I use mine for computing!!! 
Honestly besides for being a PPC machine the G5s are still rather capable machines.
Honestly besides for being a PPC machine the G5s are still rather capable machines.
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What do you use your G5 for?
- Thread starter Appleboy1717
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I use mine for computing!!!
Honestly besides for being a PPC machine the G5s are still rather capable machines.
yeah, they really are. I do not notice much difference between my macbook pro unless I am doing video stuff (encoding and such which is WAY faster on the intel) but the G5 is still a fast machine and for how old they are, I think they are amazing, and you can upgrade them and everything. I love mine. Hooked to two screens and everything.
What models are you considering?
Everything. It's my main work machine for design and web development. The only thing I really want it to do that it can't is run Chrome.
Reports like that make me really antsy. I'm moving to a MBP for the sake of portability, but if I'm spending $2K or more after 5 years of waiting, I expect something that's going to blow my old machine out of the water for Photoshop et al... even if the old one was a desktop and the new one is a laptop.
I mean, it loads things faster, and its faster, but for everyday stuff, nothing major. WHen it comes to video or photo stuff though, its a LOT faster. You really notice it there. I got the macbook pro first and was givin the G5, and was very surprised with its performance. However, if you want portability, get a mbp, BUT THE CURRENT one. The older ones only have the dedicated car and the damn thing is a lap burner with the card on. I always have it turned off. Honestly if you dont't need it get a macbook and throw in a 7200 drive.
I hope that applies for design as well... and serving web apps.
I'll be buying whatever they release this spring (or summer, at this rate), and will definitely need the dedicated card. One of my frustrations at the moment is that even the G5's 256MB max isn't quite quite enough video memory to always redraw the palettes properly in my Adobe apps in a dual-monitor setup (*sigh*)... but you have to pay through the nose to get more video memory than that from a MBP, STILL. (And apparently Adobe's finally offloading some processing to the GPU in recent versions of their apps, so video cards will matter a lot, even for those of us who don't game.)
I hope that applies for design as well... and serving web apps.
I'll be buying whatever they release this spring (or summer, at this rate), and will definitely need the dedicated card. One of my frustrations at the moment is that even the G5's 256MB max isn't quite quite enough video memory to always redraw the palettes properly in my Adobe apps in a dual-monitor setup (*sigh*)... but you have to pay through the nose to get more video memory than that from a MBP, STILL. (And apparently Adobe's finally offloading some processing to the GPU in recent versions of their apps, so video cards will matter a lot, even for those of us who don't game.)
Yeah, the 1999 version has the card, which I have and I like it a lot.
My G5 is currently empty, lol! it was a single cpu, the 1.6 Ghz, and would have sold for maybe $200 - $300 so I decided to turn it into a new Linux/Hackintosh machine but I haven't decided what to put in it yet. As far as noise it was quite a bit louder than my Mac Pro 2x2.66 which is virtually silent but it didn't bother me, I work in a data center and am used to the "white" noise.
Needless to say I have the guts from it and would be happy to send them to someone who could use them for the cost of shipping... Now gone, taken by...
Needless to say I have the guts from it and would be happy to send them to someone who could use them for the cost of shipping... Now gone, taken by...
might not be the case i swapped my old 2Ghz PM G5 for a 2.16Ghz C2D MBP and right away the G5 still felt faster, added to that the heat the MBP generated with anything cpu intensive put me right off lol
Yeah, current generation aside the mbp are really hot. The new ones with the option to turn the video card off allows you to run them way cooler. I really like it. But, if you do anything cpu intensive it does heat up.
I love my dual 1.8 G5
I'm actually thinking about buying a dual core G5 for school next year. Currently, I'm still looking for deals, but it seems like a good solution for me since I want a computer that can still do some work, but not break the bank like a new Mac Pro will. I'm not that much of a power user, so honestly it would be a waste to get a Mac Pro.
Right now, my main computer is my MBP, but I'm thinking about switching to something more lightweight for mobile use, and an actual desktop for when I'm at home. Ideally, I would like to run my 30" ACD off of the G5, so just wondering if there is a certain GPU I should be looking for that has Dual-Link DVI compatibility?
Right now, my main computer is my MBP, but I'm thinking about switching to something more lightweight for mobile use, and an actual desktop for when I'm at home. Ideally, I would like to run my 30" ACD off of the G5, so just wondering if there is a certain GPU I should be looking for that has Dual-Link DVI compatibility?
if memory serves it's only the later G5's that come with dual link dvi gfx cards look for the dual core 2.3Ghz and the 2.5Ghz, dont go for anything more then that because the higher spec models are water cooled and prone to leaking
The stock 6600LE graphics cards in the later dual-core G5s have one dual-link DVI port you can will be able to run a 30" 2560x1600 monitor.
I use mine as my home desktop. Got it discounted when the Mac Pros were announced in 2006, because I figured the transition would take time and, given my experience with the iMac G3, Macs tend to age quite well.
And four years on, I'm still happy with it, nagging worries about liquid coolant aside. I run it 99% of the time with the processors set to "Reduced" (2.0 Ghz) and it's still more than fast enough for most things I do with it. I've only found it wanting when playing AVCHD for example, or 1080p, and feel it takes its sweet old time compiling some MacPorts projects (like mplayer - processors got set to "Highest" for that one), but maybe the GNU C compiler is also to blame there.
I quite enjoy still having an Apple from an era pre iToys as my main machine.
And four years on, I'm still happy with it, nagging worries about liquid coolant aside. I run it 99% of the time with the processors set to "Reduced" (2.0 Ghz) and it's still more than fast enough for most things I do with it. I've only found it wanting when playing AVCHD for example, or 1080p, and feel it takes its sweet old time compiling some MacPorts projects (like mplayer - processors got set to "Highest" for that one), but maybe the GNU C compiler is also to blame there.
I quite enjoy still having an Apple from an era pre iToys as my main machine.
Haha alright thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Considering probably no G5s have any Applecare left, I'd gladly sacrifice a couple hundred MHz if it means it won't leak.if memory serves it's only the later G5's that come with dual link dvi gfx cards look for the dual core 2.3Ghz and the 2.5Ghz, dont go for anything more then that because the higher spec models are water cooled and prone to leaking
That's good to know! I'll keep an eye out for some used ones with the 6600LE. Currently, from what I've seen, most people selling G5s have them equipped with ATI cards, but I guess I'll just have to keep looking. Thanks!
I've found Flash to a huge degree is the culprit to this. That's why I use http://clicktoflash.com/
Most of the time it's little whoo's then silence most of the time. Never any big whoooooooshes. Some flash sites created lots of big whoooooshes heating up the processors needlessly. Plus it's quite irritating on it's own when Flash decides to take out Safari on IMDb.com from time to time.
Nice hearing about everyone and what you all do with your G5's.
Mine really is pretty quit though. It is the dual, but the fans never go above 1000rpm, or change at all really. I've been encoding videos for about 4 hours straight on it, sucking about 80 percent of the cpu and it is still normal.
Mine really is pretty quit though. It is the dual, but the fans never go above 1000rpm, or change at all really. I've been encoding videos for about 4 hours straight on it, sucking about 80 percent of the cpu and it is still normal.
