New World Conquest #9... cheap G5 2.0 Dual-Core.

[Schmoburger]

Welp, it came to a point where I was without a daily Mac recently after my G5 2.0DP developed those logic board issues, and after percervering for a few days with the old Yikes G4 biding my time for a logic board to come up for sale, I went insane and just purchased the first G5 in short driving distance i could find as a replacement... a newer 2.0 dual-core snaffled off ebay with a Compaq LCD 15" monitor for $150. Fairly basic specs as it stands, 2 gig memory, standard graphics card, standard HDD... but not complaining at that pricepoint and within the local area.

It actuallly seems significantly more sprightly than the older dual-processor G5 it replaced, which in itself was more than comfortable until it became buggy.

Tangientally, I just discovered that since my last search, a replacement logic board became available for an early DP... So I guess that means I will be rebuilding the old one as well, as I can probably find some menial duty for it such as a file server and media server.

I know many do not care for G5's, but this is for the benefit of those that do and still appreciate them as a daily hack. Those that don't, please reserve opinions as to why I shouldnt be using old tech in 2015... I have heard it all before, after all. lol

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Sounds like a nice find. The dual core models are good machines, especially since you can load those guys with DDR2 (ECC even!) and PCIe cards.

 

[Schmoburger]

Yep, it's a very slick machine... Pleasurable and fresh to use, and a definite improvement in performance noticable between it and the single-core dual. How much of that is attributable to the flakey logic board is open to speculation, however an imrovement is an improvement no less. It dissapointed me at first that it turned out to be DC not DP (as advertised), as I realised all of my RAM etc wouldnt work, and I need to find an ADC adapter to continue using my Studio Display, however it opens me up to some sweet hardware I couldnt use in the old one!

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Yeah, I'm always torn between the coolness factor of the dual processor models vs. the more modern design of the dual core models. The G5 Quad is a balance, but those aren't cheap.

 

[Schmoburger]

Agreed... Awsome piece of gear but very hard to find on the seconhand market in Australia (and presumably everywhere else) as they represent a very small portion of the production numbers, and most either still do a good job and don't get sold because they were so expensive when new, or have suffered a case of G5 and gone belly up. So quite pricey in Australia still too... but i rarely ever see more than one or two for sale. And those that are, I doubt most people would look at them for th asking price as theyre still 8 year old hardware, and people arent so willing to pay the "Apple tax" anymore.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Yeah, they've reached the point where the LCS will have needed a rebuild, so a fair amount are probably dying.

When I replace my Mac Pro maybe I can find someone who will swap me for a Quad, lol.

Now that I no longer need to code, a G5 would work for much of my needs.

 

[Cory5412]

Neat find. In terms of values, I think the other problem that Power Macintosh G5s suffer is most normal people have no good way to mark them as being "old" -- Apple sold systems that look nearly identical from 2003 all the way out through late 2013, and you could still easily find them for sale at retail in 2014, and I think a lot of people are used to the PC world where a Dell you bought in 2013 is likely reasonably capable of running the most recent software, even if not at the speed of the most recent hardware.

The other good news is that the dual-core Power Macintosh G5s were typically very physically reliable.

I know many do not care for G5's, but this is for the benefit of those that do and still appreciate them as a daily hack. Those that don't, please reserve opinions as to why I shouldnt be using old tech in 2015... I have heard it all before, after all. lol

Just to clarify: I have a ThinkPad from 2003 in daily use. I'm not worried about old hardware. I might even pick up a G5 of my own one day, because I have a lot of apps from that timeframe that I used when the systems were new.

What I worry about is old software that doesn't get security patches, and isn't being monitored.

Thinking specifically about old hardware: I definitely want to pick up a Precision 490 or 690 with the Xeon 5080 processor(s) at some point. That system is basically the PC version of the dual- and quad-core PCI Express Power Macintosh G5s, and it'd be neat to see it in action.

