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Quad G5 Longevity

T

Tracer

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 20, 2007
271
0
I know a lot of you guys have PowerMac G5's and are sitting on your hands waiting for the Mac Pro to update.

Currently, I have little faith in Apple to update soon with all that they are currently doing (iPhone, Leopard, iMac redesign).

To those of you with Quad G5's do you feel that the Speed is really holding you back in anything except for HD video editing (which I don't do).

I know you can't run Windows on it, but is there any reason that it wouldn't be a wise decision to pick up a Quad G5 and fill it with 8/16 GB of dirt, dirt cheap DDR2 RAM?

Will it be anytime soon that they stop developing programs for PPC?

Will Leopard take advantage of the 64-Bit capability of the G5.

First Post,

Thanks for any and all answers.

Tracer
 
I'd say you'll have for quite a while. You might get four years out of it, depending on what you do. After that, plan to make it a server- that's what I'm doing with my dual core eventually. And yes, Leopard will run 64 bit on a G5. It should run better than Tiger does now (crosses fingers). Apple will probably support PPC for at least three to four more years.
 
I might be able to get a Quad G5 and a ACD for about $2000.

3-4 Years Software Support is a long, long time.

I know I could just sell the Quad G5 and get a new Mac Pro.

Just what to know your guys opinions if you think it would be worth the hassle to sell it for the advantages of the Mac Pro.

Considering Quad G5's are going for at least $1500 on Ebay, and MDD 1.42 G4's are going for $700 I'm not really worrying about the G5 depreciating too much.

I figure if Apple updates the Mac Pro tommorow I could just sell the Quad G5 for the benefits of new graphics cards, and Stoakley-Seaburg motherboard.

Is Intel code significantly faster than PPC code?
 
Tracer said:
I might be able to get a Quad G5 and a ACD for about $2000.

3-4 Years Software Support is a long, long time.

I know I could just sell the Quad G5 and get a new Mac Pro.

Just what to know your guys opinions if you think it would be worth the hassle to sell it for the advantages of the Mac Pro.

Considering Quad G5's are going for at least $1500 on Ebay, and MDD 1.42 G4's are going for $700 I'm not really worrying about the G5 depreciating too much.

I figure if Apple updates the Mac Pro tommorow I could just sell the Quad G5 for the benefits of new graphics cards, and Stoakley-Seaburg motherboard.

Is Intel code significantly faster than PPC code?
Click to expand...

You could also buy the Mac Pro and sell it when the new ones come out. :)
 
Slowly though PPC users are loosing programs Adobe Premiere/Encore/Soundbooth will be Intel only, the EA games will be intel only, and more will follow, till everything will be Intel only.
 
Tracer said:
I might be able to get a Quad G5 and a ACD for about $2000.
Click to expand...



Why?


I mean,really. Why?

Do you work with the machine?
If yes, then you really shouldnt be asking this kind of question.
If you work,even if you are a poor-ass enterpreneur like many of us, go with the cost effective machine. And that depends entirely on what branch of business you work on.
If you are a photog,designer of what ever "lite" user, the quad G5 could do for the next 3-6 years,depending. You would get your stuff done before the deadline and you could use the income to buy blow and hoes. Or extra equipement.
In that sense the comp would cost you 400dollars/year (5year).
Not bad?

If you would go on the way of a refub Intel 2.0ghz quad, you would pay approximately,what? 2100+800=2900? And that machine would last you maybe 6 years? That would be about 484 dollars/year.

Chart what programs you are using, check if the performance is better (well,in MP you have 4-to-6 internal bays with you can use for raid´s..) , think about the resale value and make your decision.

Simple.


If you work with video,the decision is a no brainer. = Macpro
If you work with music,it is also could be a non-brainer = G5


Simple?

And no offense.People should just sit down,have a calculator and a piece of paper. If you work with your pooper,you work with it.
If you are a hobbyist,then get,well...whatever?
:)
 
Macinposh said:
Why?

If you work with video,the decision is a no brainer. = Macpro
If you work with music,it is also could be a non-brainer = G5
Click to expand...

That doesn't make any sense, Music is totally all Macpro also, g5 is dead, no reason to buy one, your old g5 is still good for however many couple years, but you should never buy a dying horse.
 
jrlcopy said:
That doesn't make any sense, Music is totally all Macpro also, g5 is dead, no reason to buy one, your old g5 is still good for however many couple years, but you should never buy a dying horse.
Click to expand...

The studios and engineers that I know, wont even consider moving their equipment to intel based machines at the moment.
Why?

All their hardware,plugin libraries and programs are honed to perfection in the last 8 years of PPC era.Everything is working just fine.
They dont need more than 96 tracks and whatever frequencies they are using.
For them,messing with fully booked studios and splendidly working hardware would just be insane. And a financial disaster.
Who the hell would like to fiddle with driver incompabilities that are present with,say,M-Audio and Protools at the moment?

Maybe in somewhere (where T.Reznor or Timbaland is working) there might be transformation going on,but most of the studios are still keeping up with the old workhorses.
And will be for the next 1-3 years.
 
I concur with Macinposh. Please note that making music is just a die hard hobby of mine and I made the move for an intel mac to just have the latest, fastest thing. There were many problems with plugings, even those that became UB, that still don't work the same. Now I CAN afford to spend countless days getting the little bit of music equipment to finally getting to work on this system but could not even imagine a sound engineer going through a nightmare (in such an early phase of the intel switch especially) to upgrade an already "well oiled" machine. It would cause too much headaches, time, and money.
 
