Hi, I am looking into buying a powermac g5 dual 1.8, 1gb ram, 80gb hd, for $400 CDN. This is an extremely good deal. Its through kijiji. The seller said that I could hook up the computer to a monitor to test to see if it works properly. I will be using this macing to replace my dual 800 quicksilver, 1.5gb ram. I've herd that the 1.8 dual have a high failure rate. I did some googling and found that 23% of them have this problem with the logic board failing. I will be using this computer as my primary machine with dual monitors, so I want to know if it will last at least 2-3 more years. I asked the seller, and he said that the dvd drive was replaced under warranty, and there have been no problems with the logic board. I dont want the logic board to die on me in 2 years, so I want to know what you think. Do you think the computer will last 2-3 years or even more, or do you think the logic board will die before that? I will also MAYBE upgrade the video card, so post suggestions for a dual monitor video card as well. Thanks.
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Buy a PowerMac G5?
- Thread starter simplymuzik3
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I just sold that exact same G5, which I used for 6 years and never had a problem. And I pushed it hard, too: editing hi-def video, lots of encoding for DVD, etc.
We've also had a few similar G5's where I work, and the logic board never failed in any of them after heavy use. We did have one that needed one of the processors replaced (under warranty), but that was the only issue and it happened within the first 3 months of being new.
I'd say that if the machine you want to buy had any faulty parts, then they probably would have already failed by now. For $400, go for it.
We've also had a few similar G5's where I work, and the logic board never failed in any of them after heavy use. We did have one that needed one of the processors replaced (under warranty), but that was the only issue and it happened within the first 3 months of being new.
I'd say that if the machine you want to buy had any faulty parts, then they probably would have already failed by now. For $400, go for it.
For the processing power and availability of graphics cards for it - you may be just as happy getting a new mini. Not to mention the waning support for the G5 moving forward...
Thanks for the advice Jason, I'm probably going to buy it within the next few days 
as for the mini, they start at 740$ CAD for the basic model and after tax it's about 850. That's way out of my budget. The g5 is only 400 and there's no tax because it's from kijiji. Thanks for the help guys.
I have 1 more question. I want to use dual monitors so should I get the adc adapter, or should I just get a video card that supports dvi and adc. Can you recommend a cheap video card or do you think it's better to get an adapter? The adapters are pretty expensive everywhere I look, and shipping to Canada is expensive. Thanks for all the help so far!
as for the mini, they start at 740$ CAD for the basic model and after tax it's about 850. That's way out of my budget. The g5 is only 400 and there's no tax because it's from kijiji. Thanks for the help guys. I have 1 more question. I want to use dual monitors so should I get the adc adapter, or should I just get a video card that supports dvi and adc. Can you recommend a cheap video card or do you think it's better to get an adapter? The adapters are pretty expensive everywhere I look, and shipping to Canada is expensive. Thanks for all the help so far!