The OP, dearest SkyBell, already has a top of the line eMac. She's known for having and loving her eMac. It was her only machine until this past year. I think she still uses it for most things.
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Which PPC desktop gives the most bang for your buck?
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The OP, dearest SkyBell, already has a top of the line eMac. She's known for having and loving her eMac. It was her only machine until this past year. I think she still uses it for most things.
She has an eMac already
We used to have those all over the College I went to, myself, I had a Pismo, and Dell PC with a Voodoo Banshee Video card
Still have the old Dell and the Pismo 
Expect that 400 Dollar Gateway is far more usable, brand new, can run new software, and is more reliable. And is multiple times faster. A single core of an quad core APU A6 for example is faster than a Quad G5. And it has 4 cores, its intergrated GPU is also far faster than a 7800.
A G5 will run any free software.
If your on PPC, your not doing much besides tinkering.
No.
Also, G5s use a ton of power, and are not reliable.
My PC uses 900W.
You can get a great G4 for under 80 dollars, and spend a little on upgrades, and have a great hobby machine.
That is slow like a snail.
I have a co uple G5s, and PCs flew past them in performance almost a decade ago. They cant compete with even the lowest end PCs on any level.
So to the OP, if you want to tinker with PPC, and have a cool reliable machine. G4s are typically the way to go, I have several as well. Much more reliable than my G5s have been.
A G4 is not usable for web browsing.
Also, if your just doing basic stuff and old school gaming, a decent G4 will NOT do just fine.
G4's are not usable for Internet broswing? Skybell is reading this very post on her wonderful eMac. I'm typing it on my speedy Powerbook. Many other in the subforum still use G4's for Internet use. Some even use G3's still. G4's are extremely able when it comes to basic things and old games. Just because your quad chokes on Tumblr or Facebook, doesn't mean G4's can't do Internet things. There's more to the world than social media sites.
???
I can do even HD flash when browsing... Java applets works fine, all is good so why say something like that?
And a G4 wont do old school gaming? wtf?
Even my iMac G5 stutters when scrolling. A G4 w/o 7448, or maybe an xtreme 7457 would be even worse. My 12" G4 @ 1.67GHz (see the mac overclocking thread for details) is nearly unusable.
If you want a PPC that is usable for usual use get a Quad.
something is wrong with your computer... maybe you shorted something out.
I can gladly show you how I use office 2008 on the mainscreen of the PB while outputting via HDMI a 720p movie. I have usually 4-5 tabs open at the same time, I can even run FB flashgames (though I have to admit I dont play anymore but still)
I ripped a DVD the other day while browsing at the same time and it worked fine so your advice seems out of place.
She has an eMac already
We used to have those all over the College I went to, myself, I had a Pismo, and Dell PC with a Voodoo Banshee Video card
I remember, back in 2005 my college had the Art Science Lab full with eMacs. Man I remember the first day I walked inside that lab, I was impressed. Then I got to use one and it was a beast.
When they were upgrading to intel I wanted to get one but they returned to Apple all of those eMacs. Don't know why.
Yeah... If all you do is basic work, send emails, check twitter, etc a G4 is good. Not the best of course but it is good. I use my iBook G4 in my job, and it is very useful. Do some Word documents, some Excel charts, and listen to my music. Pretty basic. I like it, love it, I know its weaknesses but I got used to them.
And I still want an eMac
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I think you damaged your Powerbook. May be the thermal paste lake you put on it damaged it. I don't know
Just the other day, I updated my Facebook and checked these forums without issue on my 300 MHz iBook G3 running OS 9. How do you explain that?
Your Powerbook doesn't work well because you made it unstable and possible damaged it. My 12" Powerbook rarely stutters and works very well on nearly every website I browse with it. I've yet to encounter one that causes distress when trying to use it.
No it won't, most developers don't even make PPC software anymore. A few are left, but not much. If you had 400 dollars to spend, a budget PC is the way to go.
Yes, sure you go on the web, do facebook, watch videos, and do Word 2008 and all that, but if you need serious work done, PPC has passed.
The average run of the mill desktop computer bought at a Best Buy or Wal Mart will use about 250-300 watts of power. And will be about 8 times faster than a G5.
How do you figure? I have a decked out G4 without the CPU upgrades with an SSD boot drive, and it flies pretty good. Later G4s are actually faster than early G5s.
Incorrect, I still have the same Pismo laptop I used in College, fact I'm typing this on that very laptop. Besides flash sites, it handles the web just fine.
Yes it will, you just don't understand how to use software correctly.
