How many have a Powermac G5?

[UltraNEO*]

and are you going to move to Macpro..?
do you see benefits of ditching your machine in favor of a macpro (besides speed)...?

How often do you buy Mac's?

Jim

Hiya Jim.

Actually I have an MacPro '08 first and recently I'd acquired a PPC G5 - i know that's not normal... lol

Usually I'll buy a Mac when I discover there's something I need... could be a speed bump or a dedicated machine for a simple task..

In this case, I just need a machine to download stuff. The G5 was cheaper than a MacMini.

 

[MacManiac1701A]

The Powermac G5 is no where near obsolete...

I use my PMG5 more than I use my new Mac mini...

it is snappier than the mini...

Don't get me wrong the mini is great but I prefer the G5.

And I finally aquired a PCI-E WiFi card to replace the USB WiFi, the PCI-E is alot faster than the USB and it came with 2 antenna's and it's a B,G and N card.

 

[defor]

that is one of the most unfair comparisons ever...

"snappier..."

let's see.. you have a VERY modern, fast, high cache 1TB 3.5" drive in the G5...

16GB ram...

and you're comparing it to a 120gb laptop drive in a 2gb ram equipped system...

that mini will school the g5 in calculations hands down, but your over-equipping a horribly dated system with an absurd set of upgrades.. then comparing it to a stock mini.. big surprise what's faster...

this isn't even bringing into play the fact the g5 has a dedicated video card and the mini has integrated graphics.. on the upside, your x1900's shader level is pitiful by comparison, but ohhh, you're comparing apples to sour grapes since it can't run directx games anyway...

let's also take into consideration system cost... that G5's config would have been well over 3-4000$ easy when new given that ram alone (i'm out of touch with apple pro workstation prices)... and a mini is an entrylevel system priced and build from componets at a cost to the consumer of.. 600$?

edit:

as for being obsolete.. that g5 is long past obsolete.

will it run most modern Apple "PRO" apps, for which it was designed? NO

will it run current operating system from ANY vendor? NO

will it connect to modern display technology? NO

will it waste more power booting up that that mini will consume running all evening long? YES

edit x2:

now, this doesnt mean the g5 is a bad machine per se, just that it's NOT a viable example of modern computing anymore. as such, you should feel proud to have one fo the fastest "vintage" macs out there... but you, and a number of other users dead set on the superiority of ppc need to realize that the rest of the world abd apple has moved on, and if you can't jive with the fact that apple doesn't make computers the way you like them anymore (read; hot, loud, and ppc), perhaps you need to either not buy another computer again and figure out what you're going to do in 20 years when the g5 gives out, or deal with the fact that you're on unsupported hardware from this point out, and apple and the rest of the entire software world who have been waiting for 3+ years now for apple to kick the ppc's out of their support lineup, so that we can finally have an os optimized to MODERN cpu's, really don't care about a single thing that's going on in the legacy ppc world.

 

[helf]

You know, there is a *big* difference between 'being obsolete' and 'being usable'. The G5 is very obsolete in computing terms, but its still usable

 

[Mike Richardson]

I typed up a big long post, and the forum software ate it, and I don't feel like typing it again.

 

[luddite]

That's fine, I didn't have time to read it anyway

 

[Mike Richardson]

It was something like this:

1. obsolete - who cares

2. pro apps - only recently, and the older version doesn't become invalid and worthless upon release of newer version

3. yellow dog linux

4. define "modern display technology". exists DVI > HDMI and DVI > MiniDisplayPort adapters.

5. concession on this point - G5 eats a lot of power

 

[luddite]

Thanks for the abridged version... I'm totally with you on points 1, 2 and 5. Don't know about 4 (I thought DVI was current technology), and I'm not going to say anything about Linux since I'm perfectly happy running Tiger, which IMHO is the best modern OS I've ever used.

 

[MacManiac1701A]

For: Defor:

You can say what you want that is your opinion and that's fine.

But my point it that I don't have 3-5K to keep up with the LAGS (Latest and greatest Syndrome) I have more important things in my life like my 3 yr old daughter than to worry or spend money upgrading year after year.

My post about the PMG5 being snappier, yes it is so what?

My PMG5 runs everything I need to pro apps included... Do you upgrade Hardware and software every other year?

There are alot of people who cannot or will not upgrade year over year B/C technology changes so much that one can go broke keeping up, do you upgrade your car every 2 years? does it stop working after 2 years, after 4 years?

I have been in the I.T sector for 17 years and even companies that have DTP and web designers are still running G5's and cranking out work, some are running G4's also and they get the same results.

There are people running older versions of Office, photoshop on Color classics, 6400's, 6500's, PM G3's, PMG4's and getting the same results albeit slower.

Games are another story..

OS'es... one does not need to upgrade to the newest os'es everytime a new one comes out, why would you need to? 10.5.8 is fine for my PMG5. There are some features that were taken out from 10.6 that I do not like..

