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Improving the PowerMac G5

W

will

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 29, 2002
179
0
I know we've only recently seen an update in the G5, but that was only a processor bump. If we ignore faster and dual core processors, which features would you like to see added to the PM G5?

My suggestions:

* Support for PCI Express
* Standard motherboard acorss the line (8 memory slots)
* A second external (optical) drive bay
* Bluetooth as standard
* 128M dual DVI graphics card as standard
* Support for professional graphics cards, e.g. FireGL and Quadro FX (yeah, sort of an OS thing, but it is hardware)

Hmmm, can't think of anything particularly exciting, which suggests it's already pretty good, anyone got any better, more innovative ideas?
 
*pci express? ok lets go for it, in the end its the future...
*8 ram slots, indeed why not its the high end series...
*I think you mean INTERNAL (optical) drive bay... well I see no real need for that... but than I never need to copy from one drive onto another one...
*bluetooth, why not... even AirportExtreme would be nice to add as standard to the 'Power' series like it is on the laptops
*dual DVI sure, since the Apple Displays are returning from ADC to DVI ditch the ADC... and add one DVI->ADC convertor standard for those who are in need of it
*that depends on the manufacturers of those cards I guess...


what I would like is to see BTO options like Raptor 10.000RPM drives and/or 400GB SATA drives
and maybe a 2nd SATA controller and 2 more bays... (for instance boot from a raided WD raptor setup and have a second raided setup for storage with 400GB drives...)

I know get the G5Jam or the setup from ProMax...

for the rest I'm quite happy with the deal they did with the 'old' G5's... I have a REV A dual 1.8 and I was dreaming of the speed increase a Raided setup of 2 WD Raptors would do on mine...
 
The power supply unit is by far the weakest link in the chain. I've heard of, and also experienced some of them, many problems involving the PSU. These include: clicking, chirping and ticking, along with fans not operating and humming noises.
 
What I'd add:
1. 4 hard drive places with 4 SATA ports
2. Hardware RAID support with at least 0, maybe 5 over SATA (maybe with the ability to choose which SATA's are in, the rest function as normal ports)
3. PCI-Express
4. External SATA ports, possibly linked to 3/4 internals (have it auto-sensing internal vs external for added awesomeness)
5. More than 3 PCI ports for god's sake, preferably 5 (or 4 with enough space to fit the 6800 + 4 PCI's)

#5 is my biggest concern, as when I get my 6800 (IF I get my 6800), I'll be down to 2 PCI's which is a total crock of sh_zzel. It's like I'm back on my Performa 6400/200 again!
 
Don't know if Apple is likely to change the KeyLargo2 I/O chip too much, the original chip came out in 1999 and died recently with the PowerMac G4 and SDR eMac (it stayed around a very long time).

Plus it's also a key part of the XServe design.

However, Apple still needs to drop the U3 to 90nm and update the other I/O (Memory/video/PCI slots).

When AMD announces a PCI-Express HT Bus Tunnel, expect Apple to add a PCI-Express expansion slot to the machine.

As soon as Apple drops the Memory Controller to 90nm expect DDR2 (with ECC capability for the XServe) and a PCI-Express video slot.

IF we are lucky may also see Apple add the Broadcom 10-Gigabit ethernet chip to the HT-PCI bus.
 
how about 512MB of memory standard on the low end powermac G5?
you pay 2000+ bucks for a computer, and only 256MB is standard?

more optical drives/HD bays are needed, a few more graphics options, and a couple more USB ports too
 
I would like to see built in Bluetooth, larger HD, more memory, and a dream dual core dual G5.
 
tateusmaximus said:
i would definately say a second optical drive for sure!

i cant believe what you guys have to go through to burn a cd!
Click to expand...
Believe me, burning a CD on Mac OS X isn't as bad as it sounds. It's just time-consuming - that's all.

I like the PowerMac G5s the way they are. The only reason I could think of for having two optical drives is having one a fast CD burner and the other a fast DVD burner to eliminate the slowdown in combination CD/DVD burning drives. My reasoning is that if I was to buy one with the features you mentioned, 80-90% of them would be used very little or not at all.
 
tateusmaximus said:
i would definately say a second optical drive for sure!

i cant believe what you guys have to go through to burn a cd!
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about this. How would make a dupliciate audio CD that is NOT digital (mp3, AAC, etc). I know on a PC with dual drives you just make a duplicate of the CD, but how do you do it on a Mac without making the files digital (not sure if CDs are already "digital", im not a music/sound pro ;))
 
hmmmz why does the logo of compact disc states Digital Audio if it would be analog??

and why would anyone bother to add a D/A convertor in them so you could get sound out of the ANALOG Cinch connectors??

just think about the logic in your question first :-D
 
tech4all said:
I've been thinking about this. How would make a dupliciate audio CD that is NOT digital (mp3, AAC, etc). I know on a PC with dual drives you just make a duplicate of the CD, but how do you do it on a Mac without making the files digital (not sure if CDs are already "digital", im not a music/sound pro ;))
Click to expand...
Just import the audio CD tracks as AIFF or WAV so you don't lose any sound quality, then burn those AIFF/WAV files to another CD after ejecting the first one. If you don't want to keep the AIFF/WAV files, you can delete or convert them as appropriate.
 
Jo-Kun said:
hmmmz why does the logo of compact disc states Digital Audio if it would be analog??

and why would anyone bother to add a D/A convertor in them so you could get sound out of the ANALOG Cinch connectors??

just think about the logic in your question first :-D
Click to expand...

Guess that was for me.

Like I said, I'm not an expert on this, so what I said was probably not logical. But I know some CD players can't play mp3 files and such. All I want to know is how do you have it to where the CD can play on a 'non mp3 player' CD deck (like in a car), or a player. I know my stereo can't play mp3 CDs and only the original CD. That's what I want to know.
 
wrldwzrd89 said:
Just import the audio CD tracks as AIFF or WAV so you don't lose any sound quality, then burn those AIFF/WAV files to another CD after ejecting the first one. If you don't want to keep the AIFF/WAV files, you can delete or convert them as appropriate.
Click to expand...

Sorry just saw your post. So the original sound on a CD is AIFF/WAV then? I didn't know that :D. Then yes, that would explain the logo saying digital ;)
 
tech4all said:
Guess that was for me.

Like I said, I'm not an expert on this, so what I said was probably not logical. But I know some CD players can't play mp3 files and such. All I want to know is how do you have it to where the CD can play on a 'non mp3 player' CD deck (like in a car), or a player. I know my stereo can't play mp3 CDs and only the original CD. That's what I want to know.
Click to expand...
In iTunes preferences, there's an option for what kind of CD to create when burning audio files. Your choices are:
1. Audio CD (standard, plays in ALL CD players)
2. MP3 CD (only plays in CD players that understand MP3 files)
3. Data CD (unlikely to play in anything other than a computer)

What you want is option #1.
 
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