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Buying a Mac G5 is it worth it?

B

brendan2452

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 24, 2011
12
0
hi all this is my first post and you will be seeing at lot more of me on this forum!

im having been interested in buying a mac for over a year now and i have still deciding how much im will to pay up and till now...

i have seen at mac power g5 listed for $250 and these are the specs:
Memory: 3 GB
Hard Drive: 150 GB
CPU Speed: 1.8 GHz
Comes with OS 10.3 Panther Pre installed with Discs.

is it worth the money???

i am interested in making music on it mainly and doing a bit of advanced photo editing in photoshop(such as photomanipulations and digital paintings)

whats your thoughts?

i need to buy it before sunday so please get back to me if you have any info!

thanks

brendan
 
That machine is worth $150 tops, and even then I wouldn't buy it. There are 2 1.8GHz models, here's what you need to know:

The early models have 'half a heatsink', like this:
dscf0004ys7.jpg


The later models have a single large cover in its place that has "G5" in the middle. Those have no fans in front of them and opening the plastic shield will not cause the machine to go into hyperdrive (IIRC).

The later models must have a firmware upgrade for stability (it probably already has it) - try sleeping/waking it repeatedly to test it.

The earlier models ... I dunno? They were first gen G5s and a lot of people had problems with the power supplies on them. On the plus side, with a firmware upgrade the later models with the large cover are probably less likely to have issues (aside from the firmware problem!)


Try to haggle them down to 150. If they go for it, go for it? It'd probably last longer than a G5 iMac anyway. The market out here in california seems to be so awesome for buying old Macs that you sometimes see single G5s in the $100 range too!

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/sys/2226948852.html

here's what I mean.
 
I have a PowerMac G5 and it's pretty speedy at doing the things you're thinking of. I use Logic Express and Photoshop on it and I'm impressed with how it handles them both. However, mine is a much bigger spec and I've upgraded it a bit too. Try and find the best CPU you can for $250, don't choose one because it's got more ram or a larger hard drive cos you can upgrade these yourself in minutes. Find the right system and you're on to a winner. Just keep in mind you will be running last years' software because you can't get it past leopard.
 
Unless you have a specific need for a desktop tower case, for example if you absolutely NEED pci slots for your Avid realtime video processing pci cards, then no, a PowerMac G5 is definitely not worth spending $250 on.

Just look at the benchmarks.
 
I don't agree, I have a dual 2.3 g5 and it hauls. ESP with the x800xt and 6gb of ram in it. Does mostly everything from days to day use and it has classic aswell. And it runs like a dream. (after blowing about 2 kilos of dust Out of it)

If you have ppc software already, then they make great boxes.

Cbeers
 
ok so ive decided not to get that one and instead this here are the specs:

1.5GB DDRZ SD RAM
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6600IE (2xDUI)

FACTORY WIRELESS BLUETOOTH
Hard Drive: 150GB
Memory: 1.5 GB
Bus Speed 1GHz
Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: Power Mac 11.2
Processor RC G5 (1.0)
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
2 CPU's
Boot Rom Version: 5.2.7

im going to spend about 150 bucks on it and then upgrade the ram to 3.5gb.

will that run smoothly???

please help me and is it what does the proccessor speed mean would that be work upgrading?
 
is that a dual core (not dual cpu) G5? ie has it got 1mb of l2 cache ? (the dual cpu ones have only 512kb of l2..

if that does have the dual core, then yeah its a good box..

also has PCIe for better graphics cards than the older AGP G5's

cheeers
 
not sure :(

i ask the seller though...

here is all the info i got:
APPLE MAC
And Apple Keyboard and Mouse

Very Fast Computer, hardly used, runs perfectly.

Dual 2GHz Power PC G5
Apple Computer. As New, Runs Perfectly. Sold with Apple Keyboard, Mouse and Mac OS X Tiger Installation Software.

1.5GB DDRZ SD RAM
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6600IE (2xDUI)

FACTORY WIRELESS BLUETOOTH
Hard Drive: 150GB
Memory: 1.5 GB
Bus Speed 1GHz
Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: Power Mac 11.2
Processor RC G5 (1.0)
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
2 CPU's
Boot Rom Version: 5.2.7

thanks
 
It's base Dual Core model. Good and reliable machine.
Needs RAM upgrade, but it takes up to 16GB DDR2 (this type of RAM is quite cheap). New, faster HDD (such as Samsung HD502HJ) will make it snappier. Ask VanneDC how much it's worth on your local market.

Happy bidding ;)
 
thanks so much for the reply you just saved me $50!

ok so the specs i need to find the right ram is:
PC2-6400?

is that corrent and if i buy to of these and put 1 on each side of the ram panel in the ppc it will run at 5.5gb??

thankyou!
 
