Apple G5 thoughts wanted

Sherm · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:18

Hi, would just like peoples thoughts on something.

My current Windows machine is doing my head in, nothing that can't be fixed, but just tired of the attention that windows requires. Nothing like my MBP i use all day at work and have done for the past 4 years solid !

Right, i can get one of the work G5's for prob £100 to £150, it would be a 2.7 Dual with 4gb RAM etc. Would you guys go for this and replace my windows pc (Spec as sig). I don't do much except media stuff (pics, internet and family movies) these days at home and any games i play on the xbox.

What do ya think? worth it or not?

bloodiedathame · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:22

I'd do it, selling your PC rig would probably make between £100 and £150. Can always install W7 on your Mac if you need to.

Sherm · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:30

Yeah, definitely leaning that way.

Will be sad to see the pc go though, as many people in here it's had lots of love in the past, but i guess i have just grown up and don't tinker about and spend the time like i used to on it. Issues in the past were a challenge, where now they are just a pain! lol

Having a google about i see that they may have issues with some newer SATA drives. As i would want to upgrade the drive from it's standard 250gb to a higher capacity SATA can anyone recommend a drive that would work from OcUk?

Spyhop · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:34

I put a WD 640GB in a Dual G5 and it was fine. It will be fine for standard use but despite its size/looks, it obviously isn't a powerhouse these days.

bloodiedathame said:
Can always install W7 on your Mac if you need to.

G5s can't run Windows, they are PowerPC architecture.

Combat squirrel · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:37

bloodiedathame said:
I'd do it, selling your PC rig would probably make between £100 and £150. Can always install W7 on your Mac if you need to.

Denied, you need an intel machine to install windows 7, also he could only go up to leopard and not snow leopard, for the money however, not bad at all, just dont expect to run the latest and greatest osx stuff.

Sherm · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:45

I would not want to run windows anyway and as far as i know it's only things like the newer Aperture's etc do not run. I use CS4 and have Acrobat 9 installed on it at work, so i know they work, thats all i need really. I guess the iLife's will be fine, well obviously the one that comes with Leopard.

Any other pointers or thoughts?

Sherm · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:47

I put a WD 640GB in a Dual G5 and it was fine. It will be fine for standard use but despite its size/looks, it obviously isn't a powerhouse these days.

But i guess nor is my pc compared to todays specs?....

bloodiedathame · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:54

Spyhop said:
I put a WD 640GB in a Dual G5 and it was fine. It will be fine for standard use but despite its size/looks, it obviously isn't a powerhouse these days.

G5s can't run Windows, they are PowerPC architecture.

Oh yeah, good point. My bad.

theheyes · 18 Oct 2010 at 16:33

Sherm said:
Will be sad to see the pc go though, as many people in here it's had lots of love in the past, but i guess i have just grown up and don't tinker about and spend the time like i used to on it. Issues in the past were a challenge, where now they are just a pain!

If it's requiring that much attention then there is probably something wrong. Beyond installing updates and the initial setup there should be no tinkering required.

As long as you know you're buying something that is now pretty much obsolete in terms of support then for that price go for it. It won't be as powerful as your PC but it sounds like you don't need it anyway with the exception of home movies, which, if you're not doing them often, won't really matter.

Caged · 18 Oct 2010 at 18:34

Buying a PowerPC Mac is buying a dead platform. As long as you are happy to be stuck with a power-hungry slow system then go for it.

Slogan · 18 Oct 2010 at 18:44

Caged said:
Buying a PowerPC Mac is buying a dead platform. As long as you are happy to be stuck with a power-hungry slow system then go for it.

I agree with the first part but definitely not the second. Some G5s still run Tiger pretty well.

Nexus · 18 Oct 2010 at 19:33

I've got a 6 year old Powerbook that is still more than useable.... infact, the only thing it really struggles with is video streaming on stuff like YouTube, it can't do HD streaming.

A PowerMac G5 will obviously cope a lot better.

I think it sort of demonstrates though that Macs do age quite well. As if this was a Windows laptop, I doubt I'd still be using it now after 6 years.

PardonTheWait · 18 Oct 2010 at 20:12

The age of the machine is no problem, the brick wall that is the PPC-Intel switch is. I wouldn't bother.

Nexus · 18 Oct 2010 at 20:12

Actually, I'd say more than anything it's Flash that it struggles with, but then Flash and Apple have never been good bed fellows anyways. Even my Mac Pro doesn't handle flash as well as I'd like.

Nexus · 18 Oct 2010 at 20:19

PardonTheWait said:
The age of the machine is no problem, the brick wall that is the PPC-Intel switch is. I wouldn't bother.

Depends what you are using it for though...

You still have plenty of programs that run on it and you still get software updates from Apple, they haven't totally stopped supporting PowerPC.

Then you've also got the fact that there are plenty of developers who still make PowerPC & Intel programs because there is the market for it. So far it's only been to my knowledge... Apple, who have switched to Intel only support, especially with Snow Leopard, more than anything because they also want you to buy a new machine. Adobe are the only other company I can think of whose latest set of programs are intel only.

G5s still have many uses... as I said before, to much disdain from a couple of users, the last post-production facility I worked at still uses G5s with a ton of RAM to chug through video conversion work just fine.

At the end of the day though, if it was me, I wouldn't buy one. But then it's all down to your needs and what you can afford as brand new MacPros aren't cheap.

PardonTheWait · 18 Oct 2010 at 20:30

Nexus said:
Depends what you are using it for though...

You still have plenty of programs that run on it and you still get software updates from Apple, they haven't totally stopped supporting PowerPC.

Then you've also got the fact that there are plenty of developers who still make PowerPC & Intel programs because there is the market for it. So far it's only been to my knowledge... Apple, who have switched to Intel only support, especially with Snow Leopard, more than anything because they also want you to buy a new machine. Adobe are the only other company I can think of whose latest set of programs are intel only.

G5s still have many uses... as I said before, to much disdain from a couple of users, the last post-production facility I worked at still uses G5s with a ton of RAM to chug through video conversion work just fine.

At the end of the day though, if it was me, I wouldn't buy one. But then it's all down to your needs and what you can afford as brand new MacPros aren't cheap.

He wants it for home use - a G5 is a pain for general home stuff nowadays. Yes at work, if your workflow was built around PPC machines and hasn't changed much, they'll keep going almost indefinitely, until your workflow changes. Home's different though.

Rameses · 18 Oct 2010 at 21:30

I'd go for it fo' sho'

A nice clean install of either Tiger or Leopard, iLife and your above programs.

It'll be as solid as a rock, unless the G5 cooling leaks! :eek:

Couple it with one of those old but good ACD's!!!

Sherm · 19 Oct 2010 at 09:24

Morning peoples, thanks for all your thoughts here.

I think i will look at re-installing my pc, maybe get a new drive for the op to install on etc and see how it goes.
Meanwhile i will keep an eye on the G5 and see if i can't persuade them to let it go due to it's age lol Hey it's not being used much anymore as have faster ones kicking around. Shame the wife would not allow me to bring an Xserve home (or work for that matter i bet !) as i have a spare intel quad one not being utilized at the mo ! Not exactly going to sit on the desk nicely though me thinks

Either way thanks again for your thoughts, exactly what i wanted. Yes i think the G5 would prob be fine for a while at home, but really i have a perfectly good pc that can do it just as well for what it needs to do and more still if i want. Just got to pull my finger out and get it all sorted once more.

SeraphX · 19 Oct 2010 at 10:28

GO FOR IT!!
although, make sure ya get ya moneys worth, dont go for an iMac, they are woefully slow
get a powermac G5, it'll eat the latest 2Tb drives, and load it up with ram, ( 2.7 duals can take i think a max of 16Gb? ) or there abouts, chuck leopard on it, and pow, watch it fly

on another note, the 2.7 is a water cooled machine,
you might want to be very careful with these, check for signs of water damage and if it goes wrong, you'll be looking at big money to replace parts

Caged · 19 Oct 2010 at 11:41

Slogan said:
I agree with the first part but definitely not the second. Some G5s still run Tiger pretty well.

If you just want something to browse the web on then there's options that will probably pay for themselves in terms of power savings over the course of a year. A G5 is a perfectly usable system for day-to-day light use but it's easy to fall into the trap of buying DDR/DDR2 RAM for it which is like throwing money into a hole. If you can get it for £100 then do it, flog it on eBay because people there pay silly money for things, and put some extra cash towards something with an Intel processor.