Switching to PPC from high end workstation. Help?

[lucasfer899]

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

uh oh intell is not young one.

I know, that's the irony of my comment, he's one of the (if not, THE) smartest guys around here.

[MisterKeeks]

Originally Posted by rabidz7

A 6600 will work in an X8 slot?!

I think so. Not certain, hopefully 666sheep will show up.

Originally Posted by lucasfer899

Woaaahhhh, spot on, sir!
I'll post pics when I get everything set up, probably be around late march

Well, can't I do DUAL 7800GTX's?

Not sure if one of those would work in the x8 slot, or if the performance drop would be enough to get similar performance from a lower specced card, just because the PCIe speeds would be so low. Again, 666sheep nows more about this than I do.

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Originally Posted by lucasfer899

I know, that's the irony of my comment, he's one of the (if not, THE) smartest guys around here.

I don't know of anyone on MR smarter than Intell.

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by lucasfer899

I know, that's the irony of my comment, he's one of the (if not, THE) smartest guys around here.

The issue is I'm pretty good at sarcasm in the written word, and reading peoples comments in the manner that they intend at least IMHO. Your comment didn't come across in that manner no matter your intent.

[Intell]

Originally Posted by lucasfer899

Shh, benchmarks, young one. *pats back gently*

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the glorious sound of my Intell HD 4000 doing OpenGL 4, OpenCL, and DirectX 11. Besides, benchmarks aren't everything. Look at iOS vs Android. Sure Android benches higher at lots of things, yet iOS usually runs better with the lower score. Then there's the older outdated platform upon which your card is running on. The G5 is limited in how fast it can push data to the 7800GTX, where the HD 4000 is slightly faster.

[Giuly]

Originally Posted by lucasfer899

The Dedi in a 2011 mini would be better yes. :3
There are in fact some solutions for thunderbolt GPU's, and they're said to work well.

By whom? The last time I checked, the OS X graphics drivers didn't support GPUs via Thunderbolt, but any other PCIe card did work fine.

Originally Posted by Magma

Graphics Card Support

External graphics support is a feature many users desire and we’ll keep you informed. Be the first to know... Join Magma Expresso.

[Frost7]

Hey, some people still have stuff they need to run on PowerPC, and don't want it to take 20 years.

If you want a G5, want it to kick ass, you're going to use it as a professional's workstation, and don't care how much it costs, here's what I recommend:

– Quad G5

– 4 to 16GB ECC RAM depending on need (Crucial's great and I like to use Micron whenever possible, but in this case if you want your memory to report properly in a Quad, get it from RamJet or OWC)

– 1 TB Velociraptor as the startup and scratch drive (plug and play with Macs, reliable, runs cool, tons of space, nearly as fast as low-end SSDs, and you get 1 TB for $230 instead of $2400)

– 2 to 4 TB (depending on need) Constellation for reliable mass storage

– QuadroFX 4500 512MB (People are recommending 7800GTXes, but I'm assuming you're wanting this for work, not for playing ancient video games. Ergo, get a Quadro, not a 7800. Even if you do want to run ancient videogames, the Quadro does it only a hair slower than a 7800GTX. You can grab Apple ones off of eBay for $200-300, they have dual dual-link DVI plus stereo 3D, and they'll run your Quadro-specific filters. It'll also be something made for the system instead of a reflashed PC card; good for stability)

– FirmTek eSATA PCIe card for connecting to your external storage

Finally, replace the well-past-its-sell-by-date thermal paste on the processors. If you're not comfortable doing this yourself, find someone who is. And for God's sake don't use Arctic Silver 5 with its electrical conductivity, 200 hour cure time, and mid-range performance; this isn't 1999, there's far better stuff than AS5 out there now. G5s love MX-4; use that. It cools them down wonderfully and lasts a long time.

[lucasfer899]

Originally Posted by MisterKeeks

I think so. Not certain, hopefully 666sheep will show up.



Not sure if one of those would work in the x8 slot, or if the performance drop would be enough to get similar performance from a lower specced card, just because the PCIe speeds would be so low. Again, 666sheep nows more about this than I do.

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I don't know of anyone on MR smarter than Intell.

1) I can confirm that an x16 card will work in a slower slot, as it's what I just read in the PM G5 specification, however I'd like to know what kind of PCIe power plugs the G5 has.
2) Me either.

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

The issue is I'm pretty good at sarcasm in the written word, and reading peoples comments in the manner that they intend at least IMHO. Your comment didn't come across in that manner no matter your intent.

Well, nevermind :S

Originally Posted by Intell

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the glorious sound of my Intell HD 4000 doing OpenGL 4, OpenCL, and DirectX 11. Besides, benchmarks aren't everything. Look at iOS vs Android. Sure Android benches higher at lots of things, yet iOS usually runs better with the lower score. Then there's the older outdated platform upon which your card is running on. The G5 is limited in how fast it can push data to the 7800GTX, where the HD 4000 is slightly faster.