Not exactly PC2 6400. Original specs were PC2 4200, but 6400 will be downclocked when installed in this Mac.
I used 6400 in 2.3 dual core without troubles.

Important is: DDR2 and Low Density. PC2 4200 and up.

It takes ECC memory too. But only one type of RAM can be installed, i.e. don't mix ECC with non-ECC RAM.
 
ok,ok getting to techniqual lol...

so if i buy to of those 2gb ram and install them as a pair it will work?
also is there anything i have to do after putting them in? like in system preferences? this is my first mac!!
 
sweet thanks!

also i know that some programs wont work cause they are intel?

will ilife and iwork 11 run? or will i have to use 09?
 
No, can't run bootcamp and can't really run windows ( well not at native speeds anyhows)

If you need windows, u must buy an intel Mac.
 
ok thats fine...
theres a program i know of called crossover 7 and in really need a program to run on the mac called fl studio.

now, i was wondering if i would be able to run it through crossover and would it run at the normal speed?
 
brendan2452 said:
ok thats fine...
theres a program i know of called crossover 7 and in really need a program to run on the mac called fl studio.

now, i was wondering if i would be able to run it through crossover and would it run at the normal speed?
Click to expand...
No, Crossover is intel only. some of the older versions might have ppc support but i highly highly doubt it.
 
brendan2452 said:
is there any way to run windows programs on a mac?
Click to expand...

On a G5, not at anywhere close to full speed. If you want to run windows software that's anymore power hungry than minesweeper, then DO NOT get a G5 machine. If you want to run windows software for audio or video or anything like that, then DO NOT get a G5. To run windows audio or video software at full speed you ABSOLUTELY REQUIRE an Intel machine. I'm not sure why you're so intent on getting a PPC, you haven't yet stated any reason why you specifically want a PPC based Mac instead of an Intel based Mac.

Seriously dude, I'm glad you feel like you're getting help here, but seriously, we've already answered your questions but you seem to be ignoring our answers. If you want to run windows audio synth software like FL Studio then you CANNOT use it on a PPC Mac, software like that ABSOLUTELY REQUIRES a Mac with an Intel CPU.
 
Did a rezising, of my post, to not give it that much impact and waste so much space. It's gotten very long :D

You have FL Studio, do you have an audio-interface that works under windows, already? (I mean the thing that you get your microphones and instruments into your PC with)

If you do not already have either windows nor mac things for audio-recording, then I would first think about which platform you want to go and than think it through. Make a list what you will need and what it will cost you.

It also depends on your work concept / audio-setup (i.e. just basically one mic with USB-port plus a midi-keyboard, or a mic with small diameter line-in? Or more semi-pro: 2-8(or more)track-audiointerface + microphone(s)???).

You can get a lot info about the specs and benchmarks (though not generally telling) under everymac.com. There you can click on compare and see different models side by side, and you can click on complete specs, that even gives a little text about it.

Short: what (and how) do you want to do with it. What kind of recording?
 
Last edited:
motulist said:
On a G5, not at anywhere close to full speed. If you want to run windows software that's anymore power hungry than minesweeper, then DO NOT get a G5 machine. If you want to run windows software for audio or video or anything like that, then DO NOT get a G5. To run windows audio or video software at full speed you ABSOLUTELY REQUIRE an Intel machine. I'm not sure why you're so intent on getting a PPC, you haven't yet stated any reason why you specifically want a PPC based Mac instead of an Intel based Mac.

Seriously dude, I'm glad you feel like you're getting help here, but seriously, we've already answered your questions but you seem to be ignoring our answers. If you want to run windows audio synth software like FL Studio then you CANNOT use it on a PPC Mac, software like that ABSOLUTELY REQUIRES a Mac with an Intel CPU.
Click to expand...

Cox Orange said:
Did a rezising, of my post, to not give it that much impact and waste so much space. It's gotten very long :D

You have FL Studio, do you have an audio-interface that works under windows, already? (I mean the thing that you get your microphones and instruments into your PC with)

If you do not already have either windows nor mac things for audio-recording, then I would first think about which platform you want to go and than think it through. Make a list what you will need and what it will cost you.

It also depends on your work concept / audio-setup (i.e. just basically one mic with USB-port plus a midi-keyboard, or a mic with small diameter line-in? Or more semi-pro: 2-8(or more)track-audiointerface + microphone(s)???).

You can get a lot info about the specs and benchmarks (though not generally telling) under everymac.com. There you can click on compare and see different models side by side, and you can click on complete specs, that even gives a little text about it.

Short: what (and how) do you want to do with it. What kind of recording?
Click to expand...

These guys knows what they're talking about
 
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