Dual 2.5GHz PowerMacs Shipping

[skillsonmac]

• CPU A is consistently 5 degrees C hotter than CPU B

• 
  
  I think this is completely normal. Just look at the liquid-cooling-scheme on Apple's website. The cool liquid-cooling-fluid first cools down CPU B. Then, the not so cool anymore liquid-cooling-fluid tries to cool down CPU A but can never cool it down as much as it has done the previous CPU and will terefore run a little hotter. There you have it!
  
  
  Further:
  
  Next week it will be 2 months for me waiting on my dual 2.5
  I am barely hanging on but this thread is helping a lot. Not much of a poster though but a very loyal reader.
  
  Greetings from Holland,
  
  -Skills

 

[wdlove]

Hi Belgian IZI and Red G5, great to have you as new members of MacRumors and to this thread. We have a great group of supportive individuals.

 

[dm000]

Update...

I'm interested in knowing what the version yours arrives in. Please post once info is received.

To compare, I received my DP2.0 a week ago and it came with AHT version 2.2.5 with Disc version 1.0. The DP2.5 that I received two months ago and returned recently was something like AHT 2.1.5 with Disc Version 1.0, or something to that effect (it's still a lower version than the 2.2.5 released).

Let's see... I received my G5 yesterday. It shipped overnight from Elk Grove, CA. Hopefully, they have done additional inspections of the 2.5 GHz models to make sure they work properly....

FedEX showed up right before I had to go to a meeting. I wasn't too disappointed to let it sit for a couple of hours... it needed to warm up to room temperature anyway.

My AHT disc is Power Mac Version 2.2.5 (Disc Version 1.0), the same as yours. Mine came with 10.3.5 installed and on the System discs.

I booted from the AHT disc and ran the extended tests (512 MB stock memory). Everything passed.

Then, I installed my Maxtor 250 GB drive in the second SATA slot. The "slide in" mounting is pretty damned cool. Also, I installed 4-1GB memory modules.

I again booted from the AHT disc and my hardware profile show a problem with my memory in the 5 and 6 slots. I began to get nervous. Is it the RAM, the G5, or the fact that my girlfriend walked across the room to see what I was doing and touched me (I was touching the case at the time, as well as the RAM package, so I was worried a bit about static... never have had a static problem before).

I shutdown reseated the RAM modules, took out the drive, then restarted with the AHT disc. Memory passed a few runs of the extended test.

A few hours later (after the memory tests finished) I installed the SATA again, ran the quick tests, and received a mass storage error: "2STF/1/4" (no quotes). Shutdown again, removed the stock drive and put it in the lower bay. Turns out the stock drive was the same model Maxtor drive I had bought (at about half the price as Apple was charging for an extra drive). Same error. Check SATA cable connection on the main logic board. Success! Moved stock drive to "upper" bay A and installed my additional drive in bay B. Ran extended tests three times... everything passed each time.

Now, I finally booted, initialized the second drive, and ran all of the updates. Everything is working fine so far. Woah, for about half a day yesterday I was concerned about the G5 working properly.

I am somewhat hesitant to use the "transfer utility" to move things from my G4, especially after reading some reports here and elsewhere. Does anyone know if Apple Remote Desktop could do a better job of moving my files and applications to my G5? Thanks.

-Dave

 

[grebo]

I think this is completely normal. Just look at the liquid-cooling-scheme on Apple's website. The cool liquid-cooling-fluid first cools down CPU B. Then, the not so cool anymore liquid-cooling-fluid tries to cool down CPU A but can never cool it down as much as it has done the previous CPU and will terefore run a little hotter. There you have it!


Further:

Next week it will be 2 months for me waiting on my dual 2.5
I am barely hanging on but this thread is helping a lot. Not much of a poster though but a very loyal reader.

Greetings from Holland,

-Skills

Thanks for the words of reassurance, I am afraid though, that I disagree. I can accept that it's 'normal' because other people are experiencing the same problem, however the first two machines I had ran in tandem, never fluctuating more than 2 degrees celcius from each other.

