G5 processor upgrade?

The price of Apple Logic board (mother-board) is too scary to contemplate ....

 

All G5s are 64-bit and the 1.8GHz G5 can still be good if you add a lot of ram to it and install Leopard on it. More ram and Leopard will speed up your PowerMac G5 even more. The reason Leopard will make your mac faster is because Leopard is truly a 64-bit system and will be truly optimized for all 64-bit macs. Leopard will support 32-bit applications and 32-bit macs (G4 and above) too.

 

Yes ..... adding a shed-load of ram should speed things up considerably ..

 

Depending on your intended usage you could also upgrade the video card. A larger and faster HDD may also help.

 

You could always PM me after looking at this thread, post #13.

 

1.6 Ghz G5 won't carry the load

Hi everyone:

I've got an old G5 (1.6 Ghz CPU) that's been running like molasses since Leopard upgrade. RAM is maxed out at 4 gig and I just bought a new 1 terabyte internal HD (all installed).

Here's the problem: iChat uses up to 75% of CPU when I am doing triple chat and 60-ish when doing dual chat. Other apps slow to a crawl. I never had this problem pre-Leopard.

I moved iPhoto and iTunes to external drives to free up space, but I don't think RAM is the issue. It appears to be a horsepower issue. Should I just bite the bullet and get a new MacPro?

Thanks.

p.s. would there be any advantage to making my system drive the new terabyte internal or doesn't it matter.

 

A faster HDD will do wonders too - you'd be surprised how much of a difference it makes to have a good 7200 or 10000 rpm drive.

 

I think there is something wrong with iChat in your case... it definitely should not be doing that. You might want to google and see if anyone else is having your problem.

There is an advantage to using your new drive as the system drive. Your new drive will be faster (newer technology, higher density). Maybe use this as an excuse to reinstall Leopard and fix your iChat issue. =P

 

Thanks

I'll give both suggestions a whirl. Not much downside to trying.

 

I guess this tread is still alive...

I just bought my first Mac after years with PC and now i´m a new disciple...
I have a Mac OS X v.10.5.8 Dual 2.5 PPC G5(3.0) with 3.5 GB DDR SDRAM

Now i want to upgrade it with some Intel processors. Is that possible?

 

No, the PPC and intel are completely different and it would require replacing everything but the case, disk drive and hard drive. In short, sell the 2.5 and buy an intel mac pro if intel is your wish.

 

You would even have to replace the case as the G5 and Mac Pro cases don't have the same layout.

 

Not to hijack this thread, but does anyone about upgrading a dual 2.0 G5 to a dual 2.5 or higher?

 

Not physically. You can put some "Intel Inside" stickers on the case and pretend, thats as close as it will ever get.

Not economically possible. You would need to change the logicboard and power supply, at which point it would be cheaper to just sell the machine and buy what you want.

 

Thanks all...

Still im happy for my G5 just a little annoyed that there are some software that i cant install - even software from Appel...

 

Part of life. I'm pissed I can't install Windows 3.1 on my G5, OS7.6 too, and thats from Apple!

 

scary

you can try a cpu pin mod, this has worked on several cpu's were the bios was locked, i have without incident went from 1.8 to 2.5 by using this mod without upgrading power supply or additional mods.

 

You tried this successfully on a G5 CPU? Macs don't have a BIOS. Going from a 1.8>2.5 would dramatically increase heat on a G5. This is why Apple went to liquid cooling for the higher-end models. The G5 is a very hot CPU.

I tried doing this by changing around resisters but couldn't get anything. It worked fine on the G4 CPUs but I could never get anything to work on a G5. I compared the pin layout to various G5 CPUs: 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0. Guess I was just changing the wrong ones because it seemed all 3 CPUs were physically the same except for those resisters in different places.

Added:
On a side note, I know this thread has been dug up many times over but it is possible to upgrade the CPU with a faster one. I've successfully installed a 1.8ghz G5 CPU from a dual processor model onto a single 1.6ghz model. I also swapped the 1.6 CPU onto my dual 1.8 model and that worked. I even thought about picking up another 1.6 CPU to make a dual 1.6 configuration

 

I have a 1.6 G5 with a new HDD, 2.5 gb of RAM and running 10.5.8.
However, when I start Skype for example, the CPU useage still goes to !00% and it takes forever to synch up video and audio, and then video freezes after 3 to 5 minutes of use. Also, similar with Facebook. CPU jumps up to 100% useage, and when typing the text lags the keyboard by at least a second or two. I reckon it is just time for a new computer, unless anyone has any other hints.
I have also repaired permissions, and my HD is only about 20% full.

 

Time to get a new computer. That single 1.6 struggles with what you are doing and why you get 100% CPU utilization and it will slow down to a crawl.

 

As others have said, put as much RAM as possible, that's your best bet. You might also consider moving to a faster hard disk(s), that can speed things up considerably.

If you are willing to do LOTS of research and take a little risk you can upgrade the CPUs or overclock them but that's usually an activity restricted to hobbyists.

Finally, your BEST bet would be to try and get your hands on an Intel Mac, but there is still life left in the G5 for a while yet.

 

Thanks for the input. Yup, I know the correct answer is to get a new computer. And, as soon as I get my new Macbook paid off, I will probably get a mini. But, the G5 will have to keep me going for awhile, but I will retire it to some other use, not get rid of it as I love the way it looks and has life left in it for sure.