New PowerMac to me

[dmueller6]

Just bought a G5 from craigslist for 150. Hope I didnt get ripped off. Its a 2.0 dual core,1 gig ram and a 160 hd. Has a fx5200. Now i know the machine is older, but I just cant justify spending 1200 on the cheapest Imac, let alone 2500 on a new Mac pro. Besides Im kinda new to the Mac scene and my wife knows even less.

The person was asking 300, but no software kb or mouse was included, so I offered 150 and they took it. It does have 10.5.8 on it, office 2008, ilife and I already have Iwork so that will go on next. When i opened her up it was really clean inside, and all fans work without making any noise. Case has a few scratches but normal for a machine that is 8 years old.

I've already installed an airport extreme and another gig of ram. This thing runs circles around the dell it replaced, p4 with winxp. This machine is going to be used for online schooling, web browsing and my kids to play on. I also intend to learn more about the Mac os since I'm a windows guy.

Aside from adding maybe another gig of ram, should I replace the vid card to an ATI, not really planning on gaming, just web videos, kids games. Which should I look for?

Any input or advice is appreciated.

 

[Nova77]

Just bought a G5 from craigslist for 150. Hope I didnt get ripped off. Its a 2.0 dual core,1 gig ram and a 160 hd. Has a fx5200. Now i know the machine is older, but I just cant justify spending 1200 on the cheapest Imac, let alone 2500 on a new Mac pro. Besides Im kinda new to the Mac scene and my wife knows even less.

The person was asking 300, but no software kb or mouse was included, so I offered 150 and they took it. It does have 10.5.8 on it, office 2008, ilife and I already have Iwork so that will go on next. When i opened her up it was really clean inside, and all fans work without making any noise. Case has a few scratches but normal for a machine that is 8 years old.

I've already installed an airport extreme and another gig of ram. This thing runs circles around the dell it replaced, p4 with winxp. This machine is going to be used for online schooling, web browsing and my kids to play on. I also intend to learn more about the Mac os since I'm a windows guy.

Aside from adding maybe another gig of ram, should I replace the vid card to an ATI, not really planning on gaming, just web videos, kids games. Which should I look for?

Any input or advice is appreciated.

Dude, my main machine is a G4. It is enough power for modern web browsing, youtube (even in HD), photoshop, web design, audio production, etc. You got a dual G5. Do the math... Imho, everything is a matter of getting the right apps for your computer.

Welcome to the PowerPC world, unsupported by Apple, supposedly obsolete, but in reality only flash sucks.

 

[Nova77]

Since you are new to the mac world, and to the mac PPC world, here are some apps you totally need to have:

-Tenfourfox : it is an unofficial PowerPC Firefox branch, since Firefox is now intel only. Last official mozilla firefox was 3.6. Get version 8, I've heard v. 9 is a bit slower atm)

---Search the web for "Java PPC latest version", "Flash mac PPC latest version", and install them both manually. No browser will ask you to download them because they are unsupported.

---Go in tenfourfox, select the URL bar, type in : about:config
---say "yes" to the dialog box, and then search for "plugins" on the page
---find "tenforfox.plugins.enabled" and double click on it. Value will switch to "enabled". That way you get flash, java and other plugins back working. You will never have to do this again, even if you update tenfourfox.


Must have Firefox addons: All regular firefox addons are compatible with tenfourfox. Tenfoufox 8 IS Firefox 8 on an Intel mac. Get "DownloadHelper" to download flash videos, and//or "FlashVideoReplacer" to replace flash videos with quicktime. If you have enough horsepower, the old Flash should work though (but forget HD with flash).


-Safari : comes with the OS, update it, useful to open pages that don't display proprely with firefox (doesn't happen very often)


-MacTubes : The very best way to watch youtube on a PowerPC mac (and maybe on any Mac). Don't forget to go in the menu and select "player : quicktime". That way you can watch youtube HD on your computer. If it lags, download and play video with VLC.

-VLC : PPC still supported, get latest version, it plays stuff twice as fast compared to Quicktime player (meaning no lag).

-Itunes : well yeah, thats strange but Apple still offers the latest itunes version for PPC.


Other suggestion:

-CorePlayer : only if you struggle with HD videos. 20 bucks, don't buy if you don't care

---------------

Most games before 2007 should work fine on your computer. There are still new games but it is mostly opensource stuff. I'm not worried you will find good games for your kids.

 

[Goftrey]

G5's are gorgeous machines, 150 for one, is an amazing price. I'm looking to get one in a couple of months and have had my eye on them for a while.

As to graphics cards, I like the look of the 9800

Or if you're on a tighter budget, check out the 6600

And welcome to the Macintosh world!

 

[666sheep]

You've got Dual Processor G5, not the Dual Core as you have GF FX5200 Basic difference between them is that DP are AGP based, DC are PCIe.

If graphics card is stock one, you have this exact model: http://support.apple.com/kb/SP67.

So, 9800 below is OK for you and it's a very good card (but that price is horrible ), 6600 is for Dual Core only.

