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[Need Windows related help!] Need a desktop. EDIT: Bought a powermac g5! Need help!
- Thread starter Orange Furball
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Bingo. Not that I wouldn't love to do that, but for some reason Intel minis go for a lot more than they should. I looked for a core solo one and found nothing. Even the g4 mini goes for as much as a powermac g5.
Anyone want to sell me anything? From minis to powermacs. I just need a Mac desktop. The only think is I can't use an iMac. I just don't like all in ones
Well, I pulled the trigger on one...
Only problem is I have no idea what ram to get! Also, what other things should I do? I know I need a dvi adapter. Should I get a dvi->VGA? Or do they make dvi->HDMI (without audio obviously)
Did I spend to much?
Only problem is I have no idea what ram to get! Also, what other things should I do? I know I need a dvi adapter. Should I get a dvi->VGA? Or do they make dvi->HDMI (without audio obviously)
Did I spend to much?
Get a dual CPU/dual core Power Mac G5. I have an Intel Macbook with an SSD and the G5 tower is still the king when it comes to certain stuff..
That seems like a pretty good price. Local Craigslist has them about $150... but they've been posted for a couple of months.
For your video cable, check www.monoprice.com. I've noticed lately they have converter cables and just adaptors that are really inexpensive. As for RAM, check www.everymac.com. They have a lot of information on every Mac model it seems.
Congrats! Hopefully I can get one soon. Just need to sell my MacBook first!
For your video cable, check www.monoprice.com. I've noticed lately they have converter cables and just adaptors that are really inexpensive. As for RAM, check www.everymac.com. They have a lot of information on every Mac model it seems.
Congrats! Hopefully I can get one soon. Just need to sell my MacBook first!
Yes it is.
Here is a link. Just send him a $100 best offer and he should accept. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=350570097588
Also I just checked everymac and there are 3 different 2.0ghz dual models.
Orange Furball, your model should be the early 2005 dual 2.0, it would take DDR Dual Channel PC3200 ram, your model should have four slots which should take 4gb total.
and for reference it uses the 450W power supply. the video cards should have 1dvi and 1adc input and you got optical audio out as well depending on what your hooking it up to, the higher end mac cards have dual dvi.
and for reference it uses the 450W power supply. the video cards should have 1dvi and 1adc input and you got optical audio out as well depending on what your hooking it up to, the higher end mac cards have dual dvi.
So it is maxed out now with ram! Good deal! Now I'm going to get another hard disk. Can I run a raid card on this? I would like to use two hard drives (one 500gb and one 500gb) in raid and one ssd rigged somewhere in the case as a boot drive. I figure I can use the ssd on a sata on the motherboard and the two hard drives hooked up to the raid card. Any problems with this?
I'm going to try to keep upgrades down to $75 if possible...
Edit: wow! The raid card would be $70! Never mind that. I'll just go one ssd and one 500gb + a FireWire drive
Just make sure the SSD you buy is SATA II. Most SATA III SSD's aren't SATA I compatible. On the contrary, most SATA II SSD's are.
Only hint, as I have a couple of G5s.
Keep the dust under control, open the case, get one of those cans of compressed air and go nuts. I have an actual compressor that I use on all my computers ( Im a car guy, it comes in handy for tires and spraying out engine bays ), every 6 months all my computers get dusted with compressed air, and I swear to god my 3 G5s get more dust than some of my PCs do over a 3 year period.
Probably because all my PCs are Liquid cooled, or have fan filters. The G5s move a TON of air, no filters of any kind, and the fins in those heat sinks are retardedly close together. Keep her dusted out.
Keep the dust under control, open the case, get one of those cans of compressed air and go nuts. I have an actual compressor that I use on all my computers ( Im a car guy, it comes in handy for tires and spraying out engine bays ), every 6 months all my computers get dusted with compressed air, and I swear to god my 3 G5s get more dust than some of my PCs do over a 3 year period.
Probably because all my PCs are Liquid cooled, or have fan filters. The G5s move a TON of air, no filters of any kind, and the fins in those heat sinks are retardedly close together. Keep her dusted out.
Any excuse I have to open it up I'll take! I love the organization of the powermac g5. So much better than the g3/g4 and most PCs. Thanks for the tip.
So what other upgrades should I do?
Right now I have that I think should stay the same:
PowerPC g5 2.0ghz dual
4Gb of ram. MAXED
64Gb boot SSD
500Gb storage drive
What might be upgraded:
CPU? Any need? Is it worth it? How much?
Video card. I'm not very knowledgeable on what video cards work on the Powermac. And is it necessary? I don't plan on gaming.
I will add a USB PCI card. 2 is not enough.
Anything else?
Found this: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=261037830985
I remember reading somewhere the g5 can use the Quadro FX 4500 iirc. If I'm wrong what other video card can/should I get? $60 for one is a lot, but I don't need hard drives or ram.
I remember reading somewhere the g5 can use the Quadro FX 4500 iirc. If I'm wrong what other video card can/should I get? $60 for one is a lot, but I don't need hard drives or ram.
There's definitely nothing wrong with that. Congrats on the good deal. However, I'd make sure you keep regular Time Machine backups on your HDD just in case. You can never be too careful.
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Only the Late 2005 PowerMacs can use the Quadro FX 4500 because that card is a PCI-E card. Your PowerMac has an AGP 8X slot instead of PCI-E.
EDIT: Check this site out. This is where I purchased my GPU for my Mac Pro.
I like the nvidia XFX 5200 8x agp, but I can find one for $25 on ebay. Can I flash a normal card to work on Mac os x? I could figure it out if someone points me in the right direction. Thanks
Doesn't that G5 already have a 5200 in it? I'd suggest not buying that card or at least upgrading from it. The 5200 is a very poor preforming card that can barely support CoreImage.
It has a 64mb one. The one I found is 256. I'm going to hold off on buying anything else except for the dvi->HDMI, USB card, SD card reader, and a 2.5->3.5" sad adaptor.
So I got it today! Can't test it until I get my dvi-hdmi cable. Hopefully tomorrow. Anyway It looks OK and I opened it up. It has 8 ram slots all with 512mb sticks in them. I'm thinking of upgrading to 6-8gb depending on the performance. I blindly turned it on to see if it would boot. I waited 5 minutes after the "ding" startup sound and pressed the volume keys on the keyboard. All went well there and I heard the clicks of it changing. I also ejected the DVD drive. Something is messed up because it doesn't eject past the cheese greater part of the case. Seems to be improperly installed. Ill fix it tomorrow and update the thread.
