G5 Rev .B Changes I would like to see

[adamfilip]

My recommendations to overhaul the G5:
remove the AtA interface.. make the Superdrive SATA like the hard drives. this should reduce manufacuring costs as it removes the P-ATA controller. ,
(no more legacy interfaces.)

replace the SATA controller with an updated one that can support Hardware Raid

Add one more hard drive bay
optional 2nd optical drive bay
make the current superdrive , slot loading

Powered Mic port on the front
2nd USB2 port on front
2 more USB2 ports on back
1 more Firewire 400 port on back

Firewire 800 port on front

PCI-X for future Graphics cards

personally i wish the apple logo on the side of the case was lit like the way the powerbooks are. with a way to control the brightness in the control panel.

Built in Bluetooth. as standard on all models.

i think to make it more streamlines. they should be able to have one large heatsink to cover both processors. might not look as cool but would save room. for the needed optical and hard drive bays

I like the look and size of the G5
Just my opinion

 

[thehuncamunca]

great ideas, shouldn't add a significant amount of cost either
i was suprised that apple opted for so few ports on the G5 when most PC's have 8USB ports
a price cut would also be in order, especially if apple can't increase the processor speed significantly

My recommendations to overhaul the G5:
remove the AtA interface.. make the Superdrive SATA like the hard drives. this should reduce manufacuring costs as it removes the P-ATA controller. ,
(no more legacy interfaces.)

replace the SATA controller with an updated one that can support Hardware Raid

Add one more hard drive bay
optional 2nd optical drive bay
make the current superdrive , slot loading

Powered Mic port on the front
2nd USB2 port on front
2 more USB2 ports on back
1 more Firewire 400 port on back

Firewire 800 port on front

PCI-X for future Graphics cards

personally i wish the apple logo on the side of the case was lit like the way the powerbooks are. with a way to control the brightness in the control panel.

Built in Bluetooth. as standard on all models.

i think to make it more streamlines. they should be able to have one large heatsink to cover both processors. might not look as cool but would save room. for the needed optical and hard drive bays

I like the look and size of the G5
Just my opinion

 

[Counterfit]

My recommendations to overhaul the G5:
remove the AtA interface.. make the Superdrive SATA like the hard drives. this should reduce manufacuring costs as it removes the P-ATA controller. ,
(no more legacy interfaces.)

Does anyone even make an SATA optical drive?

replace the SATA controller with an updated one that can support Hardware Raid

But that would mean one less reason to buy an XServe

Add one more hard drive bay
optional 2nd optical drive bay
make the current superdrive , slot loading

Yes to more drives, but only if it doesn't make the case any bigger (tooling costs are a factor in price too you know ). BIG ASSED NO to slot loading. It works for laptops, one less thing to break, but not on desktops.
[quote[Powered Mic port on the front
2nd USB2 port on front
2 more USB2 ports on back
1 more Firewire 400 port on back[/quote] Ports on back: yes
Ports on front: only if it doesn't look like **** like so many PC cases

Firewire 800 port on front

I suppose...

PCI-X for future Graphics cards

I think you mean PCI Express, because the G5 already has PCI-X...

personally i wish the apple logo on the side of the case was lit like the way the powerbooks are. with a way to control the brightness in the control panel.

Yeah it would be cool, but a massive PITA to manufacture.

Built in Bluetooth. as standard on all models.

Yes!

i think to make it more streamlines. they should be able to have one large heatsink to cover both processors. might not look as cool but would save room. for the needed optical and hard drive bays

I don't think that would work...

I like the look and size of the G5
Just my opinion

Same here

 

[Bigheadache]

SOme of those suggestions are nice, but i think alot of people on this forum continually forget that Apple does not control commodity parts like Superdrives and hard disks and graphics cards. That means, no point making the Superdrive connection SATA if Sony and Pioneer don't make a SATA version of the drive yet.

 

[adamfilip]

Ive heard that MSi and Plextor both have SATA DVD writers in the pipeline and that means that Sony and Pioneer are probably on the same path

 

[Steven1621]

how about more than 256 MB of ram standard on the lower model. no mac should be shipping with less than 512 MB. i would always say that all models should come standard with the 128 MB ATI card. 8X or 10X SD's as well.

