Excellent Power Mac G5 DP 2.3 GHz on eBay Right Now

[mac57mac57]

(to the mods - I am not the seller, just saw this listing and wanted to bring it to the other members attention)

Are you looking for Power Mac G5 DP 2.3 GHz, late model 2005, for a reasonable price? You can find one right now on eBay. I saw it this AM and wanted to bring it to everyone's attention. See the attached listing. Essentially, $250 for the machine plus $100 shipping.

The machine is equipped with 12 GB of RAM, a 320 GB HDD (spinner), an nVidia GeForce 6600 video card and finally, a Bluetooth / WiFi module. The case looks really nice; almost no wear and tear on it.

Have a look. It LOOKS like a good machine for a good price

Again, I am not the seller, and I cannot endorse this particular machine personally, but it looks good enough I wish I could buy it. Alas, my recent retro-computing purchases leave me unable to do so.

 

[Raging Dufus]

Meh. I'd love to have a DP 2.3, but $250 + shipping is a bit pricey IMO. I could be wrong, been several years since I've been in the market for something like that.

To anyone that might be interested: inquire whether it will ship in the original box, or if not exactly how the seller plans to ship it. These G5s are notorious for arriving off eBay with bent case handles from rough handling and improper packing. It's happened to me.

 

[mac57mac57]

I second that thought @Raging Dufus! These machines are physically large and quite heavy. They have to be really carefully packed, and the original box is without question the best.

As to the price, these machines are getting hard to find, particularly one this well equipped. My impression is that this is a reasonable price for what you get.

I have one of these myself; it is my key PowerPC system. Loaded with Sorbet Leopard 1.5 and Aquafox 2.1, this machine is a screamer. I can do pretty much any task on it, including running my bank's web site!

Photo editing with Photoshop? It slices through it like a hot knife through butter (subject to the understanding that Photoshop CS4 is the last version that will run on PPC, so none of the more recent AI stuff can be used).

Music editing? No issues at all.

Video editing? Works well, albeit slower than on a current machine.

iTunes and iPod support? Fabulous.

Basic stuff like Microsoft Office, LibreOffice... document editing is a breeze.

As you can see, I *love* my DP and use it almost daily.

Whoever buys this machine... load it up and use it to maximum advantage.

But wait, you say, isn't there a faster G5? Well yes, there is... the G5 Quad. I am restoring (ever so slowly) one of these right now. When it is fully operational, it is observably faster than the DP, but the Quads are super finicky, as their Liquid Cooling Systems (LCS) are well past their "best before date" and for the most part, require extensive and exhaustive refurbishing before they can be used fully.

The Quad may be a small amount faster (2.5 GHz vs 2.3 GHz, 4 cores vs. 2 cores) but the DP is air cooled and as such, has proven to be highly reliable.

 

[z970]

To anyone that might be interested: inquire whether it will ship in the original box, or if not exactly how the seller plans to ship it. These G5s are notorious for arriving off eBay with bent case handles from rough handling and improper packing. It's happened to me.

It happened to myself once when a seller thought to surround it with little more than packing peanuts. The outcome is a regrettable situation for anyone.

Local pickups are always preferred for items like these of course, but since then, I've successfully shipped multiple G5s cross-country every time because there is only one correct way to pack a G5 / Mac Pro, which is the same way that the original box used. Any other method is a unmitigated risk to its safety depending on which route and distribution center it takes en route to the destination.

Conveniently I forget the exact methodology, but in a nutshell the handles and feet must be suspended in air at least 2 to 3" from the corresponding sides of the box, there must be 2" of styrofoam block on each side of the unit (Apple logo-side), and an even thicker wall of styrofoam blocks cut to fit and barricading the unit on its front, rear, top, and bottom sides so that the system is tightly held (does not move) in the dead center of a box around 8" larger than it. I believe the standard box dimension was 24 x 24 x 12 (or potentially 26 x 26 x 12), if memory serves. Double-walled is strongly recommended.

OWC sells a pre-made shipping box for G5s / Mac Pros that uses the same padding philosophy, but in my opinion it needs more protection and isn't a 100% foolproof option as I recall reading a few poor reviews somewhere from disgruntled customers.

 

[alexocc]

Damn, $250... I got two G5s for $60: 2003 DP 2.0GHz and 2005 DP 2.7GHz, both in exceptional condition

 

[Raging Dufus]

OWC sells a pre-made shipping box for G5s / Mac Pros that uses the same padding philosophy, but in my opinion it needs more protection and isn't a 100% foolproof option as I recall reading a few poor reviews somewhere from disgruntled customers.

