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G5= worth it?

TheG3Guy

TheG3Guy

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 18, 2008
66
0
New Milford,CT
hey- sold my ibook g4 hopefully for about 350$. i am looking to have about 600$ in the end and hopefully i will be able to purchase a powermac g5 dual processor 1.8-2GHz. Hopefully over time it will get 8gb ram and a newer video card- is it worth it....besides the fact that I do not care that snow leopard requires intel..nor do I care about intel at the moment so all i need it to do is run leopard well...will it do it?
 
TheG3Guy said:
hey- sold my ibook g4 hopefully for about 350$. i am looking to have about 600$ in the end and hopefully i will be able to purchase a powermac g5 dual processor 1.8-2GHz. Hopefully over time it will get 8gb ram and a newer video card- is it worth it....besides the fact that I do not care that snow leopard requires intel..nor do I care about intel at the moment so all i need it to do is run leopard well...will it do it?
Click to expand...

It depends on your budget, if you can't pony up for the new Mac Pro the G5 could be a good buy. I have seen several tonight go for about $750.00 for a decent configuration. I'm also thinking of getting one to tinker with, good luck, if you're looking for speed the G5 will spank the previous machine you had but it won't get anywhere near what the Intel based machine can do.
 
17 imac

Refurbished iMac 17-inch 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Combo Drive 699 and you get a 1 year warranty with optional applecare. if you by a g5 and it craps out the next day your s.o.l.
 
OP: If you think you wont benefit from Snow Leopard then get the G5. If you might want that extra HD space or speed then I'd wait.
 
Looking at the Macs in your signature says that you don't really need a lot of power of the Intels but the G5 is probably more than enough for you and will serve you well. I'd find the dual-core version of at least 2.0ghz model though. My 1.8ghz only has 4 memory slots in it so I can only max it to 4gb so make sure you get one with 8 slots. It's a fast computer and is all I really need. I don't need to switch to Intel yet.

I don't see why many people need 8 cores to check their email and watch youtube videos :rolleyes:
 
An older G5 has a lot of benefits...

-Many easily replaced parts
-Can have 2 hard drives
-No built in screen to worry about
-Dedicated video cards
-Expansion slots
-Can be had relatively cheap

If its older then the late 2005 models like mine, they there are plenty of replacement parts too. So if you don't need much, the g5 is perfect. Its an awesome workstation for me.
 
given the rising electrical tariffs, i think it would be wise to factor in the time you intend to use/keep the G5, we all know that the G5 is rather power hungry. intel ones are apparently better optimized in regulating the power.

so you really ought to weigh the factors carefully.

p.s. i'm looking out for a G5 too, simply because i love the design very much. i kinda skipped the G5 era because i was holding out for a more optimized G5 ... next thing i knew, to get a brand new spanking mac from Apple direct --- an intel within ... ...
 
yes i would love to get the intel mac...but i really am not able to get the cash because I told myself I wasnt going to spend too much. I am generally going to use it for heavy internet stuff and maybe some light gaming. Im guessing if i do go with the G5 the 2GHz dual would be the best. As it does support 8GB. I dont know i kindof wanted a tower but the screen in the intel imacs or imac g5's are nice
 
TheG3Guy said:
yes i would love to get the intel mac...but i really am not able to get the cash because I told myself I wasnt going to spend too much. I am generally going to use it for heavy internet stuff and maybe some light gaming. Im guessing if i do go with the G5 the 2GHz dual would be the best. As it does support 8GB. I dont know i kindof wanted a tower but the screen in the intel imacs or imac g5's are nice
Click to expand...

As long as you arent doing any HD video viewing (HD flash included), you will be ok. SD video stretched to large resolutions works fine, but full screen HD videos tend to choke or be choppy.
 
