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I found a PowerMac G4, and might want to buy it..

S

snaky69

macrumors 603
Original poster
Mar 14, 2008
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I was at university, paying a visit to my thermodynamics teacher when I noticed a PowerMac G4 500Mhz DP sitting collecting dust on top of a bookshelf. I am currently inquiring whether he is allowed to sell it, and whether it works or not.

I'm considering buying it if the price is right, maxing out the internal hard drive capacity, stick Tiger or Leopard on it, and essentially use it as a media server.

Am I being utterly foolish?
 
Aldaris said:
Nope, as long as the price is right you can do some serious media serving with it.
Click to expand...

I see OWC has the Dual 1.6Ghz upgrade for what I consider cheap for a vintage processor, would such an upgrade even be worthwhile?
 
snaky69 said:
I see OWC has the Dual 1.6Ghz upgrade for what I consider cheap for a vintage processor, would such an upgrade even be worthwhile?
Click to expand...
I considered it, and then realised that it was twice the price of a dual 1.8GHz G5 on eBay, so I went with the G5. If you've got he money though, the G4 upgrade should be more likely to be more reliable.
 
If this still has the original Rage 128, you'll want to upgrade that too if you plan to install Leopard and use it for anything other than a server. Anything that will give you hardware accelerated QE will make a HUGE difference. Leopard on a Rage 128 is really painful.
 
I have had great luck with my university's old Power Mac G4s, which range from the originals with 400 MHz CPUs to the MDD 2003 model. They're quite reliable, and still viable for regular use. If you can get a good price, go for it!
 
ThunderSnake said:
If this still has the original Rage 128, you'll want to upgrade that too if you plan to install Leopard and use it for anything other than a server. Anything that will give you hardware accelerated QE will make a HUGE difference. Leopard on a Rage 128 is really painful.
Click to expand...
True words, I've had Cover Flow fail to display or even crash because of it.
 
snaky69 said:
...I'm considering buying it if the price is right, maxing out the internal hard drive capacity, stick Tiger or Leopard on it, and essentially use it as a media server.

Am I being utterly foolish?
Click to expand...

Dunno.
Actually it's a thought I've played around with from time to time, considering that my "NAS" box (D-link DNS-323) Is hideously slow (avg. 14 MBps).

Problem is, the DNS-323 has an average energy consumption of 22 watts (measured), and any desktop-box -based media server would be faaaar in excess of that.

Even my current web server (iBook G3/500) gets by on 10 watts (average).

So the question is, for something running 24/7, but with sporadic usage (a few hours a day maybe), how much do you value its thriftiness?

Pekka
 
snaky69 said:
I see OWC has the Dual 1.6Ghz upgrade for what I consider cheap for a vintage processor, would such an upgrade even be worthwhile?
Click to expand...
Have the Bus in mind.
On my 1.25 ghz is the Bus by 167mhz,but on the 1Ghz is the Bus just 133ghz.
In that Case a 1.42 ghz CPU would just bring 1Ghz
I got a upgrade Processor on Ebay with around 900mhz.I think its for a 400 or 450 mhz Unit.I will check it out later,as i have to go out now.
Where are you about based? Just to find out how much were for postage
 
Found it :)

Its a CPU 900mhz with Heat Sink but without Fan,you may get for a few Pound
You need a 100mhz bus to run the 900mhz
 
Tyroler said:
Found it :)

Its a CPU 900mhz with Heat Sink but without Fan,you may get for a few Pound
You need a 100mhz bus to run the 900mhz
Click to expand...

I'll attempt to contact the teacher who owns the computer tomorrow.
 
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