I hope your G5 will be fine... I'm still not sure about mine.

 

[monogee]

Is it worth buying one now or are there still alot of bugs with this machine?

I'm thinking of purchasing the Powermac G5 2.5 and an Apple 20" LCD. I would be using it for the purpose of producing music, using such programs as Digital Performer and Logic. I've been reading about some of the problems here in this forum.

1. Is it worth buying one now or are there still alot of bugs with this machine?
2. I also wanted to know if I should wait until the beginning of 2005 or purchase one in December? Does anyone think the price will come down on it in January?
3. What is the wait on this machine when you order?

Thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Mac-Xpert]

I am somewhat hesitant to use the "transfer utility" to move things from my G4, especially after reading some reports here and elsewhere. Does anyone know if Apple Remote Desktop could do a better job of moving my files and applications to my G5? Thanks.

I used the transfer utility with good results. I think about 95% of my apps worked correctly the first time I tried them on my new machine. Only Quark Xpress 6 and the iProof software RIP needed to be re-activated. But this I knew already before I transferred the apps. And because I used two partitions on my previous computer (G4) I needed to move certain apps from the additional folder that the transfer utility created from my second partition. But I had no major problems whatsoever.

1. Is it worth buying one now or are there still alot of bugs with this machine?

I'm quite happy with my 2.5 GHz here. But I do find that when having the processors set to "automatic performance" that the fans spin up rather a lot. Even when doing simple things like scrolling through a web-page in Safari can make the fans rev up. I actually found that the fans rev up less when you put it in "highest performance" than the Automatic mode, while having maximum performance. However with a machine this fast, I don't find it a problem to put it in "Reduced performance" mode. This will keep the machine really quiet and will still give me (I checked this!) about the same performance as a 2 GHz machine. Only when I need full performance, I temporarily put it in the "Highest performance". This gives me sort of a "best of both worlds" between quiet operation and performance when I need it.

 

[mikepj]

2. I also wanted to know if I should wait until the beginning of 2005 or purchase one in December? Does anyone think the price will come down on it in January?

I doubt it. Usually, Apple sticks to around $2999 for it's high-end PowerMac. Since demand is so high for these machines, there really isn't any reason for them to lower the price on it. Also, since IBM is having trouble even making 2.5Ghz chips, I doubt there will be any speed bumps on the high end for awhile (at least not with CPU speed). I think now is a great time to buy.

3. What is the wait on this machine when you order?

I'm still waiting for mine... It shipped after 4 weeks and will get here 5 weeks and a day after I ordered it. When I ordered they were estimating 3-5 weeks shipping time, but now I think that number is down to 2-3 weeks.

 

[grebo]

I'm thinking of purchasing the Powermac G5 2.5 and an Apple 20" LCD. I would be using it for the purpose of producing music, using such programs as Digital Performer and Logic. I've been reading about some of the problems here in this forum.

1. Is it worth buying one now or are there still alot of bugs with this machine?
2. I also wanted to know if I should wait until the beginning of 2005 or purchase one in December? Does anyone think the price will come down on it in January?
3. What is the wait on this machine when you order?

Thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

If you will be recording analogue signals with a microphone, you may have problems with unacceptable noise issues caused by unpredictable fan revving on the 2.5

Apparently the 2.0 Rev B's are much quieter and have all the power you'll need for audio workstations. I'm considering making the switch while I still can.

 

[wdlove]

I'm thinking of purchasing the Powermac G5 2.5 and an Apple 20" LCD. I would be using it for the purpose of producing music, using such programs as Digital Performer and Logic. I've been reading about some of the problems here in this forum.

1. Is it worth buying one now or are there still a lot of bugs with this machine?
2. I also wanted to know if I should wait until the beginning of 2005 or purchase one in December? Does anyone think the price will come down on it in January?
3. What is the wait on this machine when you order?

Thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

1. If you are in need of a machine now, then I would say go ahead and purchase. As with anything else, those with problems are more likely to post. So it is hard to get a real gauge on quality. I still have confidence in Apple.