Sorry if you thought I was being rude D:
And yeah, the iPhone 5 has benched higher than the samsung GS3 anyway, however y experience with all of my iPhones is that even though other phones have benched higher, my iPhone always feels smoother and more fluid.
Wow, noisy HD 4000 you got there xD

[Intell]

Originally Posted by lucasfer899

Wow, noisy HD 4000 you got there xD

It's in a Macbook Pro 13" running Boot Camp. Those little fans get loud when they reach 6200rpm.

[ihuman:D]

Benchmarks don't relate to real-world performance. I'd think you'd know that being in a PowerPC sub-forum.

I have a lumia 800 on WP7.5(soon to be 7.8), it runs on a single-core 1.4GHz Scorpion and has 512mb of ram, yet it feels way faster than a quad-core-god-knows-what Samsung Galaxy S3.

[lucasfer899]

Originally Posted by Giuly

By whom? The last time I checked, the OS X graphics drivers didn't support GPUs via Thunderbolt, but any other PCIe card did work fine.

Woah, i saw someone somewhere using an external GPU on his thunderbolt enabled system u.u

Originally Posted by Frost7

Hey, some people still have stuff they need to run on PowerPC, and don't want it to take 20 years.

If you want a G5, want it to kick ass, you're going to use it as a professional's workstation, and don't care how much it costs, here's what I recommend:

– Quad G5

– 4 to 16GB ECC RAM depending on need (Crucial's great and I like to use Micron whenever possible, but in this case if you want your memory to report properly in a Quad, get it from RamJet or OWC)

– 1 TB Velociraptor as the startup and scratch drive (plug and play with Macs, reliable, runs cool, tons of space, nearly as fast as low-end SSDs, and you get 1 TB for $230 instead of $2400)

– 2 to 4 TB (depending on need) Constellation for reliable mass storage

– QuadroFX 4500 512MB (People are recommending 7800GTXes, but I'm assuming you're wanting this for work, not for playing ancient video games. Ergo, get a Quadro, not a 7800. Even if you do want to run ancient videogames, the Quadro does it only a hair slower than a 7800GTX. You can grab Apple ones off of eBay for $200-300, they have dual dual-link DVI plus stereo 3D, and they'll run your Quadro-specific filters. It'll also be something made for the system instead of a reflashed PC card; good for stability)

– FirmTek eSATA PCIe card for connecting to your external storage

Finally, replace the well-past-its-sell-by-date thermal paste on the processors. If you're not comfortable doing this yourself, find someone who is. And for God's sake don't use Arctic Silver 5 with its electrical conductivity, 200 hour cure time, and mid-range performance; this isn't 1999, there's far better stuff than AS5 out there now. G5s love MX-4; use that. It cools them down wonderfully and lasts a long time.

Exactly the route I was going to go down.
I was going to get a Quad G5, yes. they are around £300-350 at the moment.
Yep, 16GB ram was my favoured option
no need for velociraptor, just going to stick a 240GB SSD in there, also, no need for the esata card, I'll just keep my stuff networked, it's more simple that way.
Yep, I usually replace the thermal paste on my mew machines, GPU's are no exception.
Right, quadro FX 4500, doesn't cost (for me) ~£300 I can find them for around £80 locally.
The fact that they have dual dual link dvi is nice, however, what are the PCIe power

Originally Posted by Intell

It's in a Macbook Pro 13" running Boot Camp. Those little fans get loud when they reach 6200rpm.

Yeah, tell me about it, whatching netflix kills my Mid 2010 MBP 13".

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Originally Posted by ihuman:D

Benchmarks don't relate to real-world performance. I'd think you'd know that being in a PowerPC sub-forum.

I have a lumia 800 on WP7.5(soon to be 7.8), it runs on a single-core 1.4GHz Scorpion and has 512mb of ram, yet it feels way faster than a quad-core-god-knows-what Samsung Galaxy S3.

Yes, I know.
Also, thats what I said above^^ my iPh4 feels so much nicer on iOS 5.1.1 than the GS3.

[Robjw]

I seriously wouldn't be spending £350/$530 on a G5. There's a quad 2.5 on eBay UK right now for £150 buy it now. If you've got £350 to spend you could probably pick up a Mac Pro 1,1 fairly easily (yes, I know that's not what you want...)

[MisterKeeks]

Originally Posted by Robjw

I seriously wouldn't be spending £350/$530 on a G5. There's a quad 2.5 on eBay UK right now for £150 buy it now. If you've got £350 to spend you could probably pick up a Mac Pro 1,1 fairly easily (yes, I know that's not what you want...)

Could we please not go down this road again? He had decided on a G5. You are not the first to point out the exact same thing. He has decided on a G5.

[Lil Chillbil]

Originally Posted by Robjw

I seriously wouldn't be spending £350/$530 on a G5. There's a quad 2.5 on eBay UK right now for £150 buy it now. If you've got £350 to spend you could probably pick up a Mac Pro 1,1 fairly easily (yes, I know that's not what you want...)

he has decided that he would rather have a g5 than a mac pro, and yes they are nice machines and I once used one extensively for several weeks and I was able to do everything that I wanted to on one


course that was in 2010

[Frost7]

Originally Posted by lucasfer899

Exactly the route I was going to go down.
no need for velociraptor, just going to stick a 240GB SSD in there, also, no need for the esata card, I'll just keep my stuff networked, it's more simple that way.

