PowerMac G4 users out there?

_bnkr612 · Jul 20, 2006

I need to know. Does anyone else have their PowerMac G4 holding their own in the world of G5s and Mactels? I know about PBs, I curious about the desktops more or less.

My specs:

Single 1ghz PowerMac G4, 1.5 GB RAM, 360 GB HD (x2), AirPort Extreme, Super and Combo Drive, X.4.7.

It has been treating me well. I sold a PowerMac G5 1.6 about 2 months ago, really missed having a PowerMac, and I couldn't pass up the deal on this CPU. Truthfully, I haven't noticed much a difference between this machine and my previous 1.6 G5. Call me crazy... I mean I use CS2 (Photoshop, Illu., InDesign), iTunes, Mail, Stickies, Dashboard, Safari and Adium all day. I have yet to say, "damn, come on already!"

This PowerMac will hold me over until I can get my hands on a nice B version of the new Mac Pros!

The only thing I would upgrade would be the video card for my 20" ACD.

I am just glad I can type it out to a place that cares.

Cheers!
Joseph

SC68Cal · Jul 20, 2006

I run a dual processor PMG4 (Gig E), with two 500mhz processors. You're not alone out there.

It's a rock solid machine, I'm very pleased with it. I upgraded the video card to a flashed Geforce FX 5200, and have been very pleased with the machine overall.

Jaffa Cake · Jul 20, 2006

Not at home, but at work the majority of our Macs are Power Mac G4s. They don't quite have the grunt our G5s have, but they're more than capable machines.

Nermal · Jul 20, 2006

In a few days I will have gone a step further - I just bought a Blue and White G3!

(just waiting for it to arrive).

On the other hand, I do have my Intel iMac to keep me company

MacsRgr8 · Jul 20, 2006

Nermal said:
In a few days I will have gone a step further - I just bought a Blue and White G3! (just waiting for it to arrive).

!

One of my all time favorite Macs!

Why? Becasue this tower made that huge leap forward.... FireWire, USB, 100 Mb ethernet, superb case design (I especially love the gr8 big "G3" on the sides)... and it boots all OS-es I love to play with: OS 8.5 - OS 9, Mac OS X Server 1.x (Rhapsody), Mac OS X (Server) 10.0.x - 10.4.7!!!

I own two of 'em:
1 x 400 MHz, 768 MB RAM, 60 GB 7200 rpm HD, Voodoo 5500 PCI grfx card (my nostalgic Mac OS 9 Mac)
1 x 350 MHz, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB 7200 rpm HD, Radeon 9200 PCI grfx (my Mac OS X Server 10.4.7 gateway!)

Have fun with your El Capitan, Nermal!

63dot · Jul 20, 2006

dual power mac 500, 15" inch apple lcd monitor

three scsi 10,000 rpm hard drives

jaguar and os 9.2 on different hard drives

i am quite ok with this setup, but it pales in comparison to my dad's 20" inch intel imac, with tiger, with dual 2.0 ghz processors and one giant hard drive

one day i may get a 17" inch intel imac for my office and run os x and windows vista

Nermal · Jul 20, 2006

MacsRgr8 said:
and it boots all OS-es I love to play with: OS 8.5 - OS 9, Mac OS X Server 1.x (Rhapsody)

I never even considered that I'd be able to run Rhapsody on it

Of course, tracking down a copy of Rhapsody will be the tricky bit

amemoryoncelost · Jul 20, 2006

I've been running a dual 800 G4 for the past 2 years. Just recently upgraded to a dual 2.7 G5 and Im finally gonna part with the G4. I have been editing with FCP 4.5 and using other programs with no hiccups. Im gonna miss it!

Xeem · Jul 20, 2006

It isn't even set up right now, but I still have my G4 Cube. It has the stock 450 mHz G4 and 16 MB ATI Rage Pro video card, but it has 576 MB RAM and a 40 GB 2.5" 5400 rpm IBM Travelstar hard drive (the original drive was very loud and slow). Unfortunately, its Firewire ports stopped working a while ago, or I might be using it with a couple external drives as a fileserver right now.

R.Youden · Jul 20, 2006

I have the DP 1.43Ghz G4 in my sig. I suppose you cant get a much faster G4 than that. I love the machine and it does everything I want.

At the moment I am toying with the idea of replacing my PowerBook with a MacBook or replacing both my PowerBook and PowerMac with a MacBook Pro. How much do people think I would get or the PowerMac and would I notice a speed increase with a 2.16Ghz MBP?

drj434343 · Jul 20, 2006

I owned several B&W G3's, but was always plauged with various IDE corruption, misidentified RAM, and faulty firewire issues. I decided to upgrade to a dual 533 Mhz PowerMac, and have been amazed by the power of the system. It's been rock solid and I've had no issues at all. Excellent machine.

Sozsei · Jul 21, 2006

I've got a single 867 MHz Quicksilver, 1G of RAM, two 80G HDs, etc, with a 17" 4:3 flat panel display. It works pretty damned well for a five year-old setup. I use mostly Photoshop and Illustrator. I've never had any problems. Ever.

I'd love to have a fancy shmancy Mac Pro but I need something portable so I'll end up getting the most powerful MBP Apple makes in February-ish. That should blow my G4 away.

Speaking of blowing away, the fans in this thing are freaking LOUD. It's really quite ridiculous. I wouldn't be suprised if one or two of you could actually hear my computer right now.

