So I've recently become interested in the PowerPC's, and the G5 in particular because of the way it looks like a Mac Pro, so cool! I see that these can be had for under $200, but they do have their fair share of problems, including the PSU and water-cooling leaks, not to mention the blown motherboards. I see one listed locally on craigslist for $150 that is 5 years old and has a blown logic board, I read online that the capacitors blow on these things and that the capacitors can be replaced instead of buying a new logic board for $$$$$! I really would like to play around with another back, even though I have a 2011 2.2 i7 at my disposal. Is there a buyers guide or anything I should look at when buying a G5? I looked into buying an early Mac Pro, but I have less than $200 to spend. What model should I look at? I want something air-cooled I believe, but I also want it to be quick, 2.3 Dual Core? I'll be doing some web browsing and light editing on the system if I buy one. What is the latest operating system that will work with a G5? Can you hack snow leopard onto it?
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I think I want a G5
- Thread starter Tydog07
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I feel you, and according to this forum, they really do suck, but I just like them for some reason. It'd be nice to have another intel mac, but they are too expensive for me right now.
dont believe everything you hear mate, ive had 5 PM G5's from all sorts of places and all sorts of specs, and NONE have died on me yet, not have i had any problems with any of them. I currently still own 2, and they are just going dandy.
I currently have a DC 2.3 and also a DP 2.7 both are going great. I also had a Quad G5 and didnt have any dramas with that one either.
I know the stats say otherwise, but you can get good PM G5 boxes.
Dont waste your time trying to fix a busted up one from CL, buy a good working one. Anyways, just my 5 cents.
Currently ripping "the Switch" on this PM DC that i am using as my main nerd box as i am typing this.
I currently have a DC 2.3 and also a DP 2.7 both are going great. I also had a Quad G5 and didnt have any dramas with that one either.
I know the stats say otherwise, but you can get good PM G5 boxes.
Dont waste your time trying to fix a busted up one from CL, buy a good working one. Anyways, just my 5 cents.
Currently ripping "the Switch" on this PM DC that i am using as my main nerd box as i am typing this.
I have a modified G5 and this beast is going strong. It is my main email, internet, youtube, movie, music and *old gaming* computer. Yes, old gaming meaning Diablo 2, Starcraft and such. Only thing i really had to do with this was swap out a bad power supply and trade up the dead liquid cooling for a couple of regular heatsinks.
You should be able to find a good working one in the $150-200 price range easily, as long as you stay with the 2.3ghz or less models. And by all means, avoid the liquid cooled versions, which are the ones above 2.3 ghz.
The 2.3ghz model had the fewest problems.
The 2.3ghz model had the fewest problems.
I recommend the air-cooled 2.3GHz dual core, not because of the speed or anything else, but because of the PCIe expansion slots. There are some on ebay that is declared as none working, as long as it boots to the folder icon you are good.
I do not want to offend anybody, but can't we just make a banner or a sticky on top of the PowerPC Forum that explains that its about complete different architecures? (Honestly, I am not saying this in a pissed manner)
I mean, you can't blame somebody for being uninformed, if he comes from an iphone or a PC an is quiet young, but it would save some space here in the forum.
I mean, you can't blame somebody for being uninformed, if he comes from an iphone or a PC an is quiet young, but it would save some space here in the forum.
What we all need to really do is start just posting url's to google.com and saying nothing else.
All the core PowerPC regulars here have already answered these questions a staggering amount of times. I have no interest in writing the same things over and over just because someone doesn't know how to search this forum or google. I'm sure the rest here don't want to either.
G5 iMac = AVOID. Bad capacitors on their logic boards.
Water cooled G5 Power Mac = AVOID. They leak.
The leaves the remaining G5 Power Macs. Some had bad logic boards, some had bad power supplies. If you can pick up a cheap working model now though, those problems SHOULD have shown themselves.
I just bought a dual 1.8GHz model, it works great, zero problems so far, but just because I know what problems other G5's have had back when they were released, I don't yet quite feel as confident of it as I did with my old G4.
