Time To Upgrade My PPC G5 Dual 2.0 ???

Finalcutpro78 · Mar 4, 2009

Yes I have a nice PPC G5 Dual 2.0 and I was debating on getting an upgrade. Right now I'm really pissed that I spent $2,000 for this tower only 3 years ago and now most software co's are not writing apps for the older IBM PPC architecture. I can't even stream netflix movies on it.

In order to upgrade I would have to spend $2,500 for a new Mac Pro and thats not about to happen. Or I could sell this for $1,000 and buy a Mac Mini or iMac but both of those really aren't my cup of tea. You can't run dual monitors or add internal HD's to either one so it looks like I am stuck.

What other options do I have here? With the economy the way it is I don't want to spend hardly any more money.

Also, does the mac Mini and Imac run FCP ok??

Finalcutpro78 · Mar 4, 2009

Finalcutpro78 said:
Yes I have a nice PPC G5 Dual 2.0 and I was debating on getting an upgrade. Right now I'm really pissed that I spent $2,000 for this tower only 3 years ago and now most software co's are not writing apps for the older IBM PPC architecture. I can't even stream netflix movies on it.

In order to upgrade I would have to spend $2,500 for a new Mac Pro and thats not about to happen. Or I could sell this for $1,000 and buy a Mac Mini or iMac but both of those really aren't my cup of tea. You can't run dual monitors or add internal HD's to either one so it looks like I am stuck.

What other options do I have here? With the economy the way it is I don't want to spend hardly any more money.

Also, does the mac Mini and Imac run FCP ok??

Do I have to beg for help?

djc6 · Mar 4, 2009

Finalcutpro78 said:
You can't run dual monitors

You can run dual monitors on the new mac mini - one on the mini-displayport port, one off of the mini-dvi. The mini comes with a mini-dvi to dvi cable, snag a mini-displayport to dvi cable and you'll have two standard dvi ports to hookup your existing displays (assuming they are both DVI - you get the idea).

The iMac also allows you to hookup a 2nd display - previously via a mini-dvi port, and now mini-displayport.

SkyBell · Mar 4, 2009

Well, I can see the few gripes you have would be annoying- but really, ask yourself; do you need the latest and greatest software? If not, I don't see a reason to upgrade if you're happy with the speed of your G5. If you do need to upgrade for your profession or something, it may be worth saving up for a new Mac Pro. May be a good idea in either situation.

Finalcutpro78 · Mar 4, 2009

Cassie said:
Well, I can see the few gripes you have would be annoying- but really, ask yourself; do you need the latest and greatest software? If not, I don't see a reason to upgrade if you're happy with the speed of your G5. If you do need to upgrade for your profession or something, it may be worth saving up for a new Mac Pro. May be a good idea in either situation.

But as far as performance is the Intel 2.0 duo a chip equivalent to the dual 2.0PPC IBM architecture?

larrymarshall2 · Mar 4, 2009

Finalcutpro78 said:
In order to upgrade I would have to spend $2,500 for a new Mac Pro and thats not about to happen. Or I could sell this for $1,000 and buy a Mac Mini or iMac but both of those really aren't my cup of tea.

My question to you is, are you selling the tower alone for $1,000? That's very very high unless you have upgraded the GPU to the X1600 and maxed out the RAM as well. The Dual 2.5ghz I'm looking at selling (tower only) is ebay priced at about $600 or so. This is just what I've noticed.

I'm in a similiar situation but would need to know more about your G5...RAM, GPU, hard drive...etc.

I would not recommend the mini, even if you have the same GPU as I do...the ATI 9600. I think the 9400 is an improvement, but if you're packing an X800 or X1600, it will be a downgrade unless you get an iMac with a GT 130, Nvidia 8800 (from previous iMac), or ATI 4850.

I've got 2.5ghz PPC G5/2GB RAM/360gb HD/ATI 9600 and I'm getting the 2.93 iMac with ATI 4850. Also yes, the iMac can do 2 displays no matter what model you select. I have an old ADC 23" Apple Studio HD and if I want to use it, I need to buy the $100 ADC to DVI adapter, then the $20 DVI to mini...and something tells me quality will be lost in all that.

Hope that's helpful

Finalcutpro78 · Mar 4, 2009

larrymarshall2 said:
My question to you is, are you selling the tower alone for $1,000? That's very very high unless you have upgraded the GPU to the X1600 and maxed out the RAM as well. The Dual 2.5ghz I'm looking at selling (tower only) is ebay priced at about $600 or so. This is just what I've noticed.

I'm in a similiar situation but would need to know more about your G5...RAM, GPU, hard drive...etc.

I would not recommend the mini, even if you have the same GPU as I do...the ATI 9600. I think the 9400 is an improvement, but if you're packing an X800 or X1600, it will be a downgrade unless you get an iMac with a GT 130, Nvidia 8800 (from previous iMac), or ATI 4850.

I've got 2.5ghz PPC G5/2GB RAM/360gb HD/ATI 9600 and I'm getting the 2.93 iMac with ATI 4850. Also yes, the iMac can do 2 displays no matter what model you select. I have an old ADC 23" Apple Studio HD and if I want to use it, I need to buy the $100 ADC to DVI adapter, then the $20 DVI to mini...and something tells me quality will be lost in all that.

Hope that's helpful

Hmmm I don't think that $950 is too much for a mac tower. I have the ATI 9600 with 1.5 gigs of ram. My main concern is that that processing power of a mac mini is not as good as the dual 2.0 PPC.

ceezy3000 · Mar 4, 2009

ive seen those g5s go for 1500 on craigslist, sell it and get a imac or 2 macmini

djc6 · Mar 4, 2009

Finalcutpro78 said:
My main concern is that that processing power of a mac mini is not as good as the dual 2.0 PPC.

In terms of PROCESSING POWER, check out these benchmarks:

http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/category/apple/#pro_desktop

Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)
PowerPC G5 (970MP) 2.0 GHz (2 cores) 1805

http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2009/03/imac-and-mac-mini-benchmarks-early-2009/

Mac mini (Early 2009)
Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 2.0 GHz (2 cores) 2768

So the mini is a 53% faster than your Dual-G5. Geekbench 2 only measures processor and memory performance.

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Time To Upgrade My PPC G5 Dual 2.0 ???

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