Going from 1GB to 3GB for me was totally worth it, and I'm not a very heavy user. 4GB for $20 is certainly money well spent. Do it!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Powermac g5 Upgrade?
- Thread starter sl33t
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I just bought a 2.26 GHz 13" MBP and fixed the screen for the amount of money you'd spend there, and the 8 GB RAM I got might be within that as well. This MBP is way faster than that G5. You say you have no money, but you can go out and spend $500 on a G5. Spend $500 on a used Intel Mac instead. All that pre-loaded software is also illegal unless you get all the discs as well, but I'm guessing you know and don't mind, so it shouldn't be a factor.
G5s are great machines, but very outdated.
Also, your parents will thank you. G5s use so much electricity.
I just bought an iMac G5 1.9 with 2.5 Gig of RAM. It's in like new condition and I paid $135 for it. I use it in my mancave and regardless of what you think, it's a great little machine for Browsing, Skype, Email, MS Office, iTunes, etc...
Apple fanboys kill me. Yeah, the G5's are "outdated" but the "iPad replaces 99% of my computer needs"....
Trust me, I have a 4 Mac Pro's, an iPad, and now the iMac G5. Trust me, the G5 iMac can do about 1000 times as much work as iPad ever can dream to. To say that it's "outdated" and to advise someone that it's a waste of money is silly. It's a good machine, even today.....
It just depends on what you can afford and what your requirements are.
Most people buy computers because they don't want to be outdone by their mates or they have just got to get the very latest they have more money than sense.
I have 2 G5's a Dual 2.5 and a Quad and they are great machines. I would not swap them for anything.
They serve their purpose and that is all that matters.
Like as what as been said do not be put off by people telling you what you should buy. YOu will get a lot of support on Macrumors.
Most people buy computers because they don't want to be outdone by their mates or they have just got to get the very latest they have more money than sense.
I have 2 G5's a Dual 2.5 and a Quad and they are great machines. I would not swap them for anything.
They serve their purpose and that is all that matters.
Like as what as been said do not be put off by people telling you what you should buy. YOu will get a lot of support on Macrumors.
It depends on some other factors, too.
You can buy a used MB with a C2D for the same amount of money.
Do you care about more than 2 monitors? What size is your workspace? DO you ever want to run Windows on the same box? Do you want more than 2 internal HDs?
The MB I have can do all the G4 can and more unless you get a quad core.
You would just need to get some adapters (mini DVI-DVI) and a KB and mouse.
If you can find a quad core ready to go for 400$, go for it. If not get any intel based you can find except maybe a Mac mini.
You can buy a used MB with a C2D for the same amount of money.
Do you care about more than 2 monitors? What size is your workspace? DO you ever want to run Windows on the same box? Do you want more than 2 internal HDs?
The MB I have can do all the G4 can and more unless you get a quad core.
You would just need to get some adapters (mini DVI-DVI) and a KB and mouse.
If you can find a quad core ready to go for 400$, go for it. If not get any intel based you can find except maybe a Mac mini.
Hmm... what about if you want you know, expandability, or more RAM than the cheap MacBooks/iMacs can support? A G5 is a great machine. Heck, Id take a G5 over my Core 2 Duo MacBook for productivity in a heartbeat. (A Dual G5 supports more than 4GB RAM (excluding the single Dual 1.8 model that doesn't, which Id stay away from), has more expandability options (2 HDDs is useful for most people - you can't have enough internal storage), and expansion slots for adding ports not found on Macs (e.g. SCSI) and ofc a graphics card that isn't a built-in Intel one, or one thats likely to fail (Various Intel MacBook Pros/ early Intel iMacs).
If the OP can find a Intel Mac within budget that has all the features they want (Including tower expandability) then obviously its a good idea, but for some people, the limited expandability of an iMac/Laptop and the ridiculous prices the Mac Pro commands on the used market makes the G5 a much better choice.
I more than agree chris, for a traveling computer a C2B MB would be the right choice but for heavy lifting with the same amount of money, I would go to a G5.