Water cooled G5 Power Mac = AVOID. They leak.
The leaves the remaining G5 Power Macs. Some had bad logic boards, some had bad power supplies. If you can pick up a cheap working model now though, those problems SHOULD have shown themselves.
I just bought a dual 1.8GHz model, it works great, zero problems so far, but just because I know what problems other G5's have had back when they were released, I don't yet quite feel as confident of it as I did with my old G4.
Also for under $200 you should be able to get a WORKING model, don't waste your time with anything listed as faulty.
I'd also recommend you avoid the early single core single processor models (they are slower than the dual processor and dual core models, but probably cost about the same.)
Finally, for Leopard (Snow Leopard won't run), you want at least 1GB of RAM for things to rum smoothly. That's the bare minimum. If you can afford it, buy more RAM (4GB is probably the sweet spot for a G5.)
I'd also recommend you avoid the early single core single processor models (they are slower than the dual processor and dual core models, but probably cost about the same.)
Finally, for Leopard (Snow Leopard won't run), you want at least 1GB of RAM for things to rum smoothly. That's the bare minimum. If you can afford it, buy more RAM (4GB is probably the sweet spot for a G5.)
If you can get one for under $200 and it runs, then go for it.
Myself, the DP 2.5 GHz one i got had a minor leak issue and a clogged rad. that was the first one to get ripped apart and i was going to make the watercooling a little more modern. this machine cost me $20.
The second G5 i got my hands on was a problematic DP 2.0 GHz. this one cost me $125.
The issue i found out with the second one was the PSU was faulty.
so after some reading and such, i decided to combine the best of both machines to make a killer G5.
moved the good PSU to the 2 ghz model and moved the 2.5 ghz cpu's to the 2 ghz model. left the watercooling in the dust and used the heatsinks.
put in all the ram i could fine (3.5 gb) and my sata drives that were in my mdd and running an ati 9600 xt.
i have had no issues with this machine and she is purring along nicely like a kitten.
So if you want a G5 for nostalgic PPC programs, then go for it. If you want something a little newer, then i would say hold out for a cheap mac pro. unfortunately, from the prices i have seen, they are still asking for $1000 for a 2006 model.
Myself, the DP 2.5 GHz one i got had a minor leak issue and a clogged rad. that was the first one to get ripped apart and i was going to make the watercooling a little more modern. this machine cost me $20.
The second G5 i got my hands on was a problematic DP 2.0 GHz. this one cost me $125.
The issue i found out with the second one was the PSU was faulty.
so after some reading and such, i decided to combine the best of both machines to make a killer G5.
moved the good PSU to the 2 ghz model and moved the 2.5 ghz cpu's to the 2 ghz model. left the watercooling in the dust and used the heatsinks.
put in all the ram i could fine (3.5 gb) and my sata drives that were in my mdd and running an ati 9600 xt.
i have had no issues with this machine and she is purring along nicely like a kitten.
So if you want a G5 for nostalgic PPC programs, then go for it. If you want something a little newer, then i would say hold out for a cheap mac pro. unfortunately, from the prices i have seen, they are still asking for $1000 for a 2006 model.
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RD mate, did you have any issues using the 2.5ghz cpus on the 2.0ghz motherboard? I thought they were cpu specific even though the trays are the same??
Yup, I'll avoid the water-cooled G5's, it looks like the 2.3 is a popular choice, I'll start to keep my eye out.
Design is important to me, sorry, but it's true. I only asked if Snow Leopard could run on it because I did a google search and it didn't look like there was any support for it, so I just wanted to verify.
You couldn't have said it any better, I am uninformed about PowerPC's and the Apple/Mac history so I clicked on this forum in hopes of finding a few stickies about some information regarding the G5, I didn't see anything. I looked through the 3 pages of this sub-forum and then decided to make a new thread. This sub-forum is a little slow anyway, so I didn't think it would matter. I just wanted an answer, and I got it. Feel free to make a sticky, it would be immensily helpful.
Again, step up and write a sticky.