I would expect in the next 1.5-3 years most companies will make the transition to not supporting G4/G5 PPC software at all anymore. They will just focus on Universal Binary for Intel Macs.
 
statikcat said:
I would expect in the next 1.5-3 years most companies will make the transition to not supporting G4/G5 PPC software at all anymore. They will just focus on Universal Binary for Intel Macs.
Click to expand...

Umm..."Universary Binary" means that software is compatible with both Power PC and Intel Macs.
 
I thought programmers had to write seperate/additional code for UB and PPC support? I guess most of my apps updates have just one UB update which works on PPC as well.. but doesnt it require extra work for Intel Mac code updates and apps to also work on G4/G5s? Or is it just one code style that seamlessly works for both?
 
Universal Binary means it's encoded for the PPC platform and then there's separate code for the Intel platform.
 
Ok that is what I thought. Anyway, my point was I dont expect all companies to code, support, and/or test on the PPC aspect of it past 1.5-2 years from now.
 
jrlcopy said:
That doesn't make any sense, Music is totally all Macpro also, g5 is dead, no reason to buy one, your old g5 is still good for however many couple years, but you should never buy a dying horse.
Click to expand...

This is not true in the pro audio world. Many people have $10,000+ invested in PPC plugins and software from companies who are still developing stable intel versions. The audio world is stable and solid on PowerPC. For the high end pros it will take a little longer to transition, as companies make and test solid intel versions of their software. Quad G5s are still the top dawg in many studios.
 
Don't Buy A G5 Quad Now. That Train Has Left The Station.

leekohler said:
You could also buy the Mac Pro and sell it when the new ones come out. :)
Click to expand...
If you don't have a Quad G5 then I think it's foolish not to buy a refurb Quad 2.66GHz Mac Pro for $2199. Look at how much more expansion capability there is. You can have 8 HDs inside with the existing ports if you remove the optical and put it outside. That's 8 TB INSIDE with NO special 3rd party stuff. The most you can put in a Quad G5 is 3 TB without removing the one optical- 2 SATA + 1 PATA on top of the optical.

I have the Quad G5 and I love it. But I'm not telling anyone to buy one now. I think that's kind of backwards thinking.
scottlinux said:
This is not true in the pro audio world. Many people have $10,000+ invested in PPC plugins and software from companies who are still developing stable intel versions. The audio world is stable and solid on PowerPC. For the high end pros it will take a little longer to transition, as companies make and test solid intel versions of their software. Quad G5s are still the top dawg in many studios.
Click to expand...
On the other hand I see Macinposh & scottlinux's well made points. I want the SS 8 core for video. But I'm not selling my Quad G5 either. I plan to keep the Quad G5 for the rest of its life and/or mine. So yes if audio is part of your bag then why not a Quad G5. Macinposh makes a lot of sense why you should go that way in that case.
 
I had a Dual 2.5Ghz G5 before I upgraded to the mac pro.

The main reason I updated was windows compatibility. I loved my G5, but I hated having to have a PC around to test my web pages with and stuff like that.

There were other reasons too: the Mac pro is more expandable, I could internalize all my hard drives, faster, etc.

Still though, if the Mac Pro couldn't run windows (or the G5 could), I would never have upgraded.
 
Multimedia said:
On the other hand I see Macinposh & scottlinux's well made points. I want the SS 8 core for video. But I'm not selling my Quad G5 either. I plan to keep the Quad G5 for the rest of its life and/or mine. So yes if audio is part of your bag then why not a Quad G5. Macinposh makes a lot of sense why you should go that way in that case.
Click to expand...

As I stated in here and in other threads, part of the reasoning behind my buying the last rev G5 was that I'd be keeping it forever as a server (until it dies of course). I love this thing and I really needed it. My old G4 just wasn't doing it anymore (I'm getting more into video) as much as I loved that computer. THAT was the best computer I've ever owned- 6+ years and never one problem. What a brilliant machine. It is now in the home of one of my co-workers, who loves it even more than I did. Macs are great things.
 
leekohler said:
My old G4 just wasn't doing it anymore (I'm getting more into video) as much as I loved that computer. THAT was the best computer I've ever owned- 6+ years and never one problem. What a brilliant machine. It is now in the home of one of my co-workers, who loves it even more than I did. Macs are great things.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more about G4's. Brilliant, brilliant machines. Also had one for 6+ years, not a single problem.
 
jrlcopy said:
That doesn't make any sense, Music is totally all Macpro also, g5 is dead, no reason to buy one, your old g5 is still good for however many couple years, but you should never buy a dying horse.
Click to expand...

To me thats like the sound of true Mac nerd talk. Buy whatever is latest because Apple says so. Not what actually the user or company needs.

Which I agree with Macinposh, why change something that works.

I have neither attitude, whether it be PPC or Intel. I do have the attitude I just want it to work. No messing no tinkering. Plug and play of any sort. Not force it down the customers throat because its all the bells and whistles of the latest technology (big wieners ahoy) or whatever Apple says just to make a sale. :)

In this day and age when it comes to marketing, if you really don't do your research, you're fooked!
 
Multimedia said:
But I'm not selling my Quad G5 either. I plan to keep the Quad G5 for the rest of its life and/or mine. So yes if audio is part of your bag then why not a Quad G5. Macinposh makes a lot of sense why you should go that way in that case.
Click to expand...

Same boat.

I own my Quad (love using that name, 'cause the G5 Quad is the only Mac you can refer to as the "real" Quad) since end 2005 and I absolutely adore it.
I will always keep this Mac, as it will be put in the history books as the best PPC Mac ever made! :cool:
Just one more of those Macs a real Mac-lover must own:
- Color Classic
- Cube
- Original iMac
- Xserve G4
- TAM
- Quad G5
:apple:

:D
 
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