern). If you're buying it for gaming, though...well, that wasn't the smartest of calls when they were top of the line!
 
WillThePlank

WillThePlank

macrumors member
Nov 11, 2008
45
0
A small town in Suffolk in the UK
Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: PowerMac7,2
Processor Name: PowerPC 970 (2.2)
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 3.5 GB
Bus Speed: 1 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.1.4f0
Click to expand...

That's not a bad spec, I had the identical machine except you have 512 meg more ram than I did, i had the same video card too, sometimes it felt a bit underpowered but no more than the gma950 that's in the mac mini im on right now,

I digress, getting back to the point if you feel the card is underpowered then the x800 seems like a pretty good choice, as I said sometimes my 9600 felt bit underpowered especially when swapping spaces and loading up expose or dashboard but I always ran it at 1920x1200 which in turn puts a strain on a card of that performance type.
 
I

IroquoisPliskin

macrumors regular
Oct 11, 2008
139
0
TheG3Guy said:
what is the difference between dual processor, like mine, and dual core, like the 2.7GHz G5's.
Click to expand...

PCI-express graphics and faster memory.

The 2.7 is a dual CPU. Only the late 2005 models with the 2.0, 2.3 are dual core, the 2.5 was dual dual core.
 
AlexMaximus

AlexMaximus

macrumors 65816
Aug 15, 2006
1,181
538
A400M Base
good news on doom 3 for you ...

TheG3Guy said:
i wonder if it can run doom 3 fully if i put the new card in
Click to expand...

Well guess what, I have a tuned up MDD G4 1,42 with the Radeon 9600 / 256 MB, 2 Gig Ram and Raptor 10k startup drive.

Doom 3 runs ok on my machine since they brought out the patch that uses dual PPC processors!!
It run on the 9800 even better in the past, but I have replaced it with the 9600 because of heat issues.

Sooo - Dont worry, it will run like hell on your G5!
 
TheG3Guy

TheG3Guy

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 18, 2008
66
0
New Milford,CT
yes i just ran doom 3 demo and am getting probably 30FPS on 1024x768 with everything on ultra, so with the card it would be pretty good. Too bad powerpc sucks for games or this might have potential. AS for which generation this is I cannot seem to find an exact year..its very hard to since theres no real distinguishing features
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom