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Powermac g5 Upgrade?

S

sl33t

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 12, 2011
139
0
Cleveland, Ohio
I am planning on getting this Powermac g5: http://www.ebay.com/itm/APPLE-POWERMAC-G5-DUAL-2-0-GHz-3GB-500GB-DVDRW-A1047-M9032LL-A-/230682726840?pt=Apple_Desktops&hash=item35b5c311b8#ht_2730wt_1185
This will be my first Mac. I want to upgrade the RAM to the full 8 gb. What type of RAM will I need? I would also purchase a bigger hard drive (I'm thinking this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185). Would this hard drive be compatible. I would use the one that the computer comes with to run my programs off of. Also, down the road I would like to upgrade to a 60-80gb SSD to run my programs off of. However I'm not sure if the Powermac g5 will support an SSD? It would be great if you guys could give some feedback on compatability (type of RAM?, if SSD's are compatible, and also what video cards I could upgrade to.) Thanks in advance!

-sl33t
 
Don't spend too much money upgrading a G5. Old tech now - won't run anything later than Leopard and there's quite a lot of software that no longer runs on PPC
 
You need DDR 400MHz RAM. That hard drive will also work, but there wouldn't be a whole lot of benefit to having a SSD, since the G5 used the SATA I interface, which some hard drives can even saturate.

My suggestion- don't buy PPC. Even G5s are starting to be underpowered and are now completely unsupported by apple or anyone else, so it's generally a waste of money.
 
alust2013 said:
You need DDR 400MHz RAM. That hard drive will also work, but there wouldn't be a whole lot of benefit to having a SSD, since the G5 used the SATA I interface, which some hard drives can even saturate.

My suggestion- don't buy PPC. Even G5s are starting to be underpowered and are now completely unsupported by apple or anyone else, so it's generally a waste of money.
Click to expand...
Unless you can't afford Intel, which secondhand will for for 3x the price...
 
alust2013 said:
That hard drive will also work, but there wouldn't be a whole lot of benefit to having a SSD, since the G5 used the SATA I interface, which some hard drives can even saturate.
Click to expand...

An SSD will help a G5. They will even help an old G4!
 
alust2013 said:
but there wouldn't be a whole lot of benefit to having a SSD, since the G5 used the SATA I interface, which some hard drives can even saturate.
Click to expand...

Not true. Bandwidth saturation is only part of the story here. Seek times benefit hugely, which can give a sizable boost to OS and application performance.
 
Jethryn Freyman said:
Unless you can't afford Intel, which secondhand will for for 3x the price...
Click to expand...
exactly...i'm only 14 so I can't get a job yet so I don't really have any way of making money.... Therefore I don't have enough for an intel. Also, I was looking at more g5's on eBay and found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Power-Mac-G5-Dual-Core-2GB-2-3GHz-160GB-A1177-VIDEO-EDITING-Leopard-/170726960793?pt=Apple_Desktops&hash=item27c01eae99#ht_7303wt_1185
I think I'm gonna go with this. I think it's a pretty good deal, only 300 for dual 2.3 ghz, 2 gigs RAM, and all the pre-loaded software (FCP, Adobe Creative Suite, and Office). Then I'm going to get a 1TB external HD and upgrade to 8gb RAM.
 
sl33t said:
exactly...i'm only 14 so I can't get a job yet so I don't really have any way of making money.... Therefore I don't have enough for an intel. Also, I was looking at more g5's on eBay and found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Power-Mac-G5-Dual-Core-2GB-2-3GHz-160GB-A1177-VIDEO-EDITING-Leopard-/170726960793?pt=Apple_Desktops&hash=item27c01eae99#ht_7303wt_1185
I think I'm gonna go with this. I think it's a pretty good deal, only 300 for dual 2.3 ghz, 2 gigs RAM, and all the pre-loaded software (FCP, Adobe Creative Suite, and Office). Then I'm going to get a 1TB external HD and upgrade to 8gb RAM.
Click to expand...

Enjoy
 
sl33t said:
exactly...i'm only 14 so I can't get a job yet so I don't really have any way of making money.... Therefore I don't have enough for an intel. Also, I was looking at more g5's on eBay and found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Power-Mac-G5-Dual-Core-2GB-2-3GHz-160GB-A1177-VIDEO-EDITING-Leopard-/170726960793?pt=Apple_Desktops&hash=item27c01eae99#ht_7303wt_1185
I think I'm gonna go with this. I think it's a pretty good deal, only 300 for dual 2.3 ghz, 2 gigs RAM, and all the pre-loaded software (FCP, Adobe Creative Suite, and Office). Then I'm going to get a 1TB external HD and upgrade to 8gb RAM.
Click to expand...

I'd scour around a bit more, even over here in the UK I can see a few dual 1.8ghz, 320gb HDD, 4gb RAM for £140 ($220)...
 
hey don't worry about the Intel-Trolls they lurk around all parts of the internet even deep within areas that have specifically nothing to do with Intel. I know your looking at a dual core g5 here's a link for what I believe is the dual 2.3 not dual core but alot less money only $99 w/$50 shipping, its not my auction though I have bought G5's from this place and can only say they're a great shop. here's the auction

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Power...e_Desktops&hash=item3a6ca2b324#ht_1891wt_1053

a couple of months ago they had like 5 2gz g5's for like 350 with 250 shipping pretty sweet deal for 5. Regardless its cheap, and when I had one banged up in shipping, they sent a replacement in like 3days, no problems what so ever.
 
