Power Mac G5 Reliablity

[Jethryn Freyman]

Just got a new dual 1.8GHz June 2004 model Power Mac for cheap. Or rather, I ordered it and will have it next week.

Never heard good things about the reliability of G5's, especially because of the capacitor issue.

Bought the computer as it was cheap, I needed one (anything), and I'm hoping that most of the problem G5's would have shown their ugly face (bad capacitors, popping PSUs, etc) by now (this one in particular is 7 years old).

My question goes to anybody with a little experience in G5 Macs, am I right in assuming that most of the problems with the bad capacitors and bad PSUs would have shown themselves after 7 years?

When I get the Mac, I'll dust out the inside and I was planning to check the capacitors myself, but I've never done that before, and anybody offer any advice?

Thanks 🙂

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

The capacitor issue had to deal with the iMac G5s. The G5 model you have is the tower and should be fine.

 

[zen.state]

There is lots of info about this on this very forum and the net in general. Google is your friend.

 

[boraxatude]

I've had a G5 dual 2 since 2004. When I bought it, it was the top of the line mac that you could get. Just a few months ago, I edited a short HD sizzle on it, using (ahem) an external raid connected via scsi. Worked just fine.

I've gone through 4 or 5 hard drives with this tower and continue to use it everyday. The only maintenance I've done is, every year completely wipe the drive and reinstall the OS and all applications to keep it clean and running smoothly.

It's a great computer and will probably continue to run quite well for many years. Technology has passed it up and it is taken to it's knees when trying to access hd video online nowadays. It's a shame that these beasts are relegated to the trash heap every 2-3 years.

I am looking to replace it in the next year with either an iMac or Mac Pro.... Although I can't afford it, I'm leaning towards a Mac Pro because of the ease of upgrading memory and storage - just like I've done with the G5 every year.