These are more accurate information ...

zmttoxics said:
As long as you arent doing any HD video viewing (HD flash included), you will be ok. SD video stretched to large resolutions works fine, but full screen HD videos tend to choke or be choppy.
Click to expand...
i'm not entirely sure which G5s you are referring to (or where you gotten that impressions) with respect to your above comments. what i've to say is ...

ok why not let Apple do the talking.
The advanced H.264 codec makes it possible for QuickTime 7 to play back high-definition video on a personal computer without additional hardware required. However, you’ll still need a G5 or equivalent Windows system to display so much media.
Click to expand...

isn't it interesting and ironical that Apple's site bears no references to the newer intel macs. well, one might say that "equivalent Windows system" implies intel macs. on a more personal note, i vouch that the G5s (in particular the first generation dual 2ghz, since i had hands on experiences with that model) are extremely powerful machines. they may not be faster than the current intel macs (in general) in most of today's tasks, but i can assure you that they are able to hold their own with regards to HD playback.

the technical specs (condensed version), again, i shall let the :apple: talk
720p:
• 1.8 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer; 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo or faster
• At least 256MB of RAM
• 64 MB or greater video card

1080p:
• Dual 2.0 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer; 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo or faster
• At least 512MB of RAM
• 128MB or greater video card
Click to expand...


For more details, refer to the below links.
- http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/
- http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/recommendations.html
 
iamcheerful said:
i'm not entirely sure which G5s you are referring to (or where you gotten that impressions) with respect to your above comments. what i've to say is ...

ok why not let Apple do the talking.


isn't it interesting and ironical that Apple's site bears no references to the newer intel macs. well, one might say that "equivalent Windows system" implies intel macs. on a more personal note, i vouch that the G5s (in particular the first generation dual 2ghz, since i had hands on experiences with that model) are extremely powerful machines. they may not be faster than the current intel macs (in general) in most of today's tasks, but i can assure you that they are able to hold their own with regards to HD playback.

the technical specs (condensed version), again, i shall let the :apple: talk



For more details, refer to the below links.
- http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/
- http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/recommendations.html
Click to expand...

Interesting because my late 2005 2.0 G5 chokes (only in Quicktime, VLC works fine) and there are plenty of threads on this forum with issues.
 
I can stream 720p trailers from apple.com with no problems on my dual 1.8 with an unheard of 1.25gb ram. No hickups or anything. I streamed 1080p too but my monitor is only 1280x1024 so I can't display it full screen but seems to play it with no problems.... :D
 
zmttoxics, now i understand why you shared with us that the G5 chokes on HD clips.

i guess it is situational. there're 2 typical analysis i like to apply
a) the practical real-world tests (both subjectively and objectively)
b) the typical benchmarks

wrt the real-world, certainly the intel ones would be preferred assuming cost isn't a factor (irony eh? in the real world, money is almost always an issue)

isn't this one of the crucial points brought up by TheG3Guy?

wrt typical benchmarks, using the above QT HD as an example. this is what i'll suggest you try ...

complete stock setup of your G5, i.e. factory settings. then try playing the HD clips. let us know how it performs. compare the performance to other machines (again, stock config) you would like to test.

keep us in the loop on how your G5 stacks in the category of HD playback.
 
TheG3Guy said:
yes i would love to get the intel mac...but i really am not able to get the cash because I told myself I wasnt going to spend too much. I am generally going to use it for heavy internet stuff and maybe some light gaming. Im guessing if i do go with the G5 the 2GHz dual would be the best. As it does support 8GB. I dont know i kindof wanted a tower but the screen in the intel imacs or imac g5's are nice
Click to expand...

Stop telling yourself things that limit your purchase options! :D
 
i dont know though...because i just looked on ebay and i can even get a macbook 2ghz for 600 now. I also will not be playing HD, i think sd dvds on computers look fine enough. A macbook with a 2ghz core duo or core 2 duo would be ok? or not...i cant decide g5 or macbook
 
TheG3Guy said:
i dont know though...because i just looked on ebay and i can even get a macbook 2ghz for 600 now. I also will not be playing HD, i think sd dvds on computers look fine enough. A macbook with a 2ghz core duo or core 2 duo would be ok? or not...i cant decide g5 or macbook
Click to expand...

Great time to buy a Macbook. Everyone wants to upgrade so the old models are super cheap.
 
G5's are still great machines!

Thats a deal.

I sold my Dual 2.7 G5 for some uber-cash.

Bought a base model Octo-core Mac Pro with the money. (with corporate discount)
 
Honestly, I would go for a macbook.
I had a G5 myself once upon a time, until l sold it and an ibook to pick up a MBP, and while they're certainly fast machines, the Intel Macs run circles around anything less than a 2.5, which are still pretty expensive since there are pros around who still need PPC.

Unless there are specific reasons you need a tower (ludicrous amounts of ram, hard drive space, PCI cards are the only ones that come to mind) you'd likely be happier with a faster computer that you can close the lid on and take with you.
 
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