2. There is no guarantee of any upgrade coming in January. It's more likely at WWDC. Apple generally doesn't decrease the price on a CPU. They do increase the quality without a price increaser though.

3. The wait for the G5 seems to depend on where you live. What items you order on the machine and stock availability.

 

[SteveMentzer]

The G5 Has Landed

Order Date : 10/20/2004
Original Estimated Ship Date : 11/26/2004
Ship Notification Received: 11/09/2004 (actually 11/10/2004)
Delivered : 11/10/2004 @ 8:58am

Is shipped from Elk Grove, CA. I am in southern california. It was standard ground shipping...

The biggest problem is that I am at work right now.... gotta wait to open it up @ home. This is gonna be the hardest 8 hours ever....

 

[DWKlink]

I also wanted to know if I should wait until the beginning of 2005 or purchase one in December?

Last November I decided to wait to purchase a G5 with all the rumors of a new machine arriving in January. Needless to say, I finally recieved my 2.5 the end of August, 10 months after I initially wanted to buy. If you need a computer now, I would purchase one now - waiting because of rumors or speculation is going to add up to a long wait. Just think how there's still a 3-5 week wait for these machines and they were announced 5 months ago - I think it will be a while before there's any new G5 offering.

As for quality, I love my 2.5 and I still can't get over how fast and quiet it is. If you need a new PM and you want the best mac your money can buy, I suggest you pull the trigger now.

 

[DWKlink]

DELETE ME!

 

[dm000]

Thanks.

I used the transfer utility with good results. I think about 95% of my apps worked correctly the first time I tried them on my new machine. Only Quark Xpress 6 and the iProof software RIP needed to be re-activated. But this I knew already before I transferred the apps. And because I used two partitions on my previous computer (G4) I needed to move certain apps from the additional folder that the transfer utility created from my second partition. But I had no major problems whatsoever.
...snip...

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[si-valleyguy]

Re: Reduced Mode & Fan Noise

I'm quite happy with my 2.5 GHz here. But I do find that when having the processors set to "automatic performance" that the fans spin up rather a lot. Even when doing simple things like scrolling through a web-page in Safari can make the fans rev up. I actually found that the fans rev up less when you put it in "highest performance" than the Automatic mode, while having maximum performance. However with a machine this fast, I don't find it a problem to put it in "Reduced performance" mode. This will keep the machine really quiet and will still give me (I checked this!) about the same performance as a 2 GHz machine. Only when I need full performance, I temporarily put it in the "Highest performance". This gives me sort of a "best of both worlds" between quiet operation and performance when I need it.

I can confirm this, as well. In reduced mode, even using the iTunes Visulizer, things are really quiet. There's just a hint of fan rev. Cropping in Photoshop is dead quiet, also. I have 3.5 GB RAM. When I just had the stock RAM and even 1.5 GB I got more fan revs than I do now in automatic mode. At this point I don't see much difference between highest and automatic. If I had less RAM, I think I would.

My machine is still very fast in reduced mode for most things and I'm enjoying the quiet operation. Perhaps I should have bought the 2 GHz to begin with but who knew at that time (early August) the 10-25% speed increase came with a noise caveat. From Apple's promotion, I surmised liquid cooling would take a burden off the fans and hence make for an even quieter machine. I always believed that with computers and money there's no such thing as too much of either. Perhaps Apple will revise the fan mangement software in the future to tone things down a bit. MacAddict's review picks the fan thing out as one of the "bads" in thier review summary but the "good" is the speed.

Anyway, this is a good tip.

 

[King Crimson]

1. Is it worth buying one now or are there still alot of bugs with this machine?
2. I also wanted to know if I should wait until the beginning of 2005 or purchase one in December? Does anyone think the price will come down on it in January?
3. What is the wait on this machine when you order?

Hi there,

1. STRONG BUY, I love my g5!!!!!!
2. There's one rule, buy a computer when you need it, waiting never really pays ... (there are no rumors going on about a speedbump comming soon, are they!? )
3. I Think now You can simply check the wait in the apple store. A local dealer should be able to give you a qualified second opinion ...

