Need advice on Quad G5

[Davy.Shalom]

So I got offered a Quad G5 for $450. It comes with Leopard and I have wanted one for a while.

What are the benefits and detriments of this system? (please, no bias)

 

[zen.state]

This is simply the fastest PowerPC system ever made. Other than it might be a little loud and you cannot run the odd intel only app I would say there are no downsides.

The price is amazing. Thats the price a dual 2.0GHz sells for now and you're getting a quad 2.5GHz.

As long as you're sure it runs well then jump on it.

 

[Project Alice]

yeah defiantly get that. even tho it wont run snow leopard doesnt mean theres not some good linux software to instill once leopard is obsolete

 

[noodle654]

Do it dude...at that price it's a steal and it still is a pretty fast computer, plus you have expandability.

 

[otis123]

yeah defiantly get that. even tho it wont run snow leopard doesnt mean theres not some good linux software to instill once leopard is obsolete

SL isnt really a selling point, honestly leopard is the same exact thing except for all of the under the hood refinements that the user hardly sees, or can take advantage of. OP, i would go for it, its a solid and very fast PPC and they are becoming a rare breed, not quite modern, far from obsolete.

 

[California]

The Quad is not noisy. Except if you get the 7800 video card, which has a loud fan on it. Try to find the Quadro card and stuff it with ram and you will be flying... wish I still had mine.

It'll take Leopard and iLife 08 or 09, you ain't missing much in Snow Leopard.

 

[MrMacintoshBlog]

That is a steal!!!!

2.3, 2.5 and 2.7's are selling for that price.

The Quad is basically the KING of PPC macs, and is highly sought after. The machine in good condition still regularly pulls $700-900.

Let us know what you end up doing, If you do buy it you will be very happy with your purchase.

 

[DesmoPilot]

If you want to buy into dead technology; sure.

 

[max¥¥]

If you want to buy into dead technology; sure.

how are g5's dead tecnology?, my dp 2.5 g5 is just as fast as my dad's 2.66 quad mac pro

 

[opeter]

how ar g5's dead tecnology?, my dp 2.5 g5 is just as fast as my dad's 2.66 quad mac pro

Your dad is using the first generation 2,66 GHz Mac Pro?

In june 2010, I would not buy old PPC technology, even if they would pay me for it, to own (OK, maybe in this case, I would).

 

[zen.state]

Your dad is using the first generation 2,66 GHz Mac Pro?

In june 2010, I would not buy old PPC technology, even if they would pay me for it, to own (OK, maybe in this case, I would).

Well you are in the PowerPC section of the forum..

People here obviously have some interest in PowerPC. Good thing we are not clueless like you.

I guarantee I could get more done on my G4 than you do on whatever intel hunk of crap you have.

Any other senseless remarks that do not assist the original poster at all?

 

[DSPalpatine]

According to MacinTouch (via LowEndMac), the biggest reliability issues in these machines are the logic board and the power supply. Will you be able to test the machine before you purchase it, or are you buying it sight-unseen?

For the price, the expandability is fantastic- up to 16 GB of RAM, 3 open PCI Express slots, the ability to add a lot of HDD storage... this is going to be a nice machine for you. Is it the most cutting-edge computer around? No, of course not. But if you've always wanted to own one, and you can put it to good use, then I say take the plunge.

Off topic rant: I LOVE IT (tongue-pressed-firmly-in-cheek there) when I, or someone else, posts a PowerPC-specific question and the response is, "ZOMG... ur such a dork... get a MINI!!!" Dude... if I wanted to ask a question about the Mac Mini or some other Intel Mac, I'd ask about an Intel Mac! In addition to my Macbook, I have a G5 iMac that serves admirably as the family computer. It runs Leopard, it surfs the web, handles email and light photo editing, views Youtube and Hulu just fine, and does whatever my wife and I ask of it. Is it a speed machine for Bioshock or Command and Conquer? Of course not. I understand its limitations, but as long as it continues to run, I have no reason to upgrade.

Point of my rant: Davy, if you understand the drawbacks of this system (10.5 is the last OS available, and you'll lose compatability with the most cutting-edge software, etc, etc), and you can still make a case for purchasing this machine, then get it.

And if not? Then... "zomg... dude... get a MINI!"

 

[zen.state]

Off topic rant: I LOVE IT (tongue-pressed-firmly-in-cheek there) when I, or someone else, posts a PowerPC-specific question and the response is, "ZOMG... ur such a dork... get a MINI!!!" Dude... if I wanted to ask a question about the Mac Mini or some other Intel Mac, I'd ask about an Intel Mac! In addition to my Macbook, I have a G5 iMac that serves admirably as the family computer. It runs Leopard, it surfs the web, handles email and light photo editing, views Youtube and Hulu just fine, and does whatever my wife and I ask of it. Is it a speed machine for Bioshock or Command and Conquer? Of course not. I understand its limitations, but as long as it continues to run, I have no reason to upgrade.

HERE HERE!

Spoken like a true fellow geek.

 

[zmttoxics]

Well you are in the PowerPC section of the forum..