The upgrades to my G5; well it's maxed out, I won't run out of memory, the HDD's are fast I need to get a 1.4 TB hdd for the 2d drive bay to replace the 400GB B/C I need the space; and the graphics are fast, not the up to date but the machine as a whole is fast and I like it, works for me and that all that matters.

That beats the heck out of shelling 3-5K for a new machine.

It eats power... well so do G4's also... My PS in this machine is 600watts... ok the mini eats up 100 watts... the mac pro eats up; "Mac Pro 980W Power Supply"

 

[lighting]

My Dual 2.7 G5 is more than powerful enough for what I do - lots of CAD, some 3d rendering and light photo and SD video editing. So far, I see no reason to upgrade to an intel system, there are no killer apps that are intel only and I have an intel hackbook for the rare occasion I might want to run an intel only program.

I can't afford $5k every two years or even $10k every four just to keep up with apple's latest and greatest, and it doesn't seem necessary.

My only complaint is that the G5 is a space heater (idle temps around 51 degrees C), so I have to run AC more often than I'd like... but I don't expect a similarly specced mac pro to be any better.

 

[MacManiac1701A]

Ok, so in this thread or another one I said I sold my G5 and bought a Mac Mini... I was NOT impressed with the Mini.

People said it would run circles around the G5, Somethings it did somethings it didn't.

And snow leopard, yawn.... just an update....

So I recently bought off of ebay a PMG5 2.3 Dual core for 460.00 + 45.00 shipping.

I know the debate about the latest and greatest but I have all of the software I need and quite frankly I do not need the LAGS...

I sold the Mac Mini and turned a profit.

Call me nutty but so be it....

 

[MacManiac1701A]

Repairs by Model

Overall average: 23% repaired

Overall Standard Deviation: 0.059 (moderate variation between models)

Least commonly repaired model:

11% Power Macintosh G5/2.3 Dual Processor [Apr 2005 to Oct 2005]

Most commonly repaired models:

32% Power Macintosh G5/2.0 Dual Processor [Jun 2003 to Jun 2004]

29%

Power Macintosh G5/1.8 Single Processor (2nd Version) [Oct 2004 to Jun 2005]

27% Power Macintosh G5/1.8 Dual Processor [Nov 2003 to Jun 2004]

Highest first-year failure rate:

26% Power Macintosh G5/1.8 [Jun 2003 to Nov 2003]

22%

Power Macintosh G5/2.0/PCIe Dual Core [Oct 2005 to present]

Component Failures

Overall component failure average: 2.7%

Standard Deviation: 0.022 (moderate variation between component types)

Most commonly failed/least reliable components (>1 STDEV above average)

Logic board

Least commonly failed/most reliable components (>1 STDEV below average)

Airport, airport antenna

What is everyone's opinion about what I did?

 

[ppuskari]

My opinion is two things on what you did.

1. Great listing. I wish we could get access to all the models of this type of data to know what to look out for etc when buying old machines. I know I'm going to take into account that #1 rating for the 2005 model G5 unit as the better unit. At least if I'm reading that 11% means 11% of all the machines you repaired were that model, and NOT 11% of them were fixable...Does that make sense?

2. Thank you for understanding what Standard Deviation is and how to use it properly.. That's one of my pet peeves at work. BRAVO!

 

[johnklos]

I would not switch to a Mac mini:- slower, more expensive hard drive and more expensive optical drive (if you ever want to replace it)

- only one HD and one optical drive

- non-upgradable non-discreet graphics card

- non-upgradable CPU (the newest ones do not use a socketed CPU anymore)

- hard to upgrade memory

- lower RAM ceiling (maybe your processor is fast enough, but you run out of memory)

All of these things lead the Mac mini to have a much shorter useful lifespan. The Mac Pro (or G5) can be upgraded and last a lot longer.

I disagree. You don't need to constantly upgrade a machine to have a longer useful lifespan. We have PowerMac 9600s which have had the same configuration for ten or more years which are still used occasionally as Avid ABVBs.

Each machine is targeted to a different thing. One could equally argue that a Mac Pro or PowerMac G5 don't make good post-apocalyptic machines because they're not portable and they take too much power, but that argument hinges around whether people care about usability after the apocalypse. Same with mini versus tower - you might care about the number of hard drives, and you might want to swap out the optical drive, but most people get what they need and that's perfect.

As far as the graphics and memory are concerned, the graphics are pretty decent (much better than the Nvidia 6600s and 7300s that come in the last G5s and early Mac Pros), and 8 gigs is as much as the pre-PCIe G5s can take, so that's hardly a point in favor of the towers.

Anyhow, how upgradable are the processors in the G5 towers? Sure, you could swap out a dual 2 GHz CPU card for a dual 2.5 GHz, but it's a TREMENDOUS amount of work, and the cost makes it not really all that worthwhile. On the other hand, if you wanted, you could pull the motherboard of a Mac mini, buy a mobile Core 2 Quad, then send them both off to a facility which does BGA to have them swapped.