I forgot to mention the expandability part. But I would guess that that is not much of a concern for this "build".
I would say unless the most speed is needed, Intel is the way to go. Lower power consumption, compact, OSX support for 10 more years?, modern ports, better GPUs and the Cores are not exactly wusses in the speed categories.
Actually, unless speed is an issue, I would get a MDD before a G5. The rest of the money can go for a SSD, top out in RAM, faster bigger "storage" drive, maybe a second LCD...........Hell some of them can even run OS9.
I would say unless the most speed is needed, Intel is the way to go. Lower power consumption, compact, OSX support for 10 more years?, modern ports, better GPUs and the Cores are not exactly wusses in the speed categories.
Actually, unless speed is an issue, I would get a MDD before a G5. The rest of the money can go for a SSD, top out in RAM, faster bigger "storage" drive, maybe a second LCD...........Hell some of them can even run OS9.
OS X support for 10 more years?? Somehow I doubt it, given that the very early Intel Macs (which are the ones most likely to come into budget) have already been left behind with Snow Leopard, and I suspect earlier Core 2 Duos will be left behind with 10.8/10.9. And the G5 has "modern" ports, in fact given they have expandability, you can add just about any port you choose to it, apart from Thunderbolt, which will be out of the OPs budget at any rate. And I repeat, basically all of the Intels you suggested or can find in budget either have Intel Integrated GPUs, which are horrible, or old ATI Radeons, which the G5 can outperform/equal if you give it a nice GPU.
I would take an Air-Cooled G5 over an MDD G4, mainly as my MDD sounds like a wind tunnel. OS 9 support is relatively negligible if your even considering a G5, because if you needed native OS 9 support you wouldn't look at a G5 at all. And because the later Air-Cooled G5s have much faster Graphics options available, as well as more RAM availability (Remember the G4 tops out at 2GB, which is enough for most things, but 4GB is nice to have).
If you were going down the G4 route, Id copy zens example, and get a Sawtooth or so and hot-rod it past the specs of an MDD. (Quieter, faster, and slightly more professional case in my opinion).
Rather than spending money on upgrading a G5 PM, I'd put the money towards a 1.1 2006/7 Mac Pro. Either that, or i'd buy another G5 already upgraded.
I skipped G5 PMs after upgrading from a 1.42GHz G4 PM so I can't speak for G5 PM but I can say that a G5 iMac 2.1Ghz with iSight is still a very useful machine, but nearly worthless monetarily.
I skipped G5 PMs after upgrading from a 1.42GHz G4 PM so I can't speak for G5 PM but I can say that a G5 iMac 2.1Ghz with iSight is still a very useful machine, but nearly worthless monetarily.
You are right about the GPUs but the ports are lagging. I was referring to PCIe and SATA higher than one, the second optical bay, bluetooth(do G5s have that?). Yes you can get PCI cards, but since mac versions are stupid expensive, the costs can add up to make it closer to a Mac Pro.
OSX support was phrased poorly as well. You can get Leopard running on many PPC boxes, even ones that you should not be able too. SL and Lion are Intel only. I bet you could get them running on ANY Intel Mac. THat may be the same for the future versions. I would be surprised if Apple went back to IBM/Moto or flopped to AMD. Ten years might be a stretch, but maybe not.
The MDD is loud but can be quieted for 12$ Damn near silent (fan wise) for less than 50$.
I do agree that a later model sawtooth would be a good route too, if you do not spend too much money upgrading.
OSX support was phrased poorly as well. You can get Leopard running on many PPC boxes, even ones that you should not be able too. SL and Lion are Intel only. I bet you could get them running on ANY Intel Mac. THat may be the same for the future versions. I would be surprised if Apple went back to IBM/Moto or flopped to AMD. Ten years might be a stretch, but maybe not.
The MDD is loud but can be quieted for 12$ Damn near silent (fan wise) for less than 50$.
I do agree that a later model sawtooth would be a good route too, if you do not spend too much money upgrading.