Jewels of Our Collections

Ih8reno · Sep 25, 2014

I thought it would be fun to see just which Power Macs we have purchased are our favorite and most treasured models. Each of us have different tastes when it comes to these classic machines and I'd for one be curious to see which we prefer. My personal favorite which I am using right now is my Power Mac G5 Quad with 10gb of ram, an ssd running Leopard and another hdd running Tiger. This thing flies with most tasks (probably due to the ssd) and will be staying with me for years to come.

PowerMac G4 MDD · Sep 25, 2014

Ih8reno said:
I thought it would be fun to see just which Power Macs we have purchased are our favorite and most treasured models. Each of us have different tastes when it comes to these classic machines and I'd for one be curious to see which we prefer. My personal favorite which I am using right now is my Power Mac G5 Quad with 10gb of ram, an ssd running Leopard and another hdd running Tiger. This thing flies with most tasks (probably due to the ssd) and will be staying with me for years to come.

I just got a dual 2.0Ghz PowerMac G5 and maxed it out at 8GB of RAM. I really love this machine; I even put LED lighting in it xD. For a little while I was using a PowerMac G4 MDD dual 1.25Ghz alongside the other main computer I use. It's sitting in my collection as of now, but still a great machine. I have every PowerMac G__ from the 1997 PowerMac G3 desktop and mini tower to the PowerMac G5. I think the PowerMac G3 Blue&White looks the best out of all of them. I really wish I could get a quad-core G5. The place I bought this dual-core from had some, but by the time I had visited their store, they had all been sold. I gotta get some SSDs later on when they go down in price. I badly need one in my 2009 MacBook Pro, which is the only Intel Mac I have, and of the very few Intel Macs I cherish. It would be cool to stick one in the G5 as well. As for my other PowerMacs, I got the beige ones for free, talked the Blue&White model from $100 down to $5, the PowerMac G4 (graphite) for free, the Cube(s) for free, and the Quicksilver, MDD, and G5 purchased. It was kind of cool to start using the MDD as a main-ish computer. Prior to then, I hadn't really used a "pro" powerhouse Apple computer, just all-in-ones or laptops.

gavinstubbs09 · Sep 25, 2014

PowerMac G4 MDD said:
I just got a dual 2.0Ghz PowerMac G5 and maxed it out at 8GB of RAM. I really love this machine; I even put LED lighting in it xD. For a little while I was using a PowerMac G4 MDD dual 1.25Ghz alongside the other main computer I use. It's sitting in my collection as of now, but still a great machine. I have every PowerMac G__ from the 1997 PowerMac G3 desktop and mini tower to the PowerMac G5. I think the PowerMac G3 Blue&White looks the best out of all of them. I really wish I could get a quad-core G5. The place I bought this dual-core from had some, but by the time I had visited their store, they had all been sold. I gotta get some SSDs later on when they go down in price. I badly need one in my 2009 MacBook Pro, which is the only Intel Mac I have, and of the very few Intel Macs I cherish. It would be cool to stick one in the G5 as well. As for my other PowerMacs, I got the beige ones for free, talked the Blue&White model from $100 down to $5, the PowerMac G4 (graphite) for free, the Cube(s) for free, and the Quicksilver, MDD, and G5 purchased. It was kind of cool to start using the MDD is a main-ish computer. Prior to then, I hadn't really used a "pro" powerhouse Apple computer, just all-in-ones or laptops.

Those LEDs are pretty sick!

Mine goes to my 1GHz Quicksilver which I scored for an awesome price of $25 over the summer. Almost maxed out in every way when it was purchased back in 2002. Fantastic machine and it will be the last G4 I sell!

My PMG4 collection. The MDD never gets used, QS is faster in every way (both dual 1GHz).

PowerMac G4 MDD · Sep 25, 2014

gavinstubbs09 said:
Those LEDs are pretty sick!

Mine goes to my 1GHz Quicksilver which I scored for an awesome price of $25 over the summer. Almost maxed out in every way when it was purchased back in 2002. Fantastic machine and it will be the last G4 I sell!

