Anyone know what components other than just the socket are missing in the single vs dual cpu g5 motherboards on the late 2005 model. G5s are hard to come by around here and quads are impossible to find, so would like to upgrade mine to a quad.
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Power mac G5 ddr2 late 2005 820-1628 single to dual cpu.
- Thread starter Tremain
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I think you'd need to replace both the power supply and the motherboard to go from a dual to quad. That being said, I have both models, and I think the dual core G5 is the better computer for most uses. I upgraded my dual to 2.5 GHz, matching my Quad on single-core performance. The dual runs quieter, is just as responsive as my quad, and is a much more reliable machine. I'm planning on keeping my dual core and selling / donating my quad-core.
Power supplys are the same I do believe reason I'm upgrading it is why not. A quad core ppc running Linux seems fun
I have both computers. The power supplies are different. The quad-core power supply has power cabling for the second-cpu card. The dual core power supply has only power cabling for one CPU card. The Quad power supply is also heavier, so it's probably higher rated for the extra load.
Swapping the psu for a modern one would be better for efficiency sake anyway. If I can find one that fits. I'm sure I can find an original one online though. The dual uses a 710w and the quad uses a 1kw psu. Also considering I'll be running quad 2ghz it'll be using less.
Maybe off topic, but if you want the ultimate in PPC Linux performance and if money were no object, maybe consider something like the Raptor Computing Blackbird? https://www.raptorcs.com/BB/. It's available with either a 4-core or 8-core CPU, based on the Power 9 architecture. I'm not sure if it's compatible with the same linux distro that's used on older G5 macintoshes. But would defiantly be the ultimate Power PC computer you can buy in 2022.
Yeah, I have an xbox 360 which I suppose is slightly better than the g5. I mainly want to get RX 580 working with the amdgpu drivers on the g5 arm. Because why not. Radeon drivers for the 6xxx and below works. So may as well fix the amd gpu one. And if money were no object I would get it lol
I don't know where you live. But over here in Germany those things are all over the place. The cheapest i can find at the moment is 25 Euros! Untested, of course. But expect to have to do some work to it anyway. And the guy even seems to have a box for shipping. Nice, as this would be the only way to eventually get it shipped undamaged. Going to collect it is allways the better option.
Other than for the Dual 2.5/2.7 leaking of the liquid cooling system wasn't that much of a problem for the Quads as their LCS was of much better build quality. But after all those years it almost certainly has to be opened, cleaned, flushed and refilled to get proper temperatures and fanspeeds (noise level). An this might not be an easy task. All of the tube connections are not only clamped but also glued together. And the phillips-screws at the cooling blocks...
..., which have to be opened to get things cleaned properly, are also glued/secured with Loctite which makes it very difficult to get them out without major damage.
Also forget about replacing the PSU with some common part! This thing is 1 KW an laying flat on the bottom of the case. There is no room in there for some ATX-formfactor stuff. Also the Quad's PSU has some very proprietary connectors.