powermac to intel?

[elm4cbeth]

hey, im new to the forum and i dont know if anyone has asked this questions before but here it goes....

i have one of the first Powermac G5 line computers, its the 1.6ghz powermac 🙂 but heres the issue...as you can tell my computer is greatly out of date with all this new technology and what not. I know all you can do is upgrade a videocard and add some RAM and what not...but is there a way to upgrade everything?

i dont want to have to spend another +$2000 for an intel because my computer is running fine, but i feel that i'm falling too behind considering all the new editing software have greater system reqs. what im wondering, is there a someplace where i can upgrade my 1.6ghz to maybe a duo 2.0ghz? or even an intel? or maybe theres a website that will guide me to upgrade it myself?

any help, thanks. i find this forum very usefull already =D

 

[0007776]

There may be upgrades to faster G5s but you can't go to the intel processors, without taking out everything in the case and replacing it with everything from a Mac Pro case, but then I'm still not sure that that would work and it would cost the same as a new Mac Pro.

 

[laidbackliam]

i'm not sure about the upgrades, but you can't go from a g5 to an intel processor. different architectures, pin layouts, its like an apple and a different colored apple. similair, but different.

 

[elm4cbeth]

ah yeah, i guess i shought have thought of that before asking...hehe ok, i know powermac to intel wont work but are there any other ways to upgrade the G5? Sorry for anyone who was tricked into looking at my post 😱

 

[roland.g]

Really there isn't much you can do. There are sites for upgrading cpu's. Like others have said, Intel would require a different motherboard and you can't do that. It wasn't too hard to upgrade 450mhz G4s to 1.4Ghz or so, same with Cubes, you see that a lot. Problem is, that I don't think you can go dual, and that a 1.6 up to a 1.8 or 2.x isn't going to be that noticable. A 1.66 or 1.83 Core Duo Mini is faster in some regards than a Dual 2.0 G5 PowerMac. That said, maybe think about a Mini or iMac if that fits your budget better. Those have great perfomance and can be replaced more often at less cost. Ask yourself, is a Mac Pro my only option.

 

[JeffDM]

I don't think the single processor G5s even had a second socket to add another CPU, each CPU has its own bus, so it's not as if you can easily add a second CPU on a G5 upgrade card. I haven't seen an upgrade CPU offered either.

I think you are better off trading up.

Thankfully it's not that way with the Mac Pro, you just drop in a compatible chip.

 

[4JNA]

as the others have said... as well as pointing out that the g5 boards are 'locked' to the cpu. that is, you can't turn a single into a dual, and can't install a faster processor than the original system shipped with. memory, faster hard drive (or raid if you feel lucky) and a better but still older video card are your options with the current system.

my upgraded mini kicks the crap out of my dual g5 1.8 on everything except quake 4 for a reference point. 😱