Cheers,

Andreas

 

[Mac-Xpert]

Thanks for the feedback!

I hope it works out well for you too. I do think that the transfer utility relies on having your files and apps in the "correct" place. I did for instance had to re-import most of my mp3s because I didn't keep them in the iTunes folder of the startup partition but on the other one. But those are just small issues that you would expect from a transfer to a new computer.

 

[Mac-Xpert]

I can confirm this, as well. In reduced mode, even using the iTunes Visulizer, things are really quiet. There's just a hint of fan rev. Cropping in Photoshop is dead quiet, also. I have 3.5 GB RAM. When I just had the stock RAM and even 1.5 GB I got more fan revs than I do now in automatic mode. At this point I don't see much difference between highest and automatic. If I had less RAM, I think I would.

That's interesting. I have 2 GB ram in my machine. I did notice some difference between the Highest and Automatic mode, in favor of the Highest mode. I find that even in reduced mode my machine mostly quiet but sometimes has a short rev-up. When I use Photoshop and I use the "transform" function and for instance scale and rotate a image, and stay a little while in this mode before I give it a o.k. the fans tend to rev-up to full speed for a few seconds. But most of the time I don't hear the machine at all, and can see the fans running very slowly.

If I would have known that the 2.5 GHz had more of a rev-up problem than the 2 GHz machine, I might have wanted that one instead. But with the machine in reduced mode I'm quite happy with the general silent operation.

 

[wdlove]

Last November I decided to wait to purchase a G5 with all the rumors of a new machine arriving in January. Needless to say, I finally received my 2.5 the end of August, 10 months after I initially wanted to buy. If you need a computer now, I would purchase one now - waiting because of rumors or speculation is going to add up to a long wait. Just think how there's still a 3-5 week wait for these machines and they were announced 5 months ago - I think it will be a while before there's any new G5 offering.

As for quality, I love my 2.5 and I still can't get over how fast and quiet it is. If you need a new PM and you want the best mac your money can buy, I suggest you pull the trigger now.

I have had a G5 in mind since the original Rev. A, but still not ready to pull the trigger. The 2.5 is definitely the best that money can buy. Always good to see another positive review. It's important for those like your self to post also.

 

[SteveMentzer]

Yet another G5 2.5 Review

Aesthetics
========

I actually prefer the look of my G4 MDD case. But the brushed aluminum is nice, because it matches my 23" HD Cinema Display (aluminum frame). The case looks and feels very industrial.

Accessories
=========

I still hate apple's keyboards. I guess I was just hoping for one of the old 'apple pro' keyboards. You know, the ones that weighed a ton, were SOLID, BIG and had a less 'polished' feeling to the keys. I tossed the keyboard aside and used my dell enhanced multimedia USB keyboard, which works suprisingly well in OS/X.

The apple mouse is a joke. Sorry, I hate single button mice.

The Guts
=======

The interior of the G5 is extremely well laid out. This is a thing of beauty. You can see the distinct thermal zones. Expansion should be fairly easy.

Noise Levels
=========

This machine is much, much quieter than my MDD G4. Then again, my vaccuum is quieter than the MDD G4

The first thing I did was set performance to 'maximum'. I had a few fan revs during some highly intensive CPU work (installing word of warcraft beta). Nothing major. The fans *never* spun up to maximum velocity, as they do during the hardware test. I can see how this machine could be viewed as noisy if the fans were spinning at max.

All in all, I was expecting a little quieter, but it is still quieter than any other mac or PC in my house ( i have 3 macs and 4 PC's )

Performance
=========

WOW. This is the fastest computer I have ever used. I am used to high-end PC's (dual Xeon workstations) and high-end gaming machines (athlon 2800+) and this machine simply rocks. My G4 dual 1Ghz box was certainly showing it's age lately. I attributed a lot of that to the radeon 9000 and OS/X.