My PMG4 collection. The MDD never gets used, QS is faster in every way (both dual 1GHz).
Image

Oh, I remember seeing those on the PowerPC collection thread! My MDD was kinda pricey, which I regret, but much less than what they go for on eBay. In fact, the MDDs on eBay go for more than earlier PowerMac G5s do. My G5 was a good price though and much lower than they usually go for in my area. I got it for $40, yet one like this would be around $115. I paid $32 for 6GB of RAM to bring it up to 8GB. 8GB PMG5 RAM upgrades on eBay are normally a sick $100 or so. And by the way, if you want LEDs in your G5 in a way that requires no talent other than soldering two wires each to a spot on the LED strip, then I'd try my method out. You can get a long roll of these flexible LED strip lights on eBay for like $5. (they come in many accents/hues/colors, etc.). There are marks where you can cut off a piece of desired length with scissors, and then solder your 12 volt adapter to the end. Really ghetto, as I have it running out of my PCI card slot and plugged into the wall xD.

iamMacPerson · Sep 25, 2014

PowerMac G4 Cube. Hands down. It needs some work, however the last time mine booted and ran for about 5 minutes before turning off. I think it might have been the fact I was using an ADC display, but I'm not 100% certain ATM. (450MHz G4, 1 or 1.5GB of RAM, 80GB HDD, AirPort)

The one I use the most is my Dual Core Power Mac G5. I love this machine. My favorite G5 I have. Purchased from eBay a few months ago and one of my more recent acquisitions for my collection. I wish I could get more RAM and an SSD on the cheap, but it doesn't seem doable right now. Soon though! (2.0GHz, 1GB of RAM, 500GB HDD)

PowerMac G4 MDD · Sep 25, 2014

iamMacPerson said:
PowerMac G4 Cube. Hands down. It needs some work, however the last time mine booted and ran for about 5 minutes before turning off. I think it might have been the fact I was using an ADC display, but I'm not 100% certain ATM. (450MHz G4, 1 or 1.5GB of RAM, 80GB HDD, AirPort)

The one I use the most is my Dual Core Power Mac G5. I love this machine. My favorite G5 I have. Purchased from eBay a few months ago and one of my more recent acquisitions for my collection. I wish I could get more RAM and an SSD on the cheap, but it doesn't seem doable right now. Soon though! (2.0GHz, 1GB of RAM, 500GB HDD)

I love my dual 2.0Ghz PowerMac G5 too! I recently bought it from someone's warehouse. I searched the model number of the RAM it takes rather than searching "PowerMac G5 RAM", and found 6GB for $32 from someone randomly selling his RAM sticks that had been taken out of old (probably Windows) PCs. If you search "PowerMac G5 RAM", you will get cheapskates selling the stuff for like $100 per 8GB because they know people are looking for "PowerMac G5 RAM". I have mine maxed out at 8GB, because I had already had 2x1GB RAM sticks in the machine from purchase. So look up the RAM model # on eBay and see what you get. You may get lucky and find some random person selling old RAM instead of some Chinese seller carrying on his expensive business.

As for SSDs, I want one soon. They aren't horribly expensive now, but will definitely go down in price. I am just gonna stick with my spinning SATA HD and wait to try out my first SSD when they are cheaper.

iamMacPerson · Sep 26, 2014

PowerMac G4 MDD said:
I searched the model number of the RAM it takes rather than searching "PowerMac G5 RAM", and found 6GB for $32 from someone randomly selling his RAM sticks that had been taken out of old (probably Windows) PCs. If you search "PowerMac G5 RAM", you will get cheapskates selling the stuff for like $100 per 8GB because they know people are looking for "PowerMac G5 RAM".

Yeah I've noticed that too. I usually just search the type of RAM, for instance DDR2 PC2-6400 DIMM which would correlate to 800MHz DDR2 DIMMS. I'll have to hunt around eBay when I get a chance for cheap RAM. I know for the dual-core and quad core G5s they took DDR2 which is more expensive then standard DDR that you find in the previous G5s.

PowerMac G4 MDD · Sep 26, 2014

iamMacPerson said:
Yeah I've noticed that too. I usually just search the type of RAM, for instance DDR2 PC2-6400 DIMM which would correlate to 800MHz DDR2 DIMMS. I'll have to hunt around eBay when I get a chance for cheap RAM. I know for the dual-core and quad core G5s they took DDR2 which is more expensive then standard DDR that you find in the previous G5s.

Ah, yeah, that's true. RAM is really easy to get for earlier G5s, especially the earliest ones that took PC-2700. I have a box full of PC-2700 sticks and easily maxed out my eMac. I wish RAM markets were different.

Hrududu · Sep 26, 2014

This is pretty tough. I've got a few PowerMacs that for various reasons have special value. I'll list 3 in no particular order.

PowerMac G5 Quad with Radeon X1900, 12GB of RAM, and 1.5TB of drive space. This is my workhorse

PowerMac G4 Cube 500MHz, 1.5GB of RAM, 7200rpm 120GB drive, and Radeon 7500 with 32MB of VRAM. I've got 2 Cubes, but this one is the first and has the most upgrades.

