Mac Mini/G5 question

[WebHubbell]

I've had this G5 1.8 GHZ machine for eight years. I put 8 GB of memory in it, 500GB hard drive, and it's a horse. I run photoshop on it and am very happy with the speed.

But clearly, it's time for me to get a new machine, if only because I need to sync my iphone with Lion soon!

I already have a great 27 inch monitor that's new. I don't want to splurge for a big mac tower this time. And I'm thinking that, because of my monitor, I really don't need an Imac. Is the mac mini going to be a noticeable difference running big photoshop operations, with hundreds of batches and high res file RAW files, as opposed to my G5 with all that RAM? I only do this occasionally, though. I'm not a gamer or movie watcher on this machine, either.

So, does the mac mini seem like the mac for me? And secondly, if so, is it practical to keep the G5 nearby for hookup in case I want to use the optical drive, or big photoshop jobs, or as an external hard drive?

What would you hardcore users do in my shoes?

 

[Consultant]

Mini is faster in just about every way.

However, you might want to do some benchmark the harddrive. Laptop drive might differ than desktop drive speed.

I use a G4 PowerMac as a server / external drive over gigabit ethernet.

 

[WebHubbell]

Thanks, Consultant. How do you use your G4 as a server? Don't you need to have Lion on both?

 

[mstrze]

Thanks, Consultant. How do you use your G4 as a server? Don't you need to have Lion on both?

You can use an old PC as a server. As long as it can talk to other computers over a network (wired or Wi-Fi), it essentially doesn't matter what system software it has.

 

[velocityg4]

You can have 8GB RAM in the Mini as well. As for hard drive speed you could use an internal SSD in the mini for OS X and software. Then connect external hard drives for data via Firewire 800 or Thunderbolt and blow that G5 out of the water on all fronts.

 

[bigfatipod]

good move

WebHubbell,

I also had a 2003 G5 - a power mac dual 2.0ghz machine. In 2009, I upgraded to a c2d mini and that completely blew the doors of the G5. If you got one of today's iCore minis, you're be ecstatic.

I kept my G5 around thinking I'd use it as a file server, but in the end, it just wasn't worth the power it consumes and noise the fans put out. I use the mini for everything now.

Definitely go for the 8gb of ram - that's a 5 min install on your own. If you can (maybe with the black Friday deals in Nov?), consider an SSD.

Good luck!

 

[Consultant]

Thanks, Consultant. How do you use your G4 as a server? Don't you need to have Lion on both?

Hi WebHubbell, I don't use OS X server. I just use regular OS X.

Open ports on router for remote control. Log in remotely anywhere, browse things to download, and have it ready when I get home. As I said, light browsing works on my 2001 PowerMac G4 (with flash and ad blocker installed to minimize cpu usage). I normally use MBP with SSD.

But note that any intel Mac will be much faster than G5, especially if you put in a fast HD in it.