Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Power Mac G5 Dual Core in 2022

Dronecatcher

Dronecatcher

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 17, 2014
5,271
7,931
Lincolnshire, UK
After a five year hiatus, I’m so pleased to announce I have a G5 again - namely a 2005 2.0Ghz Dual Core.

It’s in excellent condition and came with 5Gb RAM so for my needs requires no further upgrade - I have no complaints about the GeForce 6600 LE GPU either, despite forum experts proclaiming it a POS….

Like my Quads before it is doesn’t suffer from thermal problems and if anything the fans on this are even quieter.

For some reason, folk on Youtube seem to think the G5 is dead in the water for getting online, so I’ve done a video showing it web surfing, doing Social Media, playing 720P Youtube, streaming bandcamp and playing local 1080P h264 video.

 
  • Like
Reactions: VirtuallyInsane, TSE, pmac0973 and 22 others
Love all 3 of my G5's, even the single 1.6ghz. Even that machine smokes my 1.67ghz PowerBook when it comes to web browsing and video playback. The G5's are totally capable machines yet. Even more so with current Linux on them if you really wanted a more secure daily driver. Thankfully with this communties efforts, Tiger and Leopard are still able to accomplish many of todays tasks fairly easily.

Cheers
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheShortTimer, scarlett7447, Vaccaria and 5 others
I am a big fan of dual core PMG5s. I can see my pmg5 a1047 dual cpu struggling a bit with heavier tasks like YT (where my a1117 doesn't) in OSX. I think it would be a fun video to compare and contrast the two machines - then maybe Sorbet and PowerPC Linux variants. If I only had the time (or I did not have this pesky need for sleep) lol.

Nice video. :apple::apple:
 
  • Like
Reactions: MacFoxG4, Dronecatcher and Amethyst1
Certificate of Excellence said:
If I only had the time (or I did not have this pesky need for sleep) lol.
Click to expand...
creepypasta.fandom.com

Necrosleep

The following account is the only surviving evidence supporting the existence of Necrosleep.net. The blog data was downloaded by a concerned reader just before it vanished from the internet in 2014. The data was not recovered until 9 years had passed. These are the final days of Reed Murdock...
creepypasta.fandom.com creepypasta.fandom.com
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: wicknix, Certificate of Excellence and Dronecatcher
Depends on what "edge" you look at. Linux is current, updated, secure, and has much better browser support (64bit). Leopard is a dinosaur in those areas.

Other than some quirky GPU's, Linux kills in the driver department. You can add almost any wifi card, video card, printer etc without issue. Leopard is very limited there.

Otherwise on G5's they are pretty equal in boot time, UI speed, functionality, etc.

I enjoy them both for different reasons.

Cheers
 
  • Like
Reactions: netsrot39, Raging Dufus, Amethyst1 and 1 other person
wicknix said:
Depends on what "edge" you look at. Linux is current, updated, secure, and has much better browser support (64bit). Leopard is a dinosaur in those areas.
Click to expand...
Again, I haven't tested Linux on a G5 for years but what used to itch my OCD was less than perfect GPU drivers and the Audio system using over 10% CPU - whereas it's nearly transparent in OSX.

Other than that, it's the astonishing library of legacy software that keeps me with the 'X' - on PPC anyway - I have Void, Bunsen Labs and Anitix running on PCs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: B S Magnet, Amethyst1 and wicknix
Dronecatcher said:
Audio system using over 10% CPU - whereas it's nearly transparent in OSX.
Click to expand...
Until you install and use soundflower. Half the time you lose audio and are forced to reboot to get it back. ;)

I'm not saying one is better than the other. They both have reasons that they are subjectively better than the other. Thankfully dual boot is an available option.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dextructor, Raging Dufus, Dronecatcher and 1 other person
I'd love a DCG5. There's a 2.3 on eBay super cheap right now that also comes with a 20" Studio Display and bowling ball speakers I'd love to snap up, but it's juuust out of my price range. Hopefully nobody not on this thread snaps it up.
Honestly, sometimes it still baffles me that people consider the G5 useless, when I'm happy with even less. Sure was fun seeing people's reactions to Benbridge being my driver over on the MBP subforum, though.
How does Classic on the dual G5s feel? Not that there aren't many, many options for booting 9 natively, just curious to hear how Tiger's worse Classic intersects with the DCG5's faster speed and RAM and all that.​
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: TheShortTimer, Dronecatcher, MacFoxG4 and 2 others
Fired up my DC G5 today (first time in 10+ years, since got cMP).
Wooowww...it is still really fast at startup, and not as noisy as I remember......:p
All that retro software...😆

There are 8 ram slots (2 empty atm), but had only put 8gb in (assume this takes 16gb...?)

Screen sharing was on, so tried to connect with cMP....
It shows up in Network, but unable to connect......:confused:
It may be coz Firewall is on (on the G5)...?
Currently have my cMP connected via Ethernet to router, so I presume just connect the G5 to the other Ethernet port.

Need a DVI to HDMI cable to try again.
I daftly checked screen sharing was on then disconnected the old monitor.
It's a big faff to unpack and setup the monitor again, as office is tight for space.
Will connect to one of my cMP displays when I get a cable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheShortTimer, lepidotós, netsrot39 and 2 others
Congrats on getting a G5 again! :cool: They (late 2005 models) are still somewhat capable machines if you can live with older software. I hold them dear since the late 2005 model was my first Apple tower computer (a couple of months before I got my Mac Pro 3,1 which is still a DD). All that was in 2019 when those machines were already considered junk by the general public. I was so intrigued by my first PowerMac 11,2 that I got a second one, a third one and eventually a fourth one (kind of obsessive I know). Now I have three assembled ones (different configurations) and one is in pieces serving as a spare. What I especially love about them is the option for PCIe cards which opens the door for many upgrades (e.g. putting an Airport card from a more modern MacBook inside the G5 or repurposing old PC graphic cards to flash and use them in the G5). I really enjoyed upgrading mine and researching what can be done hardware-wise and software-wise.

We're tinkerers and enthusiasts so we still see potential (to a certain degree of course) in those machines which is good because they are quite frankly fascinating pieces of tech :D.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheShortTimer, MarkC426, dextructor and 3 others
lepidotós said:
Here's that eBay 2.3DC if anyone here wanted one. $135 shipped is a slapping deal.
Click to expand...
I've never actually seen the box those Pro speakers shipped in. That's pretty neat. Man, if you lived in or near Bossier Louisiana, that would be a fantastic pickup - I'm sure the seller would be praying for a local pickup anyways lol. Can't beat the air cooled DC 2.3ghz; no LCS to have to watch, very nice ACD and those are the later Pro speakers with the white cone which are much more durable than the black cones (which are the ones that melt/crumble). Very nice combo right there for $75 bucks+local pickup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lepidotós
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back