Wow, didn’t know they sold these. FWIW, I’ve been very impressed with OWC’s packaging when I’ve purchased items as large as an iMac or a Thunderbolt Display, and they say on the product page that what they’re selling there is the same stuff they use. So I personally would trust it.

It bears mentioning though, no matter how well it’s packed, shipping something as large and fragile as a PMG5 is a roll of the dice. Bad enough handling can overwhelm even the best packaging. So I agree it’s always best to pick these items up when possible. Or do what I did, which is pick up a good condition dead unit or empty case locally, to have something to transplant your working G5’s components into if shipping trashes your case. Yes it’s overkill, but IMO the big draw about these machines is their styling, and if you want one it’s worth it.

 

[mac57mac57]

I took have had excellent luck with OWC; everything I have bought there has been well packaged and worked right out of the box. It almost goes without saying that I endorse them heartily.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I’m cheap. My a1117 was $40 and it came with AC display, apple wireless kb & mouse lol picked up locally.

Heck at $250, you’re pretty much half way to a base model m4 mini.

 

[mac57mac57]

I am tempted to say "that was then, this is now". I picked up my G5 Quad for peanuts "back in the day". Not so now... a fully operational Quad goes for a whole LOT of money these days, ditto for the DP. These machines are getting more and more difficult to find, and rarity drives up prices. $250 still strikes me as a good price for what is on offer in this listing.

To the mods: I just want to say again that I am not the seller - I just like what I see in this listing. If I had the $$ available right now, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

 

[Doq]

At least y'all have local areas to explore. Living outside of major areas, I end up at the mercy of the online marketplace. Implacable cost me about $200 shipped and that was after waiting for the right deal to come along for years and take a risk on an untested machine. Which, for a Quad, is a significant risk.

Posted from Implacable for an unrelated reason.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I am tempted to say "that was then, this is now". I picked up my G5 Quad for peanuts "back in the day". Not so now... a fully operational Quad goes for a whole LOT of money these days, ditto for the DP. These machines are getting more and more difficult to find, and rarity drives up prices. $250 still strikes me as a good price for what is on offer in this listing.

To the mods: I just want to say again that I am not the seller - I just like what I see in this listing. If I had the $$ available right now, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

You are not wrong to say that necessarily. I picked that bundle up in 2020, so just shy of 5 years ago iirc. Even then, that was one heck of a deal. What I didnt say that made this deal even better was I also got some FW audio interfaces with that bundle too lol. Anways, I also admit fully that if you live out in the sticks or within some enclave of mac hating, windows lovers, finding any PMG5 locally for any price is not too likely so through that lense, something like ebay or facebarf marketplace is the only predictable way to find one. I am a glutton for punishment and enjoy the hunt almost more than owning the mac. It adds value to using it for me anyhow.

Now do I think a DC a1117 is worth $250 bucks? NIB never touched by greasy human hands? ... maybe. but generally? No, I dont but that's me. It is really hard for me to plonk down $250 bucks when I can save a bit more or finance the rest and buy a brand spanking new M4 mini (Ive been looking at them as an upgrade for my wife from her 2012 Intel mini.).

Yanno another thought is that I live in the US where macs are plentiful. If I lived outside of the states, that would be yet another lense to consider in terms of pricing and scarcity. So yeah, Im not trying to pee in the punch. I get that value is subjective and scarcity is a big part of value perception and how I prioritize my $$ is different from probably just about every single other person on here lol. Anyways, it is a very fine looking specifmen! I hope it finds a good home and makes it there safely

 

[Bug-Creator]

I am kinda looking for just such a thing (in Germany.....) and the ones I even take into consideration are 70€ or under, maybe 100 if the come with extras.

Don't want to bother with shipping if it can be avoided (hence I even snapped one up yet) and the only close candidate is bundled (and priced) with a 30" Cinema display that I don't really need.

Sure also plenty ##### around asking 500€ and up.

The only thing of real value in OPs one is the Airport module, those are rare. GF6600 is the base model, RAM is dirt cheap and a 20 year old spinner is just ewaste.

 

[originaldotexe]

are these really that valuable? i gave one away a couple years ago that had a nVidia 6800 and other upgrades in it, meanwhile ive been trying to sell the G5 quad which i thought was worth quite a bit and have had no bites xD

 

[mac57mac57]

Well... the seller made me a private offer of nearly $100 less than the stated price, and I couldn't resist. *I* bought it, putting my money where my mouth is! This one does have the WiFi/Bluetooth module in it, plus 12 GB of PC2-4200U RAM. Even the spinner HDD is worth a little bit, $20 or so.