 

[Schmoburger]

Neat find. In terms of values, I think the other problem that Power Macintosh G5s suffer is most normal people have no good way to mark them as being "old" -- Apple sold systems that look nearly identical from 2003 all the way out through late 2013, and you could still easily find them for sale at retail in 2014, and I think a lot of people are used to the PC world where a Dell you bought in 2013 is likely reasonably capable of running the most recent software, even if not at the speed of the most recent hardware.

The other good news is that the dual-core Power Macintosh G5s were typically very physically reliable.

Just to clarify: I have a ThinkPad from 2003 in daily use. I'm not worried about old hardware. I might even pick up a G5 of my own one day, because I have a lot of apps from that timeframe that I used when the systems were new.

What I worry about is old software that doesn't get security patches, and isn't being monitored.

Thinking specifically about old hardware: I definitely want to pick up a Precision 490 or 690 with the Xeon 5080 processor(s) at some point. That system is basically the PC version of the dual- and quad-core PCI Express Power Macintosh G5s, and it'd be neat to see it in action.

Hahahaha whilst I know we have butted heads on the topic of old vs new in a thread many months back, my comment definitely wasnt a pointed stab and I will concede that it is a valid concern to raise security-wise, the matter of old, unpatched abadonware. More a general observation as on al internet communities recently there always seems to be that one person who believes that somebody's gear (car, computer, bicycle, atomic bomb, etc...) is not worthy of mention and feels the need to voice an opinion. Just covering bases. I know for one you respect the hardware as well Corey... let's face it, if you didnt we wouldnt have a section for New Worlds! So yes no disrespect intended.

But  yes, I was also fascnated by the multi-processor Xeon systems back in the day and actually longed to build one but the price would have been prohibitive for something that would merely have been just for gags and novety. Might actually be a good time for me to try tracking one down myself a well now that such systems are well into the annuls of obsolescence. That is assuming in this day and age of tech-recycling contracts, I can find some gear. It's amazing how much has changed... there was once a point in time when multiprocessor 64-bit systems seemedlike witchcraft, and it wasnt long ago at all in reality.

Back on the subject of all things G5 however, it does please me to hear that the dual-cores arent overly failsome... I am hoping that I am less likely to suffer the same kind of processor socket issues as the dualprocessor systems, althoough i understand this is as much a product of the leadless solder flux itself of the era as it is the design of the machine. That said, replacement systems are still not prohibitively expensive anymore, should worst come to worst.

Also, relating back to previous statements made about the outlying high pricetags on quad systems, I actually did just discover one for sale for $100 but missing some pieces such as drives, case side, plastic inner cover and the heatsink cover.... tossing up whether or not i can justify taking the gamble, as it is some distance away... indeed in another state, and being in pieces there is no guarantee it will even work. It is potentially a very worthwhile excercise but also has the potential to be a complete waste of coin, given even the case is rather secondhand looking.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I'd pass on it unless you absolutely need the power.

PSU's are the biggest weakness of the DC machines, mainly due to cap issues. But they're still pretty good.

And yeah, I fully understand the weakness for dual processor machines. It's just the mental thought of "so much POWER" (no pun intended) that gets me.

That's why I ended up with a Mac Pro that's obsolete instead of something running Yosemite, lol.

 

[Schmoburger]

This is my thought process for the best part... At the end of the day it would be a novelty factor more than any projected performance gains that would have me wanting it. Not only is it potentially no more than  a less efficient way of effectively incinerating a greenback, I also have limited space for new machines.... It's quite an inconvenience even finding accomodation for the old sick DP. Ive stubbed my toe on it twice today.

Anyway... might be time to find al old junker system in any case to get the PSU from and recap that bad boy in preparation for when the inevitable occurs.

 

[Unknown_K]

The G5 DC's are air cooled so you don't have to worry about leaks killing a system. The things I hate about the PCIE models is lack of decent working video cards other then the slow 6600 crap they mostly came with and the expense of built in wireless (cards are cheap but you need an unobtanium adapter to use them).

The plus side is you can use cheap DDR2 RAM for 8-16GB (not sure what you would do with all of that). Sucks there are no PCI-X slots on the DC's since you can't use high end G4 capture cards (or on the cheap PCI only G5 models either).