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I got a G5 Quad :) So now I have to figure out stuff about it.

N

NaiGuy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 25, 2012
26
0
After a long debate on weather or not I should get it, I got myself a Power Mac G5 Quad Core. So far it has been a great machine and served me well, even thought I've only used it for a day now.

My biggest issue when considering getting one was the liquid cooling system, I need to find info on how to maintain it and keep in check, any information would be appreciated. Most things I can find are for the Dual 2.5 and 2.7 cooling systems, not the quads thought I assume they may still be correct for the quad I don't want to take chances.

I have all my daily tasks covered, but would like some games for my freetime, but outside of emulation idk what to install, how about some ideas?

Is it worthwhile to upgrade it? If so, where are my limits with video cards?

Can I multi-boot? I want to run linux on this machine as well, but I don't know how well its supported on Liquid Cooling G5s, yet alone G5s in general. I would also like to play around with other OSes like Morph OS, which I have never messed with at all and I'm not positive support multi-booting.

Thats all I can think of for now, thanks for the help in advance :).
 
1. Games (my G5 Quad games):
- Unreal Tournament
- Quake III Arena
- Colin McRae Rally 2004
- C&C Generals and Zero Hour addon
- Warcraft III
- Bejweled 2

2. Cooling system:
Check which LCS do you have. There are two models fro G5 Quad: Single pump Delphi (more reliable) and dual pump Delphi (branded) Cooligy (less reliable).First sign for LCS problems are 10+ C temp differences between CPUs. Reason for that can be leaking, pump weared out or not enough liquid. Best replacement for the Quad G5 pumps is the Laing DDC-3.2. The DDC-2 pumps are also compatible, but are not as reliable as 3.2. Laing DDC-1T/1Tplus and Swiftech MCP350/355 are incompatible with the Power Mac G5 Quad.


Very good LCS thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1229554/

Single pump LCS repair logs:
http://www.saunalahti.fi/~holindho/g5-quad-v1-lcs-repair.html

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/G5_CoolantLeak_Repair/G5_CoolantLeak_Repair_p1.html#storytop

Pumps:
http://bmaverickddcpumps.wordpress.com/buy-ddc-pumps-here/

Reliability charts:
http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/pmg5.html

3. Upgrade, of course, two WD black in RAID0 for example, 8+ GB of RAM and GF7800 GTX or Quadro FX 4500. If you are gamer, than GTX.

Graphics upgrades:
http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/71BBF3EF-9713-4C53-8B80-26771F8A4087.html

4. About dual boot, you need to do some reading:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCFAQ
 
Last edited:
NaiGuy said:
After a long debate on weather or not I should get it, I got myself a Power Mac G5 Quad Core. So far it has been a great machine and served me well, even thought I've only used it for a day now.

My biggest issue when considering getting one was the liquid cooling system, I need to find info on how to maintain it and keep in check, any information would be appreciated. Most things I can find are for the Dual 2.5 and 2.7 cooling systems, not the quads thought I assume they may still be correct for the quad I don't want to take chances.

I have all my daily tasks covered, but would like some games for my freetime, but outside of emulation idk what to install, how about some ideas?

Is it worthwhile to upgrade it? If so, where are my limits with video cards?

Can I multi-boot? I want to run linux on this machine as well, but I don't know how well its supported on Liquid Cooling G5s, yet alone G5s in general. I would also like to play around with other OSes like Morph OS, which I have never messed with at all and I'm not positive support multi-booting.

Thats all I can think of for now, thanks for the help in advance :).
Click to expand...

I sold my quad and now I miss the heck out of it, do what you need to do to keep your's alive..
 
NaiGuy said:
After a long debate on weather or not I should get it, I got myself a Power Mac G5 Quad Core. So far it has been a great machine and served me well, even thought I've only used it for a day now.

My biggest issue when considering getting one was the liquid cooling system, I need to find info on how to maintain it and keep in check, any information would be appreciated. Most things I can find are for the Dual 2.5 and 2.7 cooling systems, not the quads thought I assume they may still be correct for the quad I don't want to take chances.

I have all my daily tasks covered, but would like some games for my freetime, but outside of emulation idk what to install, how about some ideas?

Is it worthwhile to upgrade it? If so, where are my limits with video cards?

Can I multi-boot? I want to run linux on this machine as well, but I don't know how well its supported on Liquid Cooling G5s, yet alone G5s in general. I would also like to play around with other OSes like Morph OS, which I have never messed with at all and I'm not positive support multi-booting.

Thats all I can think of for now, thanks for the help in advance :).
Click to expand...

Bold.
Won't work.

Hardware Compatibility

On this page, you find a list of hardware that is directly supported by MorphOS 3.x.

Computers

Apple eMac*
Apple Mac Mini G4
Apple PowerBook G4***
Apple PowerMac G4**
Genesi Efika Open Client
Genesi Open Desktop Workstation
Important: Please make sure that your pre-assembled computer was configured to include one of the supported graphics card as listed below. Mac Mini owners must only ensure that their computer includes a G4 processor.

* - Only 1.25 Ghz and 1.42 Ghz eMac models are supported.

* * - NVIDIA GeForce2 MX and NVIDIA GeForce4 MX/Titanium cards found in some PowerMac3,x models are not supported. Also, audio is currently only supported for PowerMac3,4 to 3,6 models.

* * * - Only the two latest revisions clocked at 1.67GHz are supported at the moment, which includes the models PowerBook5,6 to 5,9, both 15'' and 17'' screens. The 1.5GHz PowerBook5,6 will also work but be careful not to confuse it with PowerBook5,4 which may have almost identical specifications.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for all the info, Its good to know I didn't waste my time trying install morph OS on the G5 :p I guess that's a new use for my G4 then.
 
Looks like my model has the dual pump setup. Everything else looks good for the moment however.
 
Second

the MorphOS comment "won't work". MorphOS only works on a select few PowerPC macs,
Mac Mini's, eMacs, G4 towers and a VERY small number of Powerbooks. Make sure your G4 can support it, unlike Linux MorphOS is not OpenSource and not free, you will have to fork out some cash for the privelege of running an Amiga like OS is 2013.

Your Quad G5 is a very powerful computer. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Leopard will run extremely well as will many Linux distros. With some tweaking of course, it is Linux after all.
 
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