PowerMac G5 quad?

[Davy.Shalom]

Hey I am a photographer/video editor, as well as an intensive programmer. Would a G5 quad suit my needs? I am thinking of putting full 16 GB RAM, Nvidia 4500 Quadro 512 MB, and my two 1.5 TB HDDS in it. I have a bout 500 GB of photos and graphics, and I do very processor intensive work in CS4. Would this thing do all I need it to? I would also do a lot of writing, research, and use it for school as well. What do you think?

My dad bought one of these and upgraded it for use as a server at work, and I have gotten a couple of chances to work on it, but it is kind of "off limits" to the world.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Given the amount of upgrading you're planning to do, you might want to just bite the bullet and get a Mac Pro. You can pour a bunch of money into the G5 now, but then it will be as fast as it can possibly be, and once you outgrow that, you're screwed. The Mac Pro will give you a lot more room to grow.

For most people, I'd say the Power Mac G5 is still a perfectly respectable computer. I just don't know that it'll hold up to your use.

 

[richard.mac]

if you need to spec it out with upgrades then definitely get the G5. if not then Intel technology is way more powerful and energy efficient these days and an iMac would spank the G5 with the same amount of RAM. then theres also the future proofing argument where Snow Leopard, the next OS X, will not support PowerPC.

presuming youre attracted to the Price of the G5 but if youre after a desktop with room for upgrades the Mac Pro would be an awesome choice but comes with the price.

if you need more storage and dont need over 4GB of RAM you could always use external storage with the iMac.

 

[Scottsdale]

Hey I am a photographer/video editor, as well as an intensive programmer. Would a G5 quad suit my needs? I am thinking of putting full 16 GB RAM, Nvidia 4500 Quadro 512 MB, and my two 1.5 TB HDDS in it. I have a bout 500 GB of photos and graphics, and I do very processor intensive work in CS4. Would this thing do all I need it to? I would also do a lot of writing, research, and use it for school as well. What do you think?

My dad bought one of these and upgraded it for use as a server at work, and I have gotten a couple of chances to work on it, but it is kind of "off limits" to the world.

Just wondering why you wouldn't want an Intel CPU? I mean with Snow Leopard coming out in a few months which requires an Intel CPU. Especially if you are going to spend a ton of money on upgrades... wouldn't you want a NEW technology like a Mac Pro.

You could even buy a refurbished Mac Pro to save some money. And wouldn't need to be this year's Mac Pro... but a Mac Pro with dual Intel chips would be quite worthy of what you want to do.

Just my two cents.

 

[KingYaba]

Shop around for used Mac Pros. You don't necessarily have to purchase new.

 

[JFreak]

G5 is still a perfect choice for people who cannot afford downtime due to random Intel-related problems. And the Quad is plenty powerful! They're relatively cheap now, and the RAM/HDD do not cost a fortune either. Works perfectly with Leopard and would run equally perfect with Snow Leopard if Apple chose to not cut the PPC code with it.

However, I'd skip the GPU upgrade to see if the stock card is sufficient, then upgrade later if you must.

 

[Winni]

G5 is still a perfect choice for people who cannot afford downtime due to random Intel-related problems.

What random Intel related problems? Most "grey screens of death" that I've seen so far on Macs were on G5s, making the G5s the most unreliable Macs that were ever sold. Frankly speaking, I've never seen a stable Apple G5 machine in the real world.

The most robust Macs - and I'm only talking about software stability here - were the G4s. But with the latest Leopard releases, the Apple platform has also grown very mature and robust on the Intel architecture, just as it were on the G4 architecture.

So my advice to the original poster: Don't buy the Quad G5. It's an investment in the past, and investments in the past are always a waste of money.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Hey I am a photographer/video editor, as well as an intensive programmer. Would a G5 quad suit my needs?

If you can get a completely decked out G5 for a few hundred bucks go for it. Otherwise get a Mac Pro. More and more creative apps are going Intel only or Intel optimized and the performance difference between a Mac Pro and a G5 tower is huge.


Lethal

 

[MacNoobie]

If you can get a completely decked out G5 for a few hundred bucks go for it. Otherwise get a Mac Pro. More and more creative apps are going Intel only or Intel optimized and the performance difference between a Mac Pro and a G5 tower is huge.


Lethal

I agree with you if the OP can get the G5 already decked out like you said for cheap then by all means go for it but the G5 compared to the latest Intel MacPro is absurdly slow. I've had a dually G5 2.5 with 4.5GB of ram that just bit the dust due to the PSU quitting. While it was fast I can still feel how slow it is (relative to the new MacPro's) when working with 12+MP files in CS4.

I also wouldn't bother with the Quadro cards its WAY over priced for what you get. Unless you're dealing heavily with AutoCAD/MAYA and a slew of other top end compositing software its not that great.

 

[Scottsdale]

Never seen any Intel problems like the other poster said. I guess Apple was somehow wrong by moving to the Intel chipset... yeah right!

You get what you pay for... old technology versus new technology. You had better buy that G5 for very little. An outdated Mac that will not even be capable of Snow Leopard. That old hardware will not run new software a little slower... it will NOT run the new software. That's a big difference. Not like we are talking Intel Core2Duo vs Core2Quad.

 

[Consultant]

Nvidia 4500 Quadro 512 MB is probably not what you want.

Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's designed for the tasks you want to do.

 

[mperkins37]

I haven't seen any of the intel problems either.
A G5 2.5 quad is what I run at work, MacPro 3.2 with 8gb ram is what I have at home.
My Machine SPANKS THE HELL OUT OF THE G5.
In so many ways. Hands down no comparison.
I actually want to fall asleep waiting on my work machine sometimes.
Get the MacPro & don't look back.....