However, I am completely blown away about how fast OS/X is on this machine. All the pokey OS/X window rendering slowness is gone. It is quite astonishing. I opened iTunes, and had about 11,000 MP3's in the list. I was able to drag through them end-to-end with no lag or beachball.

The same holds true for iPhoto. I have a couple thousand photos. Using the zoomer and the scroller, I was able to go end-to-end with no lag. During that time, the cpu utilization never got above 50% on either processor.

I haven't been able to convert some .dv files to mpeg2 yet, as I didn't have any time.

On the gaming front, world-of-warcraft beta was very, very smooth, even with the settings max'ed out. I got the 9800XT, and I was running 1344x840 (wide) with every setting dimed. There isn't an FPS meter in the game, but it was silky smooth, even in the most complex of areas.

With marine aquarium, I was getting 200+ fps at 1900x1200.

Can't wait to try Doom3 out on the box.

Heat Issues
=========

There seems to be a common concern that the CPU's are getting too hot and going into thermal shutdown mode.

With the machine set at maximum performance, the baseline cpu temps hovered between 58C and 73C.

During some intense CPU action, I saw it spike up to 78C-80C. The fan action didn't necessarily correlate to the CPU temps in all cases. The fans were always spinning slowly...

I don't know if that is bad or not. I am going to run a 12 hour folding session tonight to see if I can get the machine to fail. If not, I am not going to worry about it further.

Overall
=====

I really, really like this machine. I am finding less use for my PC... and now I have a respectable dual G4 MDD box to recomission as something else.

With a successful 'folding' burnin tonight.... I think I will be a very, very happy man.

 

[flytrap]

Demos

Does anyone know of any DEMOS for the Nvidia 6800 card. I got the ATI 9600XT with my G5 2.5 so I could get it sooner. I had downloaded some demos for it but when I go the Nvidia page there is only PC Demos for this card.


Thanks

Flytrap

 

[monogee]

Which graphics card should I get?

Thanks to everyone on their thoughts in purchasing the PowerMac G5. I would like to know what graphics card is recommended for the G5. I'm basically using the G5 with music sequencing programs, to watch DVD movies and do some editing of photos. Thanks

 

[Mac-Xpert]

Thanks to everyone on their thoughts in purchasing the PowerMac G5. I would like to know what graphics card is recommended for the G5. I'm basically using the G5 with music sequencing programs, to watch DVD movies and do some editing of photos. Thanks

If your not going to use the machine for gaming, I would stick with the standard Radeon 9600 XT. Only when you like to play the new games, or are going to use it for heavy 3-d rendering you should buy the Radeon 9800 XT or the GeForce 6800. Watching DVD's or editing photo's will run just as fast and smooth with the 9600 XT as with the 6800 Ultra.

 

[monogee]

Thanks Mac-Xpert

 

[grebo]

Signing off

Hi gang,

Well I'm sorry to report that I'm going to flex the remorse option and send the G5 (and 30" display) back to its maker.

I'm going to sit back and evaluate my options -- maybe get a helpful clerk at a high-end music store or a genius at the new Apple store who can demonstrate to me a G5 DP (am now considering the 2.0 Rev B) working QUIETLY in a studio environment.

I'm bitterly disappointed, and it will be a pain to go back to the slow G4, but I couldn't just hang on to hope that either Apple Care or firmware updates would cover me in the long run.

I'm still committed to getting a Mac though. Invested too much in Logic Pro

Anyway, I wanted to share this with the rest of you, and thank you for all the support and encouragement you've given me since I first placed my order back in JUNE!

Cheers,

Grebo

 

[wdlove]

If your not going to use the machine for gaming, I would stick with the standard Radeon 9600 XT. Only when you like to play the new games, or are going to use it for heavy 3-d rendering you should buy the Radeon 9800 XT or the GeForce 6800. Watching DVD's or editing photo's will run just as fast and smooth with the 9600 XT as with the 6800 Ultra.

That works unless you are interested in a 30" Cinema Display. Then the GeForce 6800 is required.