Just as a warning, the RAM in a G5 has to go in in pairs. The G5 also tends to be picky about RAM. OWC is a great place to buy parts, and I would suggest them for the RAM. You can use the "My OWC" tab, enter which model you're using, and they list out the upgrades you can get. They also often have videos and notes on how to install things. Enjoy!
 
sl33t said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Power-Mac-G5-Dual-Core-2GB-2-3GHz-160GB-A1177-VIDEO-EDITING-Leopard-/170726960793?pt=Apple_Desktops&hash=item27c01eae99#ht_7303wt_1185
only 300 for dual 2.3 ghz, 2 gigs RAM, and all the pre-loaded software (FCP, Adobe Creative Suite, and Office).
Click to expand...

All of this software is illegal, even OS (10.5) is illegal too. See item description: no installation discs or licenses.
$300 for this with only 2GB RAM is a bit much IMO. On my local market you can get 2.3 DC with 5-6 GB RAM for equivalent of about $200 - 250 (with original OS Install Discs).
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

drorpheus said:
hey don't worry about the Intel-Trolls they lurk around all parts of the internet even deep within areas that have specifically nothing to do with Intel. I know your looking at a dual core g5 here's a link for what I believe is the dual 2.3 not dual core but alot less money only $99 w/$50 shipping, its not my auction though I have bought G5's from this place and can only say they're a great shop. here's the auction

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Power...e_Desktops&hash=item3a6ca2b324#ht_1891wt_1053

a couple of months ago they had like 5 2gz g5's for like 350 with 250 shipping pretty sweet deal for 5. Regardless its cheap, and when I had one banged up in shipping, they sent a replacement in like 3days, no problems what so ever.
Click to expand...

Damn.....that's such a steal. However, I don't have the money right now but I'm gonna sell my iTouch and get some money to hopefully buy one.
 
666sheep said:
All of this software is illegal, even OS (10.5) is illegal too. See item description: no installation discs or licenses.
$300 for this with only 2GB RAM is a bit much IMO. On my local market you can get 2.3 DC with 5-6 GB RAM for equivalent of about $200 - 250 (with original OS Install Discs).
Click to expand...

I didn't think of it, but the sheep is kind of right here. I sold my G5 and a 20 inch ACD along with original mouse and keyboard.. got $450 for the package. But after cleaning up the hard drive before delivery, the mac started freezing up a lot. I must have been stupid and deleted something I should have left alone..

long story short I ended up needing to do a fresh install to repair and I no longer had the original Leopard 10.5 discs.. had to buy them online.. cost me $240 for an unopened box set which included iLife '08. So if you do ever need to do a fresh install, a friend with Mac OS 10.5 would be a good asset......;)
 
I myself thinking on sticking on G4 MDD.Getting me a G4 12" powerbook for the Way.
But heres a cheap G5 2.5 Ghz 2004 i think. If with air-Cooling would failing Water Cooling not to think about

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120809646...IDX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1426.l2649#ht_500wt_938

Sending about $90.- or so,but you need to find out about Import taxes

parcel size 2'x2'x4' and 20 kilogram
The late 2004 has about 36 ib,thats 16 kg plus package.So should be ok with 20 kg,which is about 44 Ib
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Mac_G5
http://www.dhl.de/de/paket/privatku...derseiten/vereinigte-staaten-von-amerika.html
 
The dual CPU 2.0's suck with their slow AGP graphics. The only G5's worth buying are the dual core models, much faster RAM and PCI-E graphics.
 
I just picked up a G5 with dual 2.0Ghz CPU's it has the AGP graphic and 1gig RAM. It's actually not that slow. Then again I'm really only using it for iChat, Mail, iTunes library and some internet browsing.
 
brenden said:
I just picked up a G5 with dual 2.0Ghz CPU's it has the AGP graphic and 1gig RAM. It's actually not that slow. Then again I'm really only using it for iChat, Mail, iTunes library and some internet browsing.
Click to expand...
Yeah for those kinds of tasks G5s are plenty snappy. It's only the heavy lifting that they can't do so well, they'll get an ass kicking from a current iMac at video encoding, for example.
 
Jethryn Freyman said:
Yeah for those kinds of tasks G5s are plenty snappy. It's only the heavy lifting that they can't do so well, they'll get an ass kicking from a current iMac at video encoding, for example.
Click to expand...

Yes, but if a guy is planning on doing any heavy gaming or video encoding, there is no reason to buy an old PowerMac for it. As for everything else, the things are still great work horses. Lots of G5s' still out in the field serving duty.
 
The G5 i just picked up only had 1gigs RAM. I found a post on craigslist where some guy was parting out his G5 and is willing to sell me his 4gigs of memory for 20 bucks. Will I notice a huge difference in performance? This is my first PPC and I just started learning anything about them. I know in an Intel Mac/PC you would see a fairly decent boost.
 
brenden said:
The G5 i just picked up only had 1gigs RAM. I found a post on craigslist where some guy was parting out his G5 and is willing to sell me his 4gigs of memory for 20 bucks. Will I notice a huge difference in performance? This is my first PPC and I just started learning anything about them. I know in an Intel Mac/PC you would see a fairly decent boost.
Click to expand...

Huge. and buy 4 more gigs while you're at it to max out performance for less than $50. It makes a G5 a lot faster to have plentiful ram.
 
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