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How come there's no G5 CPU upgrades?
- Thread starter Tilmitt
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Mostly because the architecture of the G5 based Macs is completely different from the G3 and G4. This makes it nearly impossible for a G5 to go in a G3 or G4 based Mac. The chipsets are completely different, the requirements of the buses on the G3 and G4 Macs aren't there. Its like trying to stick a Pentium IV in a Pentium III motherboard. It just won't work. Another very biggy, is the cooling required for the G5. G5's create a tremendous amount of heat. Someone would have to design a helluva a cooling system to go with the G5. The power requirements are different for the logicboard as well. So as you can see EVERYTHING is different with G5 processors.
I don't think you'll see G5 upgrades for G5 based Macs for a while either for other various reasons.
I don't think you'll see G5 upgrades for G5 based Macs for a while either for other various reasons.
mklos said:
Yeah but no but yeah...... Sorry I turned into Vicki Pollard there for a moment.
Why dont they offer an upgrade from say my dual 1.8 to a dual 2.5 or 2.7??? Surely this would be possible
You would have to recalibrate the cooling system for as faster processor. The sensors and cooling setup is specifically set for the CPU speed that it ships with. Also, 2.7 GHz, 2.3 GHz (non dual core), and 2.5 GHz PowerMacs are liquid cooled in addition to air cooled, which isn't on the PowerMac you have. So basically cooling is a major issue again. Also, the FSB is different along with the power requirements.
The reason is simple. Owing to the heat generated by the PPC 970, each processor must be matched to its cooling system and sold as a unit. This unit would then have to fit inside the case of the Mac you want to upgrade. There is not the space available to fit the processor/cooling system unit inside Mac cases that were not designed for them.Tilmitt said:
The G5s debut at 2.0 vs todays 2.5 hasnt led to enough progress for anyone to upgrade plus apple wants you to buy new machines not update that old one. I dont think we will ever see a G5 upgrade period.
Ten years ago, nobody ever thought a G3 would ever end up in a NuBus Power Mac.
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/crescendo_nubus.html
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/crescendo_nubus.html
aquajet said:
Well it STILL will never be possible for the following reasons:
1. COOLING!! (Major problem with G5's)
2. Power Requirements
3. Completely different architecture
G3's didn't create much heat at all, heck Apple even made Macs with no fans using G3 processors. They also didn't require a lot of power to run. The architecture wasn't very different from the old PPC CPUs to the G3.
The G3 and G4 are as simple to work with as a lawnmower engine.
The G5 is so complex it require another PPC processor acting service processor to come up to a stable clock, and about 6 months of training for somebody to be able to learn to do it on their own.
It's not a simple thing that someone can "tinker" with -- the complexity of the G5 has sent people interesting in using it running screaming in the other direction.
Thus the sweet new processor aimed at stealing the G4's marketshare as an embedded processor became a highly complex and technical flop.
The G5 is so complex it require another PPC processor acting service processor to come up to a stable clock, and about 6 months of training for somebody to be able to learn to do it on their own.
It's not a simple thing that someone can "tinker" with -- the complexity of the G5 has sent people interesting in using it running screaming in the other direction.
Thus the sweet new processor aimed at stealing the G4's marketshare as an embedded processor became a highly complex and technical flop.
I'm not going to say there will never be a G5 retrofit for G4 towers or older G5s, but it seems unlikely.
The biggest stumbling block is the G4. It is still relevent - and new, faster Freescale PPC 74xx chips will be available to upgrade manufacturers for awhile.
It would be better to put a 2.0+GHz G4 (or even a dual core G4) in a G4 mac than try to stuff a G5 in.
As for putting faster G5 CPUs into older G5 towers, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point companies like Sonnet or Powerlogix develop their own G5 upgrades for the G5 towers. But it will probably be a few years yet - after the Intel transition is complete
The biggest stumbling block is the G4. It is still relevent - and new, faster Freescale PPC 74xx chips will be available to upgrade manufacturers for awhile.
It would be better to put a 2.0+GHz G4 (or even a dual core G4) in a G4 mac than try to stuff a G5 in.
As for putting faster G5 CPUs into older G5 towers, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point companies like Sonnet or Powerlogix develop their own G5 upgrades for the G5 towers. But it will probably be a few years yet - after the Intel transition is complete
Dont Hurt Me said:
You're a troll. I've seen countless other posts you've made, you think of anything you can and just slap a load of generalisations to try and make PowerPC look bad. You actually do your own cause a disservice because the crap you come out with just makes people think "what a retard, whatever side he's on I don't want to be associated with that". If you want to get into a flamewar with me here, I'll be MORE than happy to oblige you and take apart Intel and x86.
Anyway about the G5's. Yes I knew that it very unlikely to see a G5 is a G4 PowerMac, I just meant getting G5 upgrades for current G5 Macs. Also the G5 puts out less heat than a P4. The watercooling is to avoid having loud fans on the PowerMac, it's not actually nesscessary. I think this has created a misconception that the G5 is some sort of freakishly hot CPU. The P4 is worse.
Name calling? what are you six years old? Most likely I have been using Macs longer then you have been alive. I have owned 5 Macs how about you? Yes the G5 is a heat monster thats why it never made it into a book,Yes its a heat monster thats why the auto radiator inside so they could bump up those clocks. I doubt very much there will ever be a G5 upgrade because IBM isnt going to be making that chip anymore when apple jumps ships. Yes i use Pcs and Macs and my Athlon64 powered Alienware can wipe the floor with any Mac made in Gaming even the new Quad. Fact is PPC never lived up to the spin. For work PPCs are great but for gaming they suck. Apple going Intel is something they should have done 10 years ago and yes i was using a Mac then how about you hot dog.
Tilmitt said:
I am not sure that is true. Have you seen the Intel developer boxes that Apple has issued? There is a P4 ( i think it is a 3.5Ghz??) and it only has a tiny fan on the CPU, with a small heatsink. The G5 case that it comes in looks very empty inside.
And, just a side note... I agree with Dont Hurt Me's post, and I found it simple and to the point. Have you ever used a Dual 1.8Ghz G5 next to a 2.7? Honestly, it is hard to tell the difference unless you are REALLY crunching numbers (Yes, gaming included... but only to a degree). I wouldn't spend over $500 to upgrade my Dual 2.0 to anything more (and I game with it a lot).
Which brings me to another issue... pricing. Instead of a single processor module with 2 processors on it like the dual G4's, the dual G5's actually have 2 separate modules. You would have to upgrade both, at the same time, and the heatsinks too since they don't detach. More materials= higher cost of the upgrade "kit" (if there were one). I just think it would be a whole lot of money for a small gain. We may still see them in the future, but they will be pricey.
im gonna agree with most of your here, i dont beleive there will be a g5 upgrade ever made for any g4 based mac. however i beleive that somewhere down the road a 3rd party company will develop a g5 upgrade for older g5 towers. but only time will tell
Dont Hurt Me said:
Uh, sure, like the porting process of games and all the inefficiencies that typically introduces has nothing to do with less performance...right. So it's got to be the hardware. Right.
Er, not. If PPC is great for work, then it's great for games. Software is software. Games written specifically for PPC work great on PPC. All game consoles use PPC now, all of them. Think about it.
--Eric