1.6 G5 powerMac.... Use it or lose it?

[Dansk]

Main use is photoshop CS2 and only running a measly 1 gig of RAM now in four 256 sticks which sucks to be blunt. I'm trying to eek along with it but wonder if ponying up for four 1 GIG sticks is worthwhile or do you guys think I'm wasting my time and be better to just get a new MacPro and be done with it?

I was planning to buy one this spring but things have tightened up lately and that makes me hesitant... So if I can get a good enough deal on the RAM I was hoping to carry on for a while but wonder if its a waste of time and money at this point?

Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[greenlightracer]

Main use is photoshop CS2 and only running a measly 1 gig of RAM now in four 256 sticks which sucks to be blunt. I'm trying to eek along with it but wonder if ponying up for four 1 GIG sticks is worthwhile or do you guys think I'm wasting my time and be better to just get a new MacPro and be done with it?

I was planning to buy one this spring but things have tightened up lately and that makes me hesitant... So if I can get a good enough deal on the RAM I was hoping to carry on for a while but wonder if its a waste of time and money at this point?

Thoughts?

Thanks

What os? What exactly is slow? Just cs2 or overall? Whats activity moniter's page ins and outs look like after one day of normal usage?

 

[iGrant]

Main use is photoshop CS2 and only running a measly 1 gig of RAM now in four 256 sticks which sucks to be blunt. I'm trying to eek along with it but wonder if ponying up for four 1 GIG sticks is worthwhile or do you guys think I'm wasting my time and be better to just get a new MacPro and be done with it?

I was planning to buy one this spring but things have tightened up lately and that makes me hesitant... So if I can get a good enough deal on the RAM I was hoping to carry on for a while but wonder if its a waste of time and money at this point?

Thoughts?

Thanks

I would highly recommend it. I would get this ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220030

I would highly recommend this ram from Patriot and at only 28.99 bucks each, you could get four sticks for 115.96 plus shipping. I have 8 sticks on this ram in my Dual G5 1.8Ghz and I love it. OS X LOVES ram, period, the more you give it the better the whole Operation System runs.

I mean 115.96 bucks vs what 2599.99 for a new Mac Pro . . . I would go with the ram.

I would not get ride of your Power Mac G5 1.6Ghz, its a good computer and is still plenty fast.

ALSO as one last note, just looking at the forums, there seem to be a lot of people have problems with Mac Pros at the moment, so I would hold off on getting a new one anyway.

Thats my two cents . . . hope this helps!

-iGrant

 

[ziwi]

Main use is photoshop CS2 and only running a measly 1 gig of RAM now in four 256 sticks which sucks to be blunt. I'm trying to eek along with it but wonder if ponying up for four 1 GIG sticks is worthwhile or do you guys think I'm wasting my time and be better to just get a new MacPro and be done with it?

I was planning to buy one this spring but things have tightened up lately and that makes me hesitant... So if I can get a good enough deal on the RAM I was hoping to carry on for a while but wonder if its a waste of time and money at this point?

Thoughts?

Thanks

Sounds like you answered your own question. Things are tight so in the interim just get some ram and maybe a faster HD to carry you through.

 

[andy.barron]

Use it.
Put as much Ram in as you can afford which will be (if you fill to the max) like an upgrade anyway, & enjoy the new lease of life it gives. When you feel it just isn't giving enough, then look at 'the leap'. Lets face it, there will be someting new by then & you will have the choice of that, or the 'much lowered price' of the Pro

 

[GimmeSlack12]

I say add more RAM to that G5. You'll be happy you did. 1gb is pathetic.

 

[Dansk]

Great tips guys thanks. Thats an incredible price on that RAM wow! That was going to be my next question.

As for performance? Sometimes i get into pretty large layered files upwards of 200MB and some of the filters like liquify etc just cause PS to crash. I havent checked my activity monitor good call

 

[andy.barron]

Photoshop LOVES ram. The more you have the smoother & more stable it will run. You will notice the upgrade of Ram first by how quick the app. will boot!

BUY THE RAM DUDE

 

[Dansk]

I say add more RAM to that G5. You'll be happy you did. 1gb is pathetic.

Bwhaha true enough.

andy yeah it sure does take AGES for PS to start up. RAM here I come!

P.S. Any idea how to tell the HD speed ( I assume you mean RPM? ) without taking the drive out and looking at it?

 

[ThirteenXIII]

I'd recommend these two items;

1) RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161161

get one set or two for 4Gb; i got two sets of these for a recently purchase G5 1.8 Single and its great! ..not as fast as the Pro but it is efficiently better!


2) Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

640Gb (only 2x320gb Platters giving it better reliability for read/write and accessibility) good price and when the time comes to get that macpro you can always use it in there.

I have 2 in the G51.8 as a media centre to store all my Video files for playback on tv (it was my attempt a generic appletv type unit hah!)


goodluck and i hoped this helped!

 

[Dansk]

Hmm the RAM in my machine says its PC2700 and that RAM you posted the link for is 3200. Does that matter?

 

[matt321]

PC3200 Ram will step down to PC2700 (400mhz vs. 333mhz) So you are actually *underclocking* your Ram which will be fine.

