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Dual 2.5ghz G5 PowerMac worth it

B

bntz313

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 11, 2007
399
0
I have a chance to pick up an PowerMac G5 for a trade for my DSLR setup. I'm wondering how fast it will be. Right now I run my Mbp 2.33ghz with 3gb ram, will the G5 run CS3 apps just as fast.

It's an 2.3...Sorry for the typo on the title
 
Honestly, PPC is the past. I know plenty of people are getting good life and performance from their PPC machines, but Apple's - and application developer's - focus is on the Intel architecture.

If you have an Intel-based Mac, you are better off keeping it.
 
would it be good? though cause I need an desktop I have an very slow pentium 4 PC. How would it be in photoshop and such?
 
The G5 will be fine as long as you load it with as much RAM as you can. I have a dual core 2.0 with 8 gigs and it beats the tar out my new 2.4 BlackBook, especially when it comes to video-related tasks and DVD burning. As long as you're keeping the MBP, the G5 can only be a good thing.
 
CWallace said:
It might be better then the P4, but your MBP will likely load faster and work more effectively.
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Its gonna run circles around the P4 and then some. The P4 is a trash processor. At work I use a 3.0GHz P4 with 2Gb of RAM for the CS3 suite and its just about the slowest POS I've used. Doing the same type of work on a 1.25GHz Mac Mini was faster. No joke.
 
Would leopard run smooth on the G5? The PPC has 2gb ram 2 hdd, I'm gonna give my canon xti, 18-55mm, bg-e3 battery grip, 2gb cf card for it do you think that is a good trade or should I just sell the dslr an buy an ACD

What is the max ram on it too, some places I read 8gb then other have said 16gb
 
Well I've been reading that an macbook is not even as fast as an G5 dual 2.3 and I'm gonna max the ram out. So I can't see an mac mini being faster than that. If an mac mini was just like an iMac with no screen I'd be all over that.
 
bntz313 said:
Well I've been reading that an macbook is not even as fast as an G5 dual 2.3 and I'm gonna max the ram out. So I can't see an mac mini being faster than that.
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Here you go. The 2 gHz Core 2 Duo Mac Mini gets a 2591, while the 2.3 gHz Power Mac G5 gets a 1962. The top end MacBook gets a 3112.

If an mac mini was just like an iMac with no screen I'd be all over that.
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Well, that it's not. But it would be substantially better than a PMG5 at this stage of the game. The PPC architecture simply is antiquated.

KingYaba said:
If you need a desktop to run OS X sell your DSLR and purchase a first gen Mac Pro.
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OP does photography. I'm sure he's not getting rid of the camera.

Texas: illegally acquired; universally admired.
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Ha, ha. That's pretty funny.
 
If thinking about the Dual 2.5 GHz look up "Apple PowerMac LCS" on google and see what comes up. A few people have complained on the cooling system leaking. Including myself. Some have made out pretty well with a like for like change to the latest MacPro, and some have been left with a big bill.

I was on the latter, no regrets when I first bought the machine, but when it crapped out, it would have been a $1800 fix.

Anyways do your research. Now is not the time to get a PM Dual 2.5. I loved mine before it died, and plan on repairing it when I can afford it. All it needs now is the processors. Not cheap but doable.
 
Liquid cooling is the only down side to the 2.5 and 2.7 G5s. For that reason alone I avoid them entirely.

Thats why I got the dual core 2.3 G5, its the fastest air-cooled PPC Mac ever made.
 
Cave Man said:
Here you go. The 2 gHz Core 2 Duo Mac Mini gets a 2591, while the 2.3 gHz Power Mac G5 gets a 1962. The top end MacBook gets a 3112.
Click to expand...

That's based on Geekbench, which is deeply flawed. In fact, there simply isn't an accurate benchmark test out there for Macs. The best test is in practical use (which is the only thing that actually matters anyway), and in practical use CS2 is faster on the G5 and CS3 is probably faster on the MacBook. Still doesn't make the G5 a bad machine by any means, and as another poster pointed out it will run rings around a P4.

Well, that it's not. But it would be substantially better than a PMG5 at this stage of the game. The PPC architecture simply is antiquated.
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This is totally untrue. My PMG5 runs way, way faster than my partner's core 2 mini. It also has 3X the RAM and 12X the HDD space.
 
I glanced through the thread. I did not notice what DSLR you had that you were thinking of trading. It might be helpful to know this info as some DSLR's are not all that valuable in the used market.
 
I've got a dual 2.5 with 8gb of RAM. Runs Leopard and CS3 beautifully, has ample room for expansion (hard drives, graphics card etc). Mines 4 years old and I am scared that the liquid cooling will leak, but it's given me years of sterling service. I'd go for it.
 
If its cheap enough, go for it. Just be aware of possible coolant looks. There are certain brands of the coolers to look for something to avoid.

My 2.0 was amazing with only 2.5 gigs of ram. It only has 6 because my PC got an upgrade so I had spare ram to put in it.
 
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