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Just the other day, I updated my Facebook and checked these forums without issue on my 300 MHz iBook G3 running OS 9. How do you explain that?
How am I typing this on my 500mhz G3 Pismo?
Clearly, we must be COMMUNISTS
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Clearly you have damaged your hardware, or do not understand the correct software to use.
Hell, I have an old HP Mini Tower with 256mb of Ram, a Celeron 633 with a 12gb hard drive, running Windows XP pro, and it still does basic tasks just fine, and its WAY slower than most G4s
"No it won't, most developers don't even make PPC software anymore. A few are left, but not much. If you had 400 dollars to spend, a budget PC is the way to go".
I said FREE SOFTWARE, if it ain't supported THEN MAKE IT SUPPORTED!!!
"Yes, sure you go on the web, do facebook, watch videos, and do Word 2008 and all that, but if you need serious work done, PPC has passed".
If my G5 had a 7970, which it could if it wasn't for AMD not building ROMs, it would be as fast as my gaming PC. Everything besides the GPU is suitable for Crysis 3 or extreme video editing.
The average run of the mill desktop computer bought at a Best Buy or Wal Mart will use about 250-300 watts of power. "And will be about 8 times faster than a G5".
Really???
G5 w/PPC970
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/793254
HP w/AMD A4
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/2005207
How do you figure? I have a decked out G4 without the CPU upgrades with an SSD boot drive, and it flies pretty good. Later G4s are actually faster than early G5s.
Incorrect, I still have the same Pismo laptop I used in College, fact I'm typing this on that very laptop. "Besides flash sites, it handles the web just fine".
People still use flash?
"Yes it will, you just don't understand how to use software correctly".
How am I typing this on my 500mhz G3 Pismo?
TWO WAYS:
Fluid, which again is custom software, you shouldn't need custom software to go to a webpage
Or by dealing with stuttering and lag. I could type this post on my G4/400, but I'd rather use my G5.
Clearly you have damaged your hardware, or do not understand the correct software to use.
A computer should never need "the correct software to use". It should work without compromises.
I said FREE SOFTWARE, if it ain't supported THEN MAKE IT SUPPORTED!!!
"Yes, sure you go on the web, do facebook, watch videos, and do Word 2008 and all that, but if you need serious work done, PPC has passed".
If my G5 had a 7970, which it could if it wasn't for AMD not building ROMs, it would be as fast as my gaming PC. Everything besides the GPU is suitable for Crysis 3 or extreme video editing.
The average run of the mill desktop computer bought at a Best Buy or Wal Mart will use about 250-300 watts of power. "And will be about 8 times faster than a G5".
Really???
G5 w/PPC970
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/793254
HP w/AMD A4
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/2005207
How do you figure? I have a decked out G4 without the CPU upgrades with an SSD boot drive, and it flies pretty good. Later G4s are actually faster than early G5s.
Incorrect, I still have the same Pismo laptop I used in College, fact I'm typing this on that very laptop. "Besides flash sites, it handles the web just fine".
People still use flash?
"Yes it will, you just don't understand how to use software correctly".
How am I typing this on my 500mhz G3 Pismo?
TWO WAYS:
Fluid, which again is custom software, you shouldn't need custom software to go to a webpage
Or by dealing with stuttering and lag. I could type this post on my G4/400, but I'd rather use my G5.
Clearly you have damaged your hardware, or do not understand the correct software to use.
A computer should never need "the correct software to use". It should work without compromises.
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Saying it is not going to make it so. Reality is that developers are forced to drop PowerPC because newer dev tools won't work on PowerPC
This has to be a joke. There's no way you can run Crysis on your G5 (without dropping frames), even if the 7970 were compatible with the G5, you won't run it. It is like when you said you were running 10.8 with Qemu, this is not possible.
Any current HP computer with SLI Nvidia will be better for you
Well yeah.
Hmm... Yeah... Correct me if I'm wrong but I think, I think, Fluid is Leopard Only. Actually 'Safari' is a 'custom software'. Or am I wrong??
Saying it is not going to make it so. Reality is that developers are forced to drop PowerPC because newer dev tools won't work on PowerPC
Making nearly all open source software work is as easy as
1./configure
2.make
3.make install
This has to be a joke. There's no way you can run Crysis on your G5 (without dropping frames), even if the 7970 were compatible with the G5, you won't run it.
It runs on my PC. Crysis 3 is not a CPU dependent game. If it runs on a 7970, it'll run on the same 7970. That does assume that the 7970 works on PowerPC at all, which at the moment, it doesn't.
Any current HP computer with SLI Nvidia will be better for you
I already have a PC with a 7970 and an 8150, it isn't used unless it is for a game that isn't on PPC.