Yeah that is what I'm hearing, I can find a good running model for under $200, and I'll do a RAM upgrade so that Leopard will run smoothly. I'll try to find a 2.3ghz. I won't buy a single core processor. How do these machines run anyhow, do they run most app's and are smooth? Basic internet browsing, video editing, streaming HD video? Is there anything else that I should look into in the sub $350 range, a used mac mini perhaps?
Step up and make a sticky? You say that as if it's my responsibility to help you learn what you could just search the forums for and see the same help already given to others.
I don't mind helping people at all but not with things they could find out in a 5 sec google or forum search. People need to practice a certain level of self reliance.
People that resolve everything in life by simply asking others fill the world with redundancy.
I don't mind helping people at all but not with things they could find out in a 5 sec google or forum search. People need to practice a certain level of self reliance.
People that resolve everything in life by simply asking others fill the world with redundancy.
Streaming hd video is a no go on the g5. Anything else works fine. Try and get a pcie (not agp) pm g5 any of the dual core non water cooled models are great.
Might wanna add up the parts you'll be wanting to add to the base sale as you may find your looking at close to a Mac pro 1,1 when all tricked out.
Leopard goes for around 120us
You'll need a fast hard drive, ram
And if you play games, another hunge for a vid card.
Just do some basic sums first to know what you want.
Might wanna add up the parts you'll be wanting to add to the base sale as you may find your looking at close to a Mac pro 1,1 when all tricked out.
Leopard goes for around 120us
You'll need a fast hard drive, ram
And if you play games, another hunge for a vid card.
Just do some basic sums first to know what you want.
Sorry, why then are you asking for a mac mini????? IF you will be happy with a mini, then please buy an Intel mini. I am very sure you will be more confident with it.
Do you have enough "knowledge" to distinguish the 2,3GHz DP (Dual Processor) from the 2,3GHz DC (Dual Core)? If you stay with the G5 then search for the DC, but not all people on EBay say "DC", so you will have to know how to distinguish them.
You could have found this page, https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1091765/ (well somehow google found it in the archive, so it might not have shown up in this subforum, but Google would have found it "FAQ POWERMAC site:macrumors.com")
search the prices for ram first. Tiger is more efficient on PowerPCs, you can run Leopard, if you need a more modern internet support, but then again, if you need a more modern internet support, your better of with an Intel machine
Why bother? If you need HD-streaming and suggest yourself a mac mini, then go with Intel Mac mini.
If you are planing to buy a second graphics card, it will be more expensive and the price might justify a higher priced mac mini.
On PowerPC Macs you will have problems with watching youtube videos (240p is just working, but if you do not want to bother about work arounds, discussed on the forum, then it is easier to buy an Intel mac mini, that will play flash better).
ARE THERE ANY APPLICATIONS EXCLUSIVE FOR POWERPCs YOU WISH TO USE?
If you do not mind the risk of selling it again, then buy a G5 and try yourself, if it does, what you want. Maybe you will be happy, I do not know... If not, sell it and reinvest in an Intel mini.
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I did see that FAQ although it didn't resolve all my questions, I guess that a G5 won't do it for me then, I'll see if I can find one for cheap, but other than that, I'll stick with my Macbook Pro.
You are better off with your MBP... most people don't like PowerPC's because of a lot of reasons. We love them, and we find fun and enjoyment using these "old" tech than with the newer ones. If you are just a day to day user and not really inclined to knowing every bits and pieces of the PPC macs, then PPC macs are not for you, imho. Most may find it lacking the grunt and the speed, but hey it is "different".
Good way of explaining the PowerPC situation in the modern world.
I will do it through an analogy:
PowerPC Macs are to the computer world what classic cars are to car lovers. They can easily become a money pit and you need to know how to maintain their old parts. We use them out of nostalgia and because they really don't make them like that anymore.
The PowerPC era at Apple was one where the computers meant a lot more than they do now. Back when it mattered what hardware you have in it. That mentality is almost totally gone at Apple it seems. They just choose the fastest whatever now and worry later about how reliable it is.
PowerPC are not at all the right computer choice for someone that just wants a pretty computer to do modern net stuff.