Are the Xeon Mac Pros worth the extra cost over the PowerMac G5

I happen to love the PPC macs, I have many, including a G5 Quad. But, once the xeon macs came out, the G5's were totally outclassed. You will get more use, and more performance from even a 2006 1,1 mac pro, than you can squeeze out of a G5 Quad, and no water cooler to stress over. So despite my love of powermacs, I would never, ever, choose a G5 over a mac pro knowing what I know now.

 

aww man that water cooler tho. my aunt had a g5 that used to leak like a damn 94 civic

 

Perhaps the saving grace of the G5 Quad, is that it has by far, the most reliable water cooler of any mac. The older versions were pretty terrible I agree. I found a near mint condition G5 dual 2.7, took it apart for a checkup, and found the cooler was just starting to leak. I converted it to air cooling, and it still runs fine now.

 

Reasons to choose Xeon Mac Pro over G5 Power Mac:

1. Xeon Mac Pros are much faster than G5 Power Macs.
2. Mac Pros 3,1 and newer are still officially compatible with the latest versions of OS X. The G5 Power Macs are not.
3. There are more options in terms of upgrades for Mac Pros such as USB 3 cards and video cards.
4. Mac Pros can do Bootcamp.


Reasons to choose G5 Power Mac over Xeon Mac Pro:

I can't think of any.

 

Definitely go with a Mac Pro. The G5 is based on the outdated PowerPC architecture, meaning it can only run mostly outdated software and is stuck on Mac OS X 10.5.8 Leopard. The Mac Pro 1,1 can go to Lion 10.7.5 and run more current software. With a GPU upgrade and some work, it's even possible to install Yosemite on it.

In terms of power, even the low-end 2006 Mac Pro with beat a G5 quad.

Legacy PowerPC software.

 

Quieter. Even the 1,1 low end showed it topped the Quad G5. PCIe along with bootable PCIe-SSDs. 4 internal drive bays. Cheap and easy to get 16GB RAM or more. SATA II on 4 or 6 ports.

Seemed like half the LCS Apple used in 2.7DP and others were failing left and right, heat up a room, and not quietest.

Snow Leopard can do PPC/Rosetta.

G5's OpenFirmware always seemed like it would forget or not recognize changes and needed to reset/rebuild device listing.

Can still get 10.10.x up and running should you want to.

 

From personal experience, I would say go with a MacPro.

Of the PowerMac G Series towers, The G5 was the best... but since having my Mac Pro 1,1, and now a 3,1; I would hands down say that I have gotten way more use from my MP than any of the others.

One thing i would suggest is to get a MacPro, and make sure it has a 64bit Kernal.

 

If it's going to just edit photos and serve media I'd get a Mac Mini because of the power. If you need a big silver tower to do that job and power is no concern then I'd get a G5 because it's cool and a real Mac. Mac Pros are better machines period but G5's are better emotionally

 

Cute answer... hehe

 

I think you'd have to be crazy to buy a ppc mac these days unless you have no other choice.

 

I've had a quad, a dual 1.8 and now my mac pro 1,1. While great older computers they simply cannot offer the upgradeability and usability of the mac pros.

 

The only reason to get a G5 these days is if you need to run classic mode applications or PPC applications. Other than that, the Xeon is much better. The G5 would be holding you back in virtually every way.

 

I'd go so far as to say that for "classic"(i.e. OS 9) applications, you're better off with a high end G4-specifically a single or dual 1.25 MDD(not FW800). In my experience, not even a high-end G5 can run OS 9 programs as well as running them natively in OS 9.

As far as OS X native PPC-only applications, though, it is hard to beat a high end G5.

I use a dual core 2.0 G5 daily, but don't do anything strenuous on it. Actually, it's been out of commission for a week or two, as I borrowed some parts from it(air deflector and hard drives) to get my G5 Quad working at home. I've been using a Macbook Pro for everything at work.

I'm currently shopping for a Mac Pro to replace it.

I love PPC Macs(a check of my posting history will show that it's the forum where I'm most active, and it wouldn't be too hard to turn up a list of how many I have-it's over 60 at this point). I do what I can to keep using them, but for many things an Intel Mac is just better.

 

Hello,

I second the Mini suggestion. The last generation was step backwards in many ways, but if you can get a slightly older mini (2013), used or refurb, you'd get a very nice media and photography machine. I wouldn't part with my 2009MP, but if I was on a very tight budget, I'd look at last gen minis. But whatever you do, don't get a used G5.

Loa