I can't be sure that the WiFi/Bluetooth module is an original Apple one, but it sure looks like it from the photos (at my request, the seller took and sent me some extra photos that were not in the listing).

I won't do this, but I am pretty sure I could break the machine down for parts and make more than I have spent just by selling those parts. That is not my intent of course - this machine will likely become a build server. I am starting to help out with PPCPorts/MacPorts, and with some ports literally taking a dozen or more hours to build, having a dedicated build machine could be quite valuable.

I have exactly one monitor left, and lots of keyboards and mice... I can equip the machine nicely for the work.

Anyway, said machine is now "off the market". It is too bad... I can and will use it, but it would have been great for it to have been bought by someone just getting started in the PPC/Mac OS X arena - someone who needed the machine more than I do.

Oh well, another time. I will keep my eyes open, and if I see any others that I think are a good deal, I'll pass the news along.

 

[mac57mac57]

@originaldotexe, you are trying to SELL a G5 Quad? Why would you do such a thing? Hang on to the machine for another five to ten years. These machines are rare and getting rarer. You own the last and fastest of Apple's PowerPC lineup - you own a genuine piece of history. If nothing else, you can be very sure that it's value is only going to increase as time passes.

 

[originaldotexe]

@originaldotexe, you are trying to SELL a G5 Quad? Why would you do such a thing? Hang on to the machine for another five to ten years. These machines are rare and getting rarer. You own the last and fastest of Apple's PowerPC lineup - you own a genuine piece of history. If nothing else, you can be very sure that it's value is only going to increase as time passes.

its in rough shape and i dont really use it, i prefer the G4 instead.

 

[mac57mac57]

The G5 DP arrived two days ago, and I was able to unbox it and test it yesterday. It was beautifully packed and arrived with no damage. It started up right away and runs well. It is exceptionally quiet, which is a nice change from the near jet-engine roar that continues to characterize my work on LCS reconditioning for G5 Quads.

I am also delighted to say that this machine has the uber-rare Apple Runway card in it. This is the combined WiFi/Bluetooth card that is nearly impossible to find anymore. I suspect that this single card is worth more than I paid for the whole machine. It was also loaded with 12 GB of PC2-4200U RAM and a 320 GB HDD spinner.

My original plan for this machine was to extract some really valuable stuff, like the Runway card and 4 GB of the RAM, add those parts to one of my other machines and then use this one as a PPCPorts/MacPorts build server. However, with the ongoing lack of success I am experiencing in my G5 Quad LCS reconditioning work, I am inching ever closer to embracing full air cooling for my Quads. This new DP may just become a "donor system" for that. I can tear it down, extract the passive air coolers, and use them in the Quad. Not nearly as easily done as said, but now I have an excellent source of the necessary parts.

If I have to go to air cooling, this machine may prove to be very valuable indeed!

 

[jktwice]

The G5 DP arrived two days ago, and I was able to unbox it and test it yesterday. It was beautifully packed and arrived with no damage. It started up right away and runs well. It is exceptionally quiet, which is a nice change from the near jet-engine roar that continues to characterize my work on LCS reconditioning for G5 Quads.

I am also delighted to say that this machine has the uber-rare Apple Runway card in it. This is the combined WiFi/Bluetooth card that is nearly impossible to find anymore. I suspect that this single card is worth more than I paid for the whole machine. It was also loaded with 12 GB of PC2-4200U RAM and a 320 GB HDD spinner.

My original plan for this machine was to extract some really valuable stuff, like the Runway card and 4 GB of the RAM, add those parts to one of my other machines and then use this one as a PPCPorts/MacPorts build server. However, with the ongoing lack of success I am experiencing in my G5 Quad LCS reconditioning work, I am inching ever closer to embracing full air cooling for my Quads. This new DP may just become a "donor system" for that. I can tear it down, extract the passive air coolers, and use them in the Quad. Not nearly as easily done as said, but now I have an excellent source of the necessary parts.

If I have to go to air cooling, this machine may prove to be very valuable indeed!

I would also suggest using it in conjunction with your other machines, for when you get the Quad running satisfactorily, to do some kind of cluster compiling perhaps for MacPorts? It would probably be a real help having that kind of power for people trying to use new software on 10.6/10.5