Reason I mention that is Quads, awesome as they are, still only have SATA I controllers. The 2012-model Velociraptors will have zero problem maxing out SATA I, so really the only advantage SSD offers is on random reads/writes. Which could be everything or nothing depending on your need, so it's your call. For me, capacity was the primary concern, so I went the 10K HDD route and I've been more than pleased with it.

If you've already got a 240GB SSD sitting around ready to go, though, then by all means save yourself some cash and use it.

Originally Posted by lucasfer899

Right, quadro FX 4500, doesn't cost (for me) ~£300 I can find them for around £80 locally.
The fact that they have dual dual link dvi is nice, however, what are the PCIe power

That's good you can find them so cheaply, but when you're shopping around for one, keep in mind that the QuadroFX 4500 was available for both the Late 2005 G5s and for the original Mac Pros. They are not interchangeable so make sure that £80 Quadro is the right one or it's wasted money. The 4500s made for the Mac Pros generally are a lot cheaper than the G5 ones, so that's why I mention it.

Far as power, it won't run off PCIe bus power if that's what you mean, you'll need a power connector. Apple-supplied Quadros should come with them though if the owner retained all the parts.

[666sheep]

Originally Posted by lucasfer899

Well, can't I do DUAL 7800GTX's?

Technically, you can but:
– you'll need to supply power to this second one somehow – G5 has only one 6 pin PCIe power socket
– it will block upper x4 slot (PCIe slots arrangement, counting from the bottom: x16, x4, x8, x4)

Better setup will be 7800GTX + 6600 (not LE). I'd pass on Quadro 4500 unless you're using CAD or other Quadro optimized software (or need more than 2 Dual Link DVI connectors). Quadro is DDL card, 7800GTX is one DL, one SL DVI (IIRC).

[lucasfer899]

Originally Posted by Robjw

I seriously wouldn't be spending £350/$530 on a G5. There's a quad 2.5 on eBay UK right now for £150 buy it now. If you've got £350 to spend you could probably pick up a Mac Pro 1,1 fairly easily (yes, I know that's not what you want...)

Well, if you can find a Pro 1,1 fro 350, then sure.
Also, I can't find this £150 G5 you speak of, any chance of a link? PM me.

Originally Posted by MisterKeeks

Could we please not go down this road again? He had decided on a G5. You are not the first to point out the exact same thing. He has decided on a G5.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Frost7

Reason I mention that is Quads, awesome as they are, still only have SATA I controllers. The 2012-model Velociraptors will have zero problem maxing out SATA I, so really the only advantage SSD offers is on random reads/writes. Which could be everything or nothing depending on your need, so it's your call. For me, capacity was the primary concern, so I went the 10K HDD route and I've been more than pleased with it.

If you've already got a 240GB SSD sitting around ready to go, though, then by all means save yourself some cash and use it.


That's good you can find them so cheaply, but when you're shopping around for one, keep in mind that the QuadroFX 4500 was available for both the Late 2005 G5s and for the original Mac Pros. They are not interchangeable so make sure that £80 Quadro is the right one or it's wasted money. The 4500s made for the Mac Pros generally are a lot cheaper than the G5 ones, so that's why I mention it.

Far as power, it won't run off PCIe bus power if that's what you mean, you'll need a power connector. Apple-supplied Quadros should come with them though if the owner retained all the parts.

The thing is, with how I work, I do a lot of random reads/writes, and I like them to be done fast. I generally don't do enormous file transfers from my desktop to my nas.
Thanks for letting me know that they are not interchangeable, and fx4500s that I found are G5 editions. I know that they wont run off of just the PCIe bus, and they they need one six pin power, and that's what I was asking is how many six pin connectors can the G5 support, and thank you for telling me, just one. Bit of a disappointment, I guess I'll just use a pair of GF 6600 ultras. That way, I'll also have space for a USB 2.0 card and a firewire card, so that all of my devices can be connected.

Originally Posted by 666sheep

Technically, you can but:
– you'll need to supply power to this second one somehow – G5 has only one 6 pin PCIe power socket
– it will block upper x4 slot (PCIe slots arrangement, counting from the bottom: x16, x4, x8, x4)

Better setup will be 7800GTX + 6600 (not LE). I'd pass on Quadro 4500 unless you're using CAD or other Quadro optimized software (or need more than 2 Dual Link DVI connectors). Quadro is DDL card, 7800GTX is one DL, one SL DVI (IIRC).

I guess I'll just use a pair of 6600's then. I'd rather all of my displays have the same performance, unless the displays on the 6600 can't handle youtube?
And SL DVI is fine, as I'm using only 20" Alu ACDs.

[Lil Chillbil]

If you don't want to run the dual graphics cards you may want to move up to 3 larger like 30 inch displays instead of 6 smaller displays

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by Lil Chillbil

If you don't want to run the dual graphics cards you may want to move up to 3 larger like 30 inch displays instead of 6 smaller displays

I think 3 30" at 2560x1600 would likely be more expensive than 6 smaller..

[rabidz7]

I have an old 6600 GT laying around, want it?