 

[Dansk]

Just ordered 4 1 GIG sticks! I'll post up the results.

Thanks for all the blazing fast replies folks! Macs are good for more than hardware the operators are a better brand as well

 

[wesk702]

if you got the money, get a new computer dude.
single 1.6 ghz g5 is nothing compared to a new or even an older mac pro.

You'll see the performance boost.

Check for a used system or a refurb.

 

[Dansk]

if you got the money, get a new computer dude.
single 1.6 ghz g5 is nothing compared to a new or even an older mac pro.

You'll see the performance boost.

Check for a used system or a refurb.

While I have no illusions that what you say is true but if this injection of RAM gets me through the next 6 months or perhaps year then I am golden. Eventually I need a new tower yes but I'm believing and hoping that this RAM jam will float me a while.

I dont like the sounds of "problems with Mac Pros at the moment" either...

 

[jjahshik32]

I say use it.

 

[Dustman]

While I have no illusions that what you say is true but if this injection of RAM gets me through the next 6 months or perhaps year then I am golden. Eventually I need a new tower yes but I'm believing and hoping that this RAM jam will float me a while.

I dont like the sounds of "problems with Mac Pros at the moment" either...

No computer that Apple releases will ever be "perfect". That being said, people come here to post problems they're having, so it only makes sence that your going to hear about problems.

 

[Firefly2002]

Did you really need 4 GB of RAM? Personally I run Tiger on an old Beige G3, maxed out at only 768 MB RAM, it runs the OS perfectly smoothly. Things like Flash on the net and scrolling are slow, but that's not due to RAM limitations... it's due to the 500 MHz G4 and the fact that older ATI Radeon cards don't handle alpha well in flash, apparently. I really never run out of free/inactive RAM. Granted, it's not the machine I use for anything serious... hasn't been for a few years.. but the OS runs like a charm, no problems.

Also remember you're running a single core single CPU system; your computer doesn't exactly have eight cores grabbing up a GB each. Unless you're photoshopping with huge files, that is. Usually the largest I mess around with are 50-100MB, which fits inside just fine... the OS at boot takes up only ~100MB. Hah, OS took what... 40MB? 60 with tons of extensions. 8.5 was like 16 and then before that forget about it

Personally I'd never buy a single 1.6, but I'd definitely go for a Dual 2.3 or faster... that'd be cool =]

 

[cherry su]

Get a VelociRaptor while you're still upgrading your G5

 

[jwt]

Since you're running CS2 (not UB), I don't think you'll see much of an improvement on a new Mac Pro. You'd have to upgrade to CS3 to feel the full effect of the new hardware. I say stick with the PM G5 and max the memory. On my Mac Pro with 2 GB of memory, going between Lightroom and PS resulted in a lot of disk swapping. With 4 GB, I don't really see it anymore. 4 GB ought to be pretty good for you.

 

[Dansk]

Yeah I'm gonna stick with CS2 until I upgrade towers. I'm wondering about that velociraptor HD upgrade though... The drive in my machine is the stock 80gb and I have a second 250gb for storage but the 80 has had a few installs on it now from various SW upgrades and whatnot and even though last time around with Tiger I did a zero drive erase and clean install its been getting a little jiggy in general so I'm thinking a new drive might be just the ticket.

 

[Firefly2002]

Yeah I'm gonna stick with CS2 until I upgrade towers. I'm wondering about that velociraptor HD upgrade though... The drive in my machine is the stock 80gb and I have a second 250gb for storage but the 80 has had a few installs on it now from various SW upgrades and whatnot and even though last time around with Tiger I did a zero drive erase and clean install its been getting a little jiggy in general so I'm thinking a new drive might be just the ticket.

You can always defragment it... I'm not sure if you'd see a world of improvement with a new drive, unless you're talking like a velociraptor or Spin F1 1TB.

You can always install your OS on the 250, too..? Why not use the 250 for both os and storage?

 

[Mac128]

I just replaced my PM G5 1.6 with a single quad core Mac Pro. Couldn't be happier. I did have sufficient ram and fast drives in my old G5. It will still too slow in handling my large iPhoto library and video rendering took forever.

The G5 is now hooked up to my Panasonic 52" TV and my Onkyo receiver. I am lovin' that.

 

[QCassidy352]

I think keeping the G5 is a good choice, and with the upgrade, it will serve you well.

One thing I'm surprised nobody mentioned, though, is selling the G5 and putting that money + any money you would have spent on upgrades towards a core 2 duo mini. I think that also would have been a good stop-gap solution.

 

[vga4life]

I'm not one to talk having just dropped $600 in RAM, video card, and HD upgrades into my dual 2Ghz G5, but with a single-CPU 1.6 I'd recommend selling it and buying a refurb previous-gen (non-glossy) 24" iMac for $1399.

Performance-wise, it'll crush your G5, and the white 24" models had a non-glossy S-IPS LCD. It's got FW800 and DVI out to drive external hard drives and monitors if you need more disk/pixels. Max it out to 3 gigs and it will be a long time before you need a Mac Pro.