People here obviously have some interest in PowerPC. Good thing we are not clueless like you.

I guarantee I could get more done on my G4 than you do on whatever intel hunk of crap you have.

Any other senseless remarks that do not assist the original poster at all?

Chill out holmes. Not his fault apple moved away from your beloved PPC.

I sold my PMG5 2.0DC with 6GB of ram last year because it was useless to me with out an x86 cpu. I bought my iMac and never looked back. VMWare allows me to my job, and PPC doesn't do VMWare. In fact, if Apple hadn't of moved to X86, I would never of gotten into Macs (my first one was a MacBook).

Regardless, the PMG5 is a fast machine, if the jobs you need to do can be done on it.

PS: I still have a G4 eMac and a G5 iMac, but they have been moved to "basic" duties.

 

[zen.state]

Chill out holmes. Not his fault apple moved away from your beloved PPC.

I sold my PMG5 2.0DC with 6GB of ram last year because it was useless to me with out an x86 cpu. I bought my iMac and never looked back. VMWare allows me to my job, and PPC doesn't do VMWare. In fact, if Apple hadn't of moved to X86, I would never of gotten into Macs (my first one was a MacBook).

Regardless, the PMG5 is a fast machine, if the jobs you need to do can be done on it.

PS: I still have a G4 eMac and a G5 iMac, but they have been moved to "basic" duties.

It's not what you have.. it's how you use it. About 90-95% of people with state of the art hardware do not need anywhere near the power they have.

Anyway.. lets stop hogging the thread this guy made to ask about a quad G5.

Edit: Another thing to consider.. PowerPC macs (at least the many Powermacs I have owned) have a lifespan of at least 10 years. Many intel macs die after 2-4 years. Progress? Not so much..

 

[max¥¥]

Your dad is using the first generation 2,66 GHz Mac Pro?

In june 2010, I would not buy old PPC technology, even if they would pay me for it, to own (OK, maybe in this case, I would).

no it's the early 2009 model with nearly 3 times the ram of my g5 8gb vs 3gb

 

[DesmoPilot]

how ar g5's dead tecnology?, my dp 2.5 g5 is just as fast as my dad's 2.66 quad mac pro

How aren't G5s dead tech? They're no longer really supported and will never get any faster. What you have now is what you will always have; they're dead technology. Even with AppleCare if the problem is too great Apple basically says "screw it, take a low end Mac Pro no use fixing this thing". You don't get the point; it doesn't matter how fast it is. Fact is, it's dead technology. Don't get me wrong, they're great machines. But these days, the only way I could even begin to justify buying one is if I was a collector of some sort. Buying one now-a-days to use it everyday just isn't worth your time or money really.

Not to mention G5s were really hit or miss as to how long they'd last; some would be totally fine while others plagued with problems. When I used to work at an Apple dealer we got in more G5s then anything else; even more then MBAs with hinge issues (while we rarely saw any Mac Pros).

 

[zen.state]

How aren't G5s dead tech? They're no longer really supported and will never get any faster. What you have now is what you will always have; they're dead technology. Even with AppleCare if the problem is too great Apple basically says "screw it, take a low end Mac Pro no use fixing this thing". You don't get the point; it doesn't matter how fast it is. Fact is, it's dead technology. If you want to collect Macs, than sure take the G5; but that's the only reason I could even begin to justify buying a G5 these days.

Not to mention G5s were really hit or miss as to how long they'd last; some would be totally fine while others plagued with problems. When I used to work at an Apple dealer we got in more G5s then anything else; even more then MBAs with hinge issues (while we rarely saw any Mac Pros).

I will try to explain this as the obvious facts are not sinking in somehow.

This is the PowerPC section of the forum. People here obviously do not think PowerPC hardware is as worthless as many feel it is. We like them and CHOOSE to use them. Why do people continue to dog on our hardware of choice. How does it affect you? This is our own little world here and if you don't like PowerPC or ever plan to use it then why even be here? My goodness some people are thick.

Listen to me.. I have more than enough in the bank to go pay cash for a fully loaded $20,000 Mac Pro but I do not because I do not need it and prefer PowerPC hardware. People with half a clue know how to get the most out of a machine and do not need to be a constantly upgrading. People like that are the prostitutes and the hardware makers are the pimps.

Now please go away and leave your narrow minded intel infected thoughts to yourself.

 

[max¥¥]

How aren't G5s dead tech? They're no longer really supported and will never get any faster. What you have now is what you will always have; they're dead technology. Even with AppleCare if the problem is too great Apple basically says "screw it, take a low end Mac Pro no use fixing this thing". You don't get the point; it doesn't matter how fast it is. Fact is, it's dead technology. Don't get me wrong, they're great machines. But these days, the only way I could even begin to justify buying one is if I was a collector of some sort. Buying one now-a-days to use it everyday just isn't worth your time or money really.

Not to mention G5s were really hit or miss as to how long they'd last; some would be totally fine while others plagued with problems. When I used to work at an Apple dealer we got in more G5s then anything else; even more then MBAs with hinge issues (while we rarely saw any Mac Pros).

well to start with it runs leopard witch is fine for me, it can have a decent amount of ram (8gb), it has in my mind plenty of cpu power (2 x 2.5 g5's), it runs the games I play (please don't go but xxxxx is intel only as i don't care), and video encodes are 5 - 10x faster than my g4's, the only problem is that ms silverlight 3 dosn't work on ppc, and of corse i worry about the lcs leaking or the psu "blowing up", oh i almost forgot i can't even afford the most basic mac pro

 

[costabunny]

well said Zen.

nowt wrong with my old G4 (only reason I am going newer is to do some ipad stuff in xcode). Otherwise the old PPC box is happily sitting here pride of place and doing everything I need it to do.

(and its a ten yr old so @ the gotta-have-the-latest lot)

 

[opeter]

Well you are in the PowerPC section of the forum..

People here obviously have some interest in PowerPC. Good thing we are not clueless like you.

I guarantee I could get more done on my G4 than you do on whatever intel hunk of crap you have.

Any other senseless remarks that do not assist the original poster at all?

Dear zen.state.

I do know, that I am in the PPC Mac section.

Until the beginning of 2008, I used an PowerMac DP 1.8 GHz, 4 GB of RAM with an Radeon 9800 graphic card. It was a fine machine for my everyday illustration and DTP work, till the day, the logicboard died (the second time, since I did buy the computer in 2004).

But since Apple switched to Intel, I had too. New applications are comming out for x86 only and not for PPC anymore (you should thank God - and not Steve - that there are still some developers, who maintain their Universal Binary apps with PPC code). But these applications will be (or are already) more and more in minority in the future.

That is, why I do not recommend buying a used (especially liquid-cooled) PowerMac computer in the - now - second half of 2010. The problems are mostly the spare parts if something goes wrong and that means, it can become very expensive.

Sure, many people can work with old applications and make great things with them (even better, than most, who are just following the trendy things). But, nothing lasts forever. And everybody of us is soon or later forced to upgrade our belowed computer, technology, step away from it.

What would you do, if let say, Apple would one day tell the world, that they will not make any computers anymore, just the iGadgets. No more MacOS X, just iPhoneOS (or whatever it will be called)! Would you switch to Linux, maybe Windows?

I was (am) still mad, that I had to buy some application upgrades, because some of the older PPC applications, that I used everyday didn't work on the new Intel Macs. But this was the only option in that time (I don't buy used computers anymore, because of the very negative experiences, I had with them).

 

[zen.state]

I would like to apologize to Davy.Shalom for being part of what took this thread so far off topic.

Buy the G5. The thing is a beast and the price is almost like stealing. You could easily get 5+ good years out of it.

 

[DesmoPilot]

I will try to explain this as the obvious facts are not sinking in somehow.

This is the PowerPC section of the forum. People here obviously do not think PowerPC hardware is as worthless as many feel it is. We like them and CHOOSE to use them. Why do people continue to dog on our hardware of choice. How does it affect you? This is our own little world here and if you don't like PowerPC or ever plan to use it then why even be here? My goodness some people are thick.

That's nice and all, but the OP asked the benefits and detriments of the system. I then replied stating it is dead technology (which it is). Someone asked me how it's dead technology, I than explained why.

Course PPC systems aren't worthless (I still have my B&W G3 and my QS Dual 800 sitting in the basement); they're just dead technology and really only worth your time if you're a collector/enthusiast. If you already have a PPC unit and it works for you; awesome. But buying into PPC now is not a good idea. Also, if I remember correctly the 2.5 quad is the water cooled model. With the leaking issues etc there's no way I could recommend buying one to use as a main machine. If it starts leaking (which lets be honest, is a very real possibility) you're out of luck and left high and dry (Apple doesn't look at them anymore, when I left my job we had 4 or 5 leaky G5s heading off to electronics recycling). How am I "dogging" on your hardware? He asked for an unbiased opinion and I gave him one based upon my experience (PPC is dead which is fact and G5s from my experience; fail more than hardware should). If he knows what he's getting into with buying a G5 than go nuts, enjoy it.

Listen to me.. I have more than enough in the bank to go pay cash for a fully loaded $20,000 Mac Pro but I do not because I do not need it and prefer PowerPC hardware. People with half a clue know how to get the most out of a machine and do not need to be a constantly upgrading. People like that are the prostitutes and the hardware makers are the pimps.

Good for you? What does your being able to afford a Mac Pro have anything to do with this? Are you justifying your use of PPC to me?

Constantly upgrading? Last G5s are almost half a decade old!

Now please go away and leave your narrow minded intel infected thoughts to yourself.

Hahah; are you actually taking it this seriously? At the moment I'm finding your username quite comedically ironic.

 

[zen.state]

Stating how I feel in a calm rational way is not non-zen at all. In fact it's almost the very definition of zen.

Anyway.. we really need to stop robbing this poor guy of his thread.

 

[DesmoPilot]

Stating how I feel in a calm rational way is not non-zen at all. In fact it's almost the very definition of zen.

Anyway.. we really need to stop robbing this poor guy of his thread.

That was calm? You've already done a few Ad Hom attacks.