My point is that it's really hard to say what's important to most people, and if you make examples which are very atypical, others can also make counterexamples which are atypical.

At work we still have a quad G5 and a dual G5, and we still get a good bit of Avid and Final Cut usage out of them. We also set up Final Cut from time to time on an Nvidia Mac mini. None of the machines is obsolete, and none is not useful.

 

[Osgeld]

I disagree. You don't need to constantly upgrade a machine to have a longer useful lifespan

well the examples you gave for what is still working for you is a bit of a narrow spectrum

Its like saying my 87 oscilloscope is still doing its job fine so why should anyone need to upgrade to a newer / better / faster model

it totally depends on what your going to be doing with it, back to my scope it serves it need for me fine, but its near worthless in modern times

 

[Quadraman]

I'm still waiting for prices to come down more. I'm not buying a G5 unless I can get a quad core and even though they are at the lowest levels ever, I still think they have a good deal to drop before they become collectibles and start disappearing from the market.

 

[Cory5412]

In what ways, specifically, did the G5 outperform the mini? I don't think anybody actually said that things which were completely disk-bound would be better on a mini, although I do remember saying that 2.5-inch 5400rpm disks aren't bad, as I've been using them in my main computer and haven't felt the need or desire to upgrade to faster ones. If disk performance is absolutely the limiting factor on your use of anything other than a G5, then the only upgrade I can recommend is either switching away from a Mac where you can get an inexpensive, low power consumption machine that can hold 2 3.5-inch SATA disks, or a Mac Pro.

That having been said, I envy what must be the prodigious amounts of spare time you've got , because I would never have found the time to switch my main computer not just once but two or three times in the span of a year. I'd gotten a new PC laptop in January 2009, and it has been my main (almost my only) computer ever since. The only thing I've really done to disturb the machine's continuous availability was to upgrade to Windows 7 -- which was a process that took me nearly a month in terms of planning so I could get it done as quickly as possible.

Owning a recent computer does not qualify as LAGS. It would qualify as such if, with said computer, you were indeed compelled to continue upgrading it or replacing it for whatever reason -- which seems to be what happened, admittedly.

While the mini isn't as visually robust as a PowerMac G5, I have a hard time thinking of ways in which it is actually less capable at anything. The HDMI input/output adapter from blackmagic design (http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/ ) is one legitimate need for a Machine with slots, but PowerPC systems aren't supported, "yet" which means it's unlikely to be. However, the blackmagic design USB video input adapter ( http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/videorecorder/installation/ ) doesn't specify whether or not it requires PowerPC, but it's also likely to work very well with a Mac mini or iMac.

(Note: There are a few other more expensive cards that do work with the G5 -- but if you do any work that would require one of these cards, you probably either already own one, or are paid well enough to be able to justify the purchase price of a Mac Pro in order to take advantage of the additional speed and capability so you can do more of this work so you can get paid more.)

But like I said, you never specified what type of work you are/were doing with the machine.

And so, for me, $460 would go into a new 2009 Mac Mini.

 

[CelGen]

I got my dual 2.5 LCU G5 for $20 (well, more like $40 after the repairs were made to the LCU) as a replacement to my trusty old 9600 and I love it.

lots-o-ram, lots-o-disk space, okay video card and a fibre channel card thrown in just in case (as well as all the other usual internal goodies) and running 10.5 makes it one of the most awesome macs I have ever owned. I only wish I had the 30" cinema display.

 

[~Coxy]

While the mini isn't as visually robust as a PowerMac G5, I have a hard time thinking of ways in which it is actually less capable at anything.

GPU power is a big one if HDD access doesn't count.

G5s went up to 7800GTs, with slightly better models than that flashable too.

The mini only goes up to an integrated 9400 even in the brand new models.

 

[Cory5412]

Yes, the mac mini uses an IGP, no, I have never heard anyone say that most average use is worse for it.

The GeFORCE 7800 is ancient. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the 9400m could outperform it when you gave the mini 4 gigs of ram (so it can dedicate 512mb of the memory to the IGP)

Plus, as it has been mentioned before, many of the very latest software titles do not run on PowerPC macs, including Aperture -- which was the one thing hanging on for PowerPC, from Apple. Adobe's Creative Suite 5 will not run on a PowerPC system, Snow Leopard, which I would consider important due to security updates it probably has (like, Leopard's Java will never get updated, and there are some pretty serious security holes in there.)

My question stands: What are you doing on a PowerMac G5 that legitimately extends beyond the capabilities of a Mac Mini or even an iMac, but for which you can't justify spending the money to upgrade to a Mac Pro?

*(Keep in mind, I'm using what is today a midrange PC laptop, more or less the equivalent of the mac mini, but with a keyboard, mouse, monitor and battery built in.)