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Powermac7.2 G5 upgrade?

L

lordgort

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 24, 2011
4
0
Hi @ll
Im now a proud owner of a Powermac 7.2 G5 1.6Ghz(cputype 970 2.2).
It has 512MB Ram.
Mac OSX 10.4.11

It is my first Mac, so dont be mad for silly questions ^^.

i wanna upgrade this beauty but i dont have much money to spend on it.

it was used as a server in a company, 24/7 for 4 years, and it is pretty slow now, so maybe the HD is broken?

Please give me some hints how i can revive this thing XD

i thing i need more ram? does somebody has a link for some thats fitting in it?

is this old mac still usefull for something, or is it to old to work with?
 
Last edited:
Its not too old. Its still got some life left as long as you're not expecting 2011 performance from a 2003 computer. It will hold 4GB of DDR RAM and it must be installed in matched pairs. So, since you've got a pair of 256MB sticks already, find a pair of 1GB sticks for cheap and you're already in business. Since its using SATA HDD's its easy to find a nice fast drive for it. Seagate and Western Digital have some great deals on 7200RPM drives that will make it feel much snappier. Once you've upgraded the RAM, I would highly reccomend finding a copy of Leopard to install.
 
can i put in any kind of ddr ram?
i think i would buy a complete set (4gb)... do you have a link for a shop that selling compatible ram?

is leopard really good for this? is tiger not better for an old pc like this?
 
EveryMac has the full specs for that machine here.

And Other World Computing carries compatible memory here. OWC might not be the cheapest place, but it's the first place I always search for Mac parts since that's their specialty.
 
Buy some PC3200 sticks off eBay. Look for Kingston, Hynix, Crucial-Micron, Corsair, Patriot, Geil or Samsung. They must be low density. If case any doubts - ask seller before bidding ...or if u want, post links here (or feel free to PM me).
 
hmm, so 4 gb ram would cost ~120dollar
i need a new drive ~ 50 dollar

~ 170 dollar???

is it really worth it?
 
Decision is up to you :)

I've seen on eBay 4x 1GB ProMos/Dell sticks (compatible) for $82 incl shipping.
You can always cut the costs and buy only 2x 1GB and have 2.5GB.

Just look for cheap deals, what else can I say... It's 8 years old entry level G5 ;)
 
If you can live with the fact you can't run intel x86 apps and games, then these boxes are great. If you cant, then pass the g5 onto someone who will appreciate it. Cheers!
 
If you're still using the computer as it was given to you, format and reinstall Tiger/Leopard. If it's still slow, then price out hard drives. Look for HDs and RAM used on craigslist, there really isn't a reason to put brand spankin new stuff in this computer. You can run 1.5GB of ram and put a 7200RPM HD in for probably $75 or less.
 
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