As to graphics cards, I like the look of the 9800

Or if you're on a tighter budget, check out the 6600

If flashing PC card doesn't scare you, check this site out: http://themacelite.wikidot.com/start

Going this route you can save some money which can be invested in RAM.

 

[dmueller6]

Yes sorry, it is a dp, not dual core. Ya know, its funny, the tag on the inside of cover says r9600pro, but its got a fx5200 ultra, maybe the ati card died or something and this was a cheap replacement card.

Anyways, flashing dont scare me, and I have plenty of windows machines to do it. But I agree, the video card prices for these things are crazy. One would think that by know prices would have come down more.

Ill look for a pc based card and try to flash it.

 

[mike457]

You did get a good price. I bought a dual 1.8 a year ago for $200. It's a rock solid machine, and should give you years more of good service. Congratulations!

 

[chrismacguy]

since your new to PowerPC Macs, I recommend you check out http://www.powerpcusers.com/ - it has plenty of good info for getting started with PowerPC Based-Macs.

 

[Goftrey]

since your new to PowerPC Macs, I recommend you check out http://www.powerpcusers.com/ - it has plenty of good info for getting started with PowerPC Based-Macs.

Plug!

No but I recommend going there too, great site

 

[dmueller6]

Thanks for all the great input.I have lots of learning in front of me. I do have a question about the firmware of this machine. How do i know which firmware to install for the PPC g5. There are a few listed but the specific models seem to be a little vauge. Here is a screen shot of my mac. Maybe someone can tell me which direction to go in.


Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: PowerMac7,2
Processor Name: PowerPC 970 (2.2)
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.0.5f0

 

[vohdoun]

---Search the web for "Java PPC latest version"

I'm not finding it...

-Itunes : well yeah, thats strange but Apple still offers the latest itunes version for PPC.

iPod/iPhone users.

 

[dmueller6]

I found Java, but Adobe flash im having trouble with.

 

[Nova77]

I found Java, but Adobe flash im having trouble with.

From Adobe's website (archived old versions)

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/142/tn_14266.html


Download this:

(Released 11/10/2011) Flash Player 11.1.102.55 (174 MB)

It includes folders for all platforms but you should find the mac .dmg pretty easily.

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

Another GB of RAM will probably give you a few benefits, I'd stick in a bigger hard disk and replace the video card with a Radeon 9600 XT, don't bother going much higher than than unless you want to play games like Doom 3, even then though the CPU on your Mac is a fairly limiting factor for more modern games.

 

[dmueller6]

Anyone have any idea on the firmware update? If It needed one would software update show it? Or does one have to go to Apple and find it for oneself. Just curious cause I know there are a few firmware updates out there, just don't want to flash the wrong one.

 

[mike457]

If memory serves (though it's been a while), software update will tell you. In any event, for a machine of that age, the odds are excellent that a previous owner has already done the installation. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.

 

[666sheep]

Anyone have any idea on the firmware update? If It needed one would software update show it? Or does one have to go to Apple and find it for oneself. Just curious cause I know there are a few firmware updates out there, just don't want to flash the wrong one.

FW updater won't let you install wrong one.

 

[powermick]

New power mac to me too!

Hi Ive just got a G5 late 2005 2.3 dual core with 6600 256 mb graphics.
I'm wondering where i can get hold of some good games to play, doom etc.
Also can you run windows on ppc with Q? Ive tried but no joy!

 

[Cox Orange]

Anyone have any idea on the firmware update? If It needed one would software update show it? Or does one have to go to Apple and find it for oneself. Just curious cause I know there are a few firmware updates out there, just don't want to flash the wrong one.

Automatic software update does not show/give you a message!

But, the firmware-updater will tell you, if you need to install.

Here is one for Uniprocessor G5 (ask native speakers, if that means single core) http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1395
Here is another one for non-uniprocessor http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1395?viewlocale=de_DE
Don't use version 1.1, it is for 1,8GHz G5 only.

 

[vohdoun]

I found Java

Care to share the link?

 

[skinniezinho]

any doubts that you still have, have a read on powerpc on my faq,it may help you =)

 

[dmueller6]

any doubts that you still have, have a read on powerpc on my faq,it may help you =)

That I read. I did do some research and it seems that because leopard is installed it wont install. Its looking for panther I believe. It seems o run fine, but then again, I have nothing to compare it to, except my old g4 imac, which seemed slow. That is on craigslist for sale right now.

----------

Care to share the link?

I just looked up Java for powerpc in google and went to the link given.

 

[dmueller6]

Just a quick update: Just bought a 6800 ultra mac edition for 40 bucks, guaranteed to work, taken from a working g5. Got my fingers crossed.

 

[dmueller6]

Got my new card in the mail yesterday. I cant believe the person didn't even clean the thing. Anyways, cleaned her all up, stuck it in, and all is great. Shows as a 6800 ultra 256mb and the fan spins and is quiet. I'm a happy camper. Now I'm waiting for my new aluminum keyboard from Amazon.

 

[raysfan81]

The aluminum keyboard is one of the best I've ever used. Wired is the best though.