Hmm... Yeah... Correct me if I'm wrong but I think, I think, Fluid is Leopard Only. Actually 'Safari' is a 'custom software'. Or am I wrong??
Safari is a default browser. A default browser is in no way custom. To the best of my knowledge, Fluid creates a custom browser optimized for a single web page. Browsers optimized for single web pages are very custom.
Making nearly all open source software work is as easy as
1./configure
2.make
3.make install
This has to be a joke. There's no way you can run Crysis on your G5 (without dropping frames), even if the 7970 were compatible with the G5, you won't run it.
It runs on my PC. Crysis 3 is not a CPU dependent game. If it runs on a 7970, it'll run on the same 7970. That does assume that the 7970 works on PowerPC at all, which at the moment, it doesn't.
Any current HP computer with SLI Nvidia will be better for you
I already have a PC with a 7970 and an 8150, it isn't used unless it is for a game that isn't on PPC.
Hmm... Yeah... Correct me if I'm wrong but I think, I think, Fluid is Leopard Only. Actually 'Safari' is a 'custom software'. Or am I wrong??
Safari is a default browser. A default browser is in no way custom. To the best of my knowledge, Fluid creates a custom browser optimized for a single web page. Browsers optimized for single web pages are very custom.
Why would any developer outside of home brew a couple linux devs, and some hardcore PPC mac users make anything for PPC anymore? No one uses them, its a very very very small number of users. No money in it, not that the hardware could run it anyway.
It couldn't, it uses outdated very slow memory, old processors that aren't supported anymore, and really aren't that fast when you think about it. Even if AMD made a Rom for a 7970, Apple would still need to support it, and write their own in house drivers.
They won't.
A G5 can't do extreme editing anymore, throw 4K content at it and watch what happens.
Im not talking cheapo 380 dollar Deals, most people seem to spend about 700-800 dollars, what what I mean by run of the mill. A G5 stands no chance against an I7. Even most Mac Minis have I7s.
Also, the APU isn't the best CPU to test a G5 system against. That APU is also a SOC, which has an integrated GPU that can beat a 7800. Assuming its the newest gen of APU.
Finding a very cheap budget all in one doesn't mean much. Whats funny is a Quad G5 was a 5,000+ workstation, and that HP All in one is under 400 dollars in most retail outlets. While being smaller, quieter, and faster. Try comparing a G5 to an run of the mill I7 or I5, which is what most Macs and PCs use. The G5 won't hold up.
yes, still one of the most popular formats on the web. Many websites require it.
I'm typing this on TenFourFox, a direct port of Firefox to PPC, I don't need any custom software to go on the web.
So your saying computers don't need software to work? An OS is software! So why use it?
The OP wants to know what the best bang for the buck is for a PPC machine, the answer is not a G5. G5's run hot, are not reliable, early single G5 systems are slower than high end G4s, they take up more room, make lots of noise, and put out tons of heat.
G4s can be a little loud, but for a PPC tinkering, they are much better.
I don't know why you think the G5 Power Mac was some kind of super machine, or still has relevance in todays world. Because it doesn't.
I bought a dual 1.8 brand new right after college, so its not like I hate these machines, but they arent the wonder machines you think they are.
Today, nothing more than an old mac.
Its much more complicated than that.
No its not a very CPU dependent game, but it is very dependent on things like memory, even so. A G5 is still to slow to play a Game like that without dropping massing frames.
There was a very good reason PPC was dropped besides the lack of mobile chips. Intel very quickly steamed passed the G5s in performance, the orignal Mac Pro was on the same level, and faster in a couple aspects, by the next generation they had totally blown away the G5.
You must not game that much, the gaming selection on PPC isn't very big.
The Xbox 360 uses a PowerPC chip heavily based on the 970's architecture. The PS3 is PPC based as well. Both of these systems run Crysis 3.
Yes. Don't forget the Cell has more threads than even the quad and it runs about 3.2Ghz and has memory that is much faster than DDR2. The quad produces about 76.6 gigaflops with the PS3's Cell coming in at about 230.4 gigaflops. Also note the quote from your link and remember, benchmarks are a poor judgement of computation power.
But, Crysis 3 on a console is super toned down, and runs are a fairly low resolution, and is custom coded for the hardware, and it doesn't have a bulky general purpose operating system to deal with, not the same with a G5 Running an old Version of OSX.
And G5s just straight up suck at doing 64 bit anything, they just suck at that task.
The G5 was a stop gap measure from IBM to try to retain Apple as a small customer, but it didn't work.
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