PowerMac G3 B&W 450MHz 1GB of RAM, and 120GB Drive, and Radeon 9800 with 128MB, and PCI wireless card. This was a Mac I saved up the most for and bought in 2003. It served as my primary desktop until 2005. I still have it running behind the Pinsetters at my bowling center to lookup parts, check forums, and read PDF manuals.

HereBeMonsters · Oct 6, 2014

iMacC2D · Oct 7, 2014

Removed.

Goftrey · Oct 7, 2014

My newly acquired Cube has taken the #1 spot in my collection.

Upgraded with a 1.2GHz CPU, 1.5GB of RAM and a 256MB GeForce 6200 it's made this thing absolutely FLY.

Affectionately named the 'FF-Class G4 Cube'.

cocacolakid · Oct 7, 2014

That's beautiful, Goftrey.

And the Ti book by iMacC2D is gorgeous.

I loved Power Macs, still have a week spot for them despite moving on to the newer Macs. I have a few Power Mac's still around. My Dual G5 is in everyday use at my brother's house as his main machine. I have a dead MDD that he used for a few years before that. I replaced the power supply and then a few months later a lightning strike appears to have killed the replacement.

But my favorite Power Mac for some reason is an old Gigabit Ethernet, 400mhz, nothing special on it, no major upgrades, not mint, etc. While the G5 is gorgeous, this G4 is my favorite and I refuse to sell it. Someone threw it away and I nabbed it, got it home and was surprised (and angry) to see there was nothing wrong with it. It works great. It's not something I use often but when I do it puts a silly grin on my face.

desantii · Oct 8, 2014

My favorite one is definitely the cube. I have one set up with acinema display and everyone that sees it asks where they can buy one..Its upgraded to a 1.4ghz CPU so still works quite nicely

Lord Blackadder · Oct 8, 2014

I'd have to go with a left-field answer and vote for my beat-up PowerMac 6100. The earliest and humblest of the PowerMacs. Running OS 9.2, she can just about play MP3s without choking. I also have a Quadra 610 so I think I just love the "pizza box" case.

A tie for favorite would probably my Digital Audio G4. I've always loved the Power Mac G4 line and my dual 533Mhz Digial Audio G4 is the only Power Mac G4 I've ever owned. I added an OWC 1.4GHz CPU, 2x SATA drives, USB 2.0, DVD-RW, 1GB of RAM, an Airport Card and an nVidia GeForce 6800GT (Flashed). I triple Booted OS 9.2.x, OS X 10.3.9 and a Linux install. It gave years of great service as my daily use machine.

SkyBell · Oct 8, 2014

Anyone who knows me also knows the unconditional love I harbor for my eMac.

PowerMac G4 MDD · Oct 8, 2014

desantii said:
My favorite one is definitely the cube. I have one set up with acinema display and everyone that sees it asks where they can buy one..Its upgraded to a 1.4ghz CPU so still works quite nicely

How much did it cost you to upgrade the CPU/what does it take to do so? (as in, is it install and ready-to-go or is it more complicated than that?)

bigeasy_uk · Oct 10, 2014

Goftrey said:
My newly acquired Cube has taken the #1 spot in my collection.

Upgraded with a 1.2GHz CPU, 1.5GB of RAM and a 256MB GeForce 6200 it's made this thing absolutely FLY.

Affectionately named the 'FF-Class G4 Cube'.

Same spec as mine Goftrey, but it only flies when compared to the original stock spec :-(

ctmpkmlec4 · Oct 12, 2014

I think my favorite is my Power Mac G5 2.5 accompanied with the 20" Cinema Display (aluminum.) It doesn't appear that many of the earlier, liquid-cooled G5s are in operation anymore because of issues with the Delphi cooling systems and lack of replacement parts. I find this particular Mac to be plenty fast for whatever work or play I want to do.

128keaton · Oct 14, 2014

Mines definitely my TiBook. Doesn't have the original documentation and the inverter board needs to be replaced, but it has a nice 500MHz processor and it was my first Mac ever.

CYB3RBYTE · Oct 14, 2014

My jewel has to be my PowerMac G4 Quicksilver 867MHZ in my signature. I found this beauty on the side of a street in great condition and it is still humming today! I even use it as my main desktop machine, since I have a MacBook Air 2014 and my Late-06' iMac takes up too much of my desk at one time. I have been offered a Mac Mini as a new refurb project now, so this may come to change in the future! However I still have yet to upgrade the graphics significantly and put in faster storage, so this project isn't over yet!

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