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Got a PowerMac G5, how to speed it up

S

smc333

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 24, 2010
114
3
Boston, MA
Hi All,

I recently got a PowerMac G5 (Late 2005) as a supplemental backup for my 2011 MBP. The specs are:

2.0 GHz Dual Processor
2GB RAM
500 GB HDD
nVidia 6600/256mb VRAM
SuperDrive

I have it running Leopard Server, and it is super slow online. Does anyone have suggestions on how to make this machine run a little faster? I'd love to make it somewhat usable, even if it is only a backup computer.

Thanks!
 
smc333 said:
Hi All,

I recently got a PowerMac G5 (Late 2005) as a supplemental backup for my 2011 MBP. The specs are:

2.0 GHz Dual Processor
2GB RAM
500 GB HDD
nVidia 6600/256mb VRAM
SuperDrive

I have it running Leopard Server, and it is super slow online. Does anyone have suggestions on how to make this machine run a little faster? I'd love to make it somewhat usable, even if it is only a backup computer.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You do all the same things to PowerPC that you do to intel. Processor speed doensn't help online all that much.
 
GermanyChris said:
You do all the same things to PowerPC that you do to intel. Processor speed doensn't help online all that much.
Click to expand...

Oh I know, and so far, I really like the computer. I'm rocking it on an old school 4:3 LCD screen, and its working fairly well for most things, it just seems internet is slow. For some reason, AirPort is getting a terrible signal on here compared to my other machines. I guess I should just try a wired connection, eh?
 
smc333 said:
Oh I know, and so far, I really like the computer. I'm rocking it on an old school 4:3 LCD screen, and its working fairly well for most things, it just seems internet is slow. For some reason, AirPort is getting a terrible signal on here compared to my other machines. I guess I should just try a wired connection, eh?
Click to expand...

if your using wireless then you're on 802.11G not N..

Go in via ethernet
 
smc333 said:
Oh I know, and so far, I really like the computer. I'm rocking it on an old school 4:3 LCD screen, and its working fairly well for most things, it just seems internet is slow. For some reason, AirPort is getting a terrible signal on here compared to my other machines. I guess I should just try a wired connection, eh?
Click to expand...

Make sure you have the AirPort dongle plugged in the back as well as the internal card. Without the external antenna, AirPort is pretty much useless on the G5.

This could be the reason you're fine on ethernet but not so via AirPort.
 
Goftrey said:
Make sure you have the AirPort dongle plugged in the back as well as the internal card. Without the external antenna, AirPort is pretty much useless on the G5.

This could be the reason you're fine on ethernet but not so via AirPort.
Click to expand...

That must be it. I'm sure that dongle is long gone at this point for this machine, but thats OK, I can keep it wired. Thanks all for the help! This machine is surprisingly quick in pretty much everything I need it to do!
 
MacModMachine said:
actually processor matters online a lot , it processes all flash and java content, an old 500mhz G4 can barely browse modern webpages.
Click to expand...

but we're not talking about a 400mhz G4, we're talking about 2x2GHZ G5.

I have a list under my keyboard because I used to keep track of tabs and programs with percentage of processor used..
 
MacModMachine said:
actually processor matters online a lot , it processes all flash and java content, an old 500mhz G4 can barely browse modern webpages.
Click to expand...

Really? Come on... try harder... Web browsing requires NO power exept for flash, but flash is **** and I don't think flash is the most common thing on the web. I'd say HTML is.

On a 500 mhz G4, you can watch youtube in full screen, watch any DVDs, browse the web as you wish with pretty decent speed (not fast but decent).

Again and again and again... to all those of you "I buy new stuff and say old stuff is ***" guys... what makes the computer OK is the guy in front of the screen... A short google search will get you to learn about Tenfourfox (web browsing) and MacTubes (youtube obviously), and there you go, an old G4 turned to a cool web browsing station.

It seems everybody that moved on to newer hardware think people with older hardware still use the same old software they used themselves back in the day when they bought these old machines.
If you had jaguar or panther on your old mac back in the day... maybe its time to learn that nobody in his right mind would still use it on a ppc if he/she CAN upgrade. Same goes with too old web browsers and too old video players, etc.
 
Last edited:
smc333 said:
That must be it. I'm sure that dongle is long gone at this point for this machine, but thats OK, I can keep it wired. Thanks all for the help! This machine is surprisingly quick in pretty much everything I need it to do!
Click to expand...

Have you tried connecting the two ethernet ports to make an aggregated link? it is much faster...

Tried it and it works, make sure your switch or router supports aggregated link.
 
Goftrey said:
Make sure you have the AirPort dongle plugged in the back as well as the internal card. Without the external antenna, AirPort is pretty much useless on the G5.

This could be the reason you're fine on ethernet but not so via AirPort.
Click to expand...
The late 2005 PCIe G5's don't need those add on antennas. There is a single antenna built in for both Bluetooth and AirPort.
 
That is true, the late 2005 PM's don't have an external antennae.

I have tried using the airport card on my PMG5 but on 802.11g it is slow compared to the gigabit ethernet connection. What I did was to stick with ethernet and tried on the aggregated link to make use of both ethernet cards. It will only be faster as what your DSL speed can provide, but the bandwidth would be double compared to using one ethernet port.
 
Nameci said:
That is true, the late 2005 PM's don't have an external antennae.

I have tried using the airport card on my PMG5 but on 802.11g it is slow compared to the gigabit ethernet connection. What I did was to stick with ethernet and tried on the aggregated link to make use of both ethernet cards. It will only be faster as what your DSL speed can provide, but the bandwidth would be double compared to using one ethernet port.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking of slapping Tiger on it tonight, I read the 10.4.6 retail DVD should install on this model, which I happen to have. I will be getting a boxed retail DVD for Leopard down the road, which should work, as the current Leopard Server is apparently corrupted.
 
Nova77 said:
Really? Come on... try harder... Web browsing requires NO power exept for flash, but flash is **** and I don't think flash is the most common thing on the web. I'd say HTML is.
Click to expand...

I stopped using flash in god knows how long. I don't even have it installed on the Mac Pro. If I need it I'll load Chrome.

Again and again and again... to all those of you "I buy new stuff and say old stuff is ***" guys... what makes the computer OK is the guy in front of the screen... A short google search will get you to learn about Tenfourfox (web browsing) and MacTubes (youtube obviously), and there you go, an old G4 turned to a cool web browsing station.
Click to expand...

Speaking personally, I detest viewing videos outside of the browser. So Safari is tweaked a fair bit to my liking.

It seems everybody that moved on to newer hardware think people with older hardware still use the same old software they used themselves back in the day when they bought these old machines.
If you had jaguar or panther on your old mac back in the day... maybe its time to learn that nobody in his right mind would still use it on a ppc if he/she CAN upgrade. Same goes with too old web browsers and too old video players, etc.
Click to expand...

Hehe hehe hehe. Like politicians, they assume everyone is like them.

 
Nameci said:
Have you tried connecting the two ethernet ports to make an aggregated link? it is much faster...

Tried it and it works, make sure your switch or router supports aggregated link.
Click to expand...

How would a typical Internet connection (up to 100mbit) saturate a 1gbit connection and how should an aggregated link provide any speed up in this scenario? It's like saying "this program only needs 4gb of RAM but I have 8gb installed so it's double the speed"
 
It would not saturate, but at least you get double the band width. That is the way I understood it. Instead of one pipe that you get a trickle you have two pipes providing you the trickle.
 
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