 

[Crikey]

I like a lot of the suggestions. I want at least one more hard drive bay and a second optical drive slot. With all Apple's vaunted thermal engineering, though, I doubt they'll revise the case to make those possible, but they are my #1 most wanted changes.

I think the cost of including the parallel-ATA ports on the logic board is well under $1, and as mentioned no one is shipping an SATA DVD burner yet, so I don't see a pressing need to migrate to 100% SATA.

More USB and FireWire ports are always good. My G4 has 4 FireWire ports, 2 USB 1.1 ports, and 3 USB 2.0 ports, and they're all full. Hmm, does anyone make a PCI card with additional FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 ports that is compatible with the G5s? I'll need one of those or some powered hubs as soon as I upgrade.

As for RAM, yes you should upgrade it as soon as you get your box, but Apple is famous for charging a lot for RAM. I'd rather pay less for the system and buy the amount of RAM *I* want. It would suck to have to pull DIMMs I paid Apple prices for out of the box in order to put in my 512MB/1GB upgrade DIMMs. Less of an issue now, since I hear the G5s have a lot more DIMM slots than the G4s did.

Crikey

 

[g30ffr3y]

i would like to see most of those changes... im sure
most of us would... anything faster, better and cheaper
is always welcome...

but the light up apple on the side would be HOT!!!!!!!!
[i love it on my tibook... it adds a little flair... heck...
it adds a ****eload of flair... more than 37 pieces : ) ]

apple... you do want to express yourself, dont you???

 

[Koodauw]

I hear where your coming from. I would like to see most of these as well.
Although I would have to disagree with all the ports on the front. While i would love the functionality of them, I like the clean/ streamline front as it is now. A lot of ports on the front would make for cluter IMO. Oh yes, and don't forget the most important thing. A SPEED BUMP!

 

[Mantat]

Sorry but you are asking for useless feature, my favorite being the SATA drive. I guess that you know that current IDE conection arent saturated by even the fastest DVD drive? Using a SATA would drasticaly increase the cost of the drive since they cost about 200 euro if I remember right...

Why on eath do you want so many USB slots? You would have to add more buses or they would saturate quickly, hence a increase in cost.

Has for adding bays, why? Mass storage should be done with a X-Serve Raid, not a PM G5.

Personnaly, I think they should just ix all the current glitch, up the CPU and use the latest and greatest video card. Board revision should only be done on the next rev, not now..

 

[wdlove]

I agree with others, the current case is awesome no changes needed. Then should have at least 512 RAM standard. The higher end should be 1 gig.

 

[brhmac]

Agreed

Nice suggestions. I especially agree with increased ram (512 mb should be minimum for a G5) and I think both Bluetooth and Airport Extreme should be standard. These items alone, IMO, would bring some needed value-add to the G5 line.

 

[Mav451]

Considering its been nearly a year, I would thinking the the motherboard, firmware (BIOS-equivalent) should be already updated, no questions asked. See how many motherboard makers in the PC world get away without revising their chipsets (Asus, Abit, Gigabyte, MSI, Epox)...none--they all update them constantly.

Asus went through 4 revisions to get to nForce2 Ultra 400 (basically guarantees overclocking over 210fsb). Abit went from NF7-S 1.0, to 1.2, and 2.0, overclocking potential DRAMATICALLY increasing, stability, memory support, maturity of SATA native support, etc. etc.

If anything at all, the PSU chirping, audio issues aside, I'm sure the firmware can be tweaked for additional stability, overall design tweaks, updated firmware can also allow increased memory support too. Memory suport is pretty important b/c with an updated firmware, it would be less fidgety with memory, meaning less hard locks/KP's/what have you.

USB Ports and all, my case, Blue Antec Dragon AX01BLD (basic blue Alienware look-alike from 1999-2000), has 2 USB ports, 1 Firewire. That is enough for me, and b/c its only 3 ports, that means it can be safely covered by a lil pop-up latch.