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VirtualPC Performance on G5 Quad

M

monkeybagel

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 24, 2011
1,144
62
United States
Just curious as there is a G5 Quad locally to me for sale. While this would probably not be the most reliable PowerMac out there - I was wondering, with 16GB of RAM, would it be able to do basic VirtualPC tasks using Windows XP or Windows Server 2003? I know it would be emulating instead of virtualizing so it would be an order of magnitude slower than VMware Fusion or Parallels on a new machine.

Supposedly it was "professionally refurbished" (hopefully the LCS too) and seems to have everything with it. Just looking at it when looking for a QuickSilver or a Sawtooth. Any feedback?
 
I have VPC7 on my 1.8Ghz G5 with 4GB Ram at work. Even with all the eye candy removed from XP and VPC being the only program open, it's still slow. Yes, you'd have 4X the ram my work Mac would, but there is a limit (I think it's 1GB) that VPC will allow you to apply to a virtual pc.

The virtual pc's harddrive(s) are actually disk images so you are limited to the speed that those can be accessed. Additionally, if you go much past 512MB of ram assigned the VPCs actually start to slow down.

It's doable, it's just not fast. Although the quad processor of the G5 you are looking at might make it faster than my work Mac processing wise.

I wouldn't even think of running a server OS on it though. Been my experience that with VPC it's better to share your connection, versus forcing VPC to establish it's own IP address. Both options slow you down.
 
It will be usable for basic windows tasks with the XP setup, but it will feel like you're on a 1ghz Plll. I was hoping that the experience would be better performance wise, though it was at least pretty stable. I keep looking at quads again, the prices have fallen so much that picking up one just to enjoy it's king of the PPC machines magnificence some more......
 
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If I get it I will post. It would not be a "server" pe se, just a light desktop version of Windows. It seems that Windows Server 2003 is faster than XP since many things are disabled by default, and it would work as a VMware Console (ideally).
 
AngryRedTicTac said:
I keep looking at quads again, the prices have fallen so much that picking up one just to enjoy it's king of the PPC machines magnificence some more......
Click to expand...

King of PowerPC? More like the king of coolant leaks and early death.

To the OP. Win 2000 will run best on VirtualPC if you can get by with it. It will perform like a low end P4 system on the Quad.
 
I could never get adequate performance from emulation Windows on my G5 quad. I used the free Q emulator tho running Windows 98SE. Never tried XP on PPC tho so I don't know how much better that could run?
 
Way better of an idea just to run el cheapo Windows hardware (look on Craigslist in the $100 range) and remote desktop in.
 
OrangeSVTguy said:
I could never get adequate performance from emulation Windows on my G5 quad. I used the free Q emulator tho running Windows 98SE. Never tried XP on PPC tho so I don't know how much better that could run?
Click to expand...

goMac said:
Way better of an idea just to run el cheapo Windows hardware (look on Craigslist in the $100 range) and remote desktop in.
Click to expand...

In my memory, VirtualPC is dramatically faster than Q. However, I'm with GoMac. A dirt cheap, used Intel-based PC is the way to go. To the point above about P4 level performance, it's worth noting that even the Atom can out-compete the P4....
 
Oh man, I remember running virtual PC on my G4 and G5. All I can say is that it was painfully slow. Given the cheap prices of a Mac Mini (new/used/refurb) or even a cheap laptop/netbook. You'll get better performance then anything that virtualPC could do.
 
Thanks for the reply!

I could not get the link to work (404 for some reason) but now I know they probably will not sell them. I am not in California - actually a good ways away on the east coast.
 
Now I see why people say those things are power hungry! Looks like a 15 amp connector on its power supply! Must say that is the first desktop computer I have seen with one of those! Seem many servers, but no desktops!
 
monkeybagel said:
I could not get the link to work (404 for some reason) but now I know they probably will not sell them. I am not in California - actually a good ways away on the east coast.
Click to expand...

You could probably get the appropriate discs on eBay (just be careful they match the specific Mac). And, you should also be able to buy a retail box Tiger or Leopard and install it. Once you have a retail install DVD, you don't really need the system restore DVDs that came with it originally. I believe retail Leopard is kind of pricey on the used market, though.

All within my opinion that there's no real sense in owning one of these except for nostalgia. :(
 
mkrishnan said:
All within my opinion that there's no real sense in owning one of these except for nostalgia. :(
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That's what it would mainly be for - I have several other machines that I can use as well (too many, actually! Not sure why I want another!). I guess it's just a hobby :)
 
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