Ryan T. · Jul 21, 2006

I run my Intel iMac daily, but also have a PowerMac G4 that's getting use. I've upgraded it pretty heavily, but there are a few more things it could probably use. Right now it's running as follows...

PowerMac G4 GigE Model
1.4GHz G4 Sonnet Upgrade, 2MB L3
1.25GB PC133 RAM
70GB Hard drive space (1 x 40, 1 x 30)
8 USB ports, 4 of which are USB 2.0
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro AGP
ATI Radeon 7000 PCI
Airport Card
Pioneer Superdrive
OS X 10.4 Tiger

It's really a very capable machine and I enjoy running it. The only real issue is my iMac has spoiled me as far as noise pollution goes, so now the PowerMac seems loud, when really it's not overly noisy at all.

SC68Cal · Jul 21, 2006

Nermal said:
I never even considered that I'd be able to run Rhapsody on it

Of course, tracking down a copy of Rhapsody will be the tricky bit

I don't know what the licensing restrictions would be, but I would gladly make a copy of my (what I think is) Rhapsody install disk. It's branded as Mac OS X Server Release 1.2

rjphoto · Jul 21, 2006

G4 400 Tower

I still have my G4 400 Tower running under my deck plug in side by side with the "work" IBM Tower to the same LCD monitor with a built in switch.

I picked it up when the graphics designer for the marketing department left the company and no one wanted it or even knew how to use it. I offered to give it a good home and pull any files off of it if anyone needed them...

I've added RAM, an 8X Pioneer SuperDrive and a 120Gig secondary HD.

The eMac in the sig is the main Mac right now, but I used the Tower this morning to make a disk image from a DVD that I was delivering this morning and didn't make a copy for the archives.

mojohanna · Jul 21, 2006

I have a single proc G4 450 that my kids still use quite often. It can do just about everything that the comp in my sig does, just a little slower. (actually, a lot slower). It still is hummin along though.

SilversunStreak · Jul 21, 2006

Dual 867

I've got a Dual G4 867 w/ a g4 Ti 4600. It's treated me great for about 4 or 5 years. The optical drive only reads DVDs now for some reason. No burning or reading :/

I only wish it had more USB ports and could handle recent videogames. Planning on upgrading to a macbook or macbook pro in a year.

xfiftyfour · Jul 21, 2006

i have the upgraded "AGP Graphics" G4 in my sig and it fliiiies...

_bnkr612 · Jul 21, 2006

I will never part with this one. Aesthetically, I prefer it over the cold PMG5. When a decent MacPro comes this guy will be a bad a$$ iTunes box.

Cheers ya'll for the responses, I am definitely not alone!

solvs · Jul 21, 2006

And I felt slow with my 2GHz G5.

Kidding, my Sis got rid of her dual 867, but only because it was having problems. Told her to buy AppleCare. We were able to fix it thanks to some stuff she found on eBay, but she just didn't trust it anymore. Bought a PowerBook and a mini for now, but I'm sure she'll want a Mac Pro when they come out. Had a working Beige G3, last of the Beige models and I was surprised how well it ran 10.2. Would have upgraded it, but it just didn't seem worth it, especially after Tiger came out. Xpostfacto only goes so far.

I still have a 6400 that's quite usable too, but unlike the still viable G3s and 4s, sloooow as molasses.

finchna · Jul 21, 2006

I have a 2x500 and a 2x1.25 (running 10.4 server)

However, they don't hold a candle to the g5s I use for video work.

Blue Velvet · Jul 21, 2006

The dual 1.4 with 2gb RAM I have at home is still adequate for design work... although InDesign is a little laggy. It certainly held its own in BakedBeans' recent Photoshop speed test and came close to the low-end G5s.

The things that annoy me about it are: the noise, lack of USB 2 and wireless.

The things I like? Drive capacity... 4HDs in there at the mo.

Probably selling it next year and getting a MBP.

4JNA · Jul 21, 2006

_bnkr612 said:
I need to know. Does anyone else have their PowerMac G4 holding their own in the world of G5s and Mactels? I know about PBs, I curious about the desktops more or less.

my dual g4 1.2 will take most single g5's lunch money. i love the clean aluminum look of the g5, but like to have the one of a kind thing, so ended up with this. dual 1.2ghz g4 from powerlogix, 2gb ram, 9800 pro 128mb, sata pci, wd raptor 10000rpm boot disk, 300gb sata scratch disk, zip 250, 16x DL dvd+-rw drive, front panel card reader/usb2/firewire, custom everything else

got the solder splatter and empty band-aid box to prove it.

View attachment 53216

View attachment 53217

and lots of glowey lights and blinky led's. hey, i grew up watching star trek. computers need blinky lights

and don't even ask about the zip drive, or i'll have to tell you where to stick your thumb drive.

most proud of the fact that the sleep 'throbber' works. in two colors even. yeah baby! all the custom fan/heatsink work makes it nearly as quiet as my dual g5 on the other side of the office.

solvs · Jul 21, 2006

The G4 was actually a pretty good chip. Just woefully underdeveloped. It's silly to get sentimental over a CPU, but it's still a little sad to see the end of the PPC for the Macs.

Ah well, bring on the Intels!

Macmadant · Jul 22, 2006

I've got a single 1.25 GHz Powemac G4 MDD, 3 HDDs in it 768 Mb of RAM and two optical drives Super and combo, and i love it to bits and wont be getting rid of until at least 2 years from now

PowerMac G4 users out there?

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