Quick Speed Boost Question

[KeegM480]

So I have a PowerMac G5, love it, use t all the time! If only it could run Netflix, anyway.

I would love to see if I could get this running faster, I've got 2GB of RAM, 2GHz Processor, and I believe a 5400 RPM Drive.

I am assuming to get applications to load with more ease that would be a 7200 RPM and 4GB of RAM? OR is it just the PowerPC Processor?

 

[eyoungren]

I am assuming to get applications to load with more ease that would be a 7200 RPM and 4GB of RAM? OR is it just the PowerPC Processor?

Not necessarily. How old is your drive? The later model hard drives although slower have a larger cache. And that makes them faster than the older faster spinning drives.

Of course, since the G5 is SATA you could always get an SSD. But I'd start with ram. The G5 at work (mine on loan) has 4GB and runs pretty fast. It's actually got 1GB more of ram than the Intel Mac Pro I am typing this on.

 

[KeegM480]

Not necessarily. How old is your drive? The later model hard drives although slower have a larger cache. And that makes them faster than the older faster spinning drives.

Of course, since the G5 is SATA you could always get an SSD. But I'd start with ram. The G5 at work (mine on loan) has 4GB and runs pretty fast. It's actually got 1GB more of ram than the Intel Mac Pro I am typing this on.

I guess I have a 7200 RPM Drive, this is the main drive, I believe my other drive is just a generic brand 80GB Drive.

I hate how expensive the RAM is for these things. I spent $25 on 2 512mb Sticks

 

[ifrit05]

Don't look for "PowerMac G5 DDR" type RAM, just go for the usual PC DDR, it will work just the same. People like to hype up the price just because it has "Mac" in the name.

That said the newest memory technology will always be cheaper than the older generations. Don't ask it's hard to explain.

 

[Andropov]

After getting 4GB of RAM, try a SSD, there are some really cheap ones out there and will beat your hard drive (or any hard drive) at everything. And you can still have both of them (SSD for speed, HDD for storage).

 

[KeegM480]

Don't look for "PowerMac G5 DDR" type RAM, just go for the usual PC DDR, it will work just the same. People like to hype up the price just because it has "Mac" in the name.

That said the newest memory technology will always be cheaper than the older generations. Don't ask it's hard to explain.

I wasn't sure, its very specific: DDR-400 (PC3200) RAM "Unbuffered" this seems to run about $30 for 2x 1GB

After getting 4GB of RAM, try a SSD, there are some really cheap ones out there and will beat your hard drive (or any hard drive) at everything. And you can still have both of them (SSD for speed, HDD for storage).

Im not putting an SSD in that, I dont se it enough to justify the price. I will get one in my MacBook Pro, but I just dont need it in that old of a computer

 

[Altemose]

The RAM must be installed in identical matched pairs. Something to remember... By the time you spend money on a new hard drive for a marginal performance boost, you will already be disappointed. I would get a SATA II SSD for it and whatever is cheap and reliable will work. If you got a 64 GB model you could use the hard drive for storage and the SSD for the OS and programs. Just remember Leopard doesn't support TRIM and an SSD will saturate the SATA I connection, so it will be as fast as it will get!