Why broken Macs are a better deal

[lighting]

I know, I know, this isn't 68k... but I did pick up a working TRS-80 model 4 out of someone's trash the other day, so it all balances out, right?

Like most G5s of its era, the bottom handles are bent and the rivets under the door have popped out, but there's nothing a torch and some patience can't fix, especially since the processors haven't leaked any coolant yet. It was listed on ebay for parts at a buy it now of $499, but the seller's description of the problem pointed to nothing more than a bum video card.

Sure enough, $70 and a Geforce 6200 later, it was up and running with a badly corrupted 10.4.8 install on the included harddrive that I quickly replaced with a fresh install of 10.5.6. A little stress testing with the beta OS X port of Prime95 and the system appears solid as a rock... and as loud as a jet.

Specs:

PowerMac G5 (early 2005) Dual 2.7 GHz Liquid Cooled

2 GB RAM

250 GB HDD

Bluetooth option

+ $70 for a Geforce 6200 AGP from another seller

The only bummer... I'm stuck using my old 15" Apple Studio Display until I can justify buying a good 23" or 24" flat panel.

I can't help but laugh that it took me until 2009 for me to get a mac from this decade... unless my Lenovo-based HackBook Pro counts. :lol:

 

[LCGuy]

Not bad. Just keep an eye out for leaking coolant!

 

[Mike Richardson]

I have a beautiful Dual 2.3 GHz G5 sitting in my warehouse rotting because I can't figure out what the hell is wrong with it.

After using it for an arbitrary amount of time, it just freezes. It's not the RAM, video card, optical drive, or hard drive. All I can figure is that it's the mobo, PSU, or CPU.

Anyway, congrats on your cheap G5.

 

[macgeek417]

I just remembered... I have even more Hackintosh distros to try... Hopefully one of 'em works :'(

 

[Unknown_K]

If you are a hardware kind of guy and have the time and temperment to fix stuff you can get great deals. Some of the cool things I have were from people who thought the items were broken and didn't have time to look into it so they dumped them cheap.

I don't think G5's are at their bottom of the value curve yet. Anybody have a clue how many G5's were built compared to G4 towers? You still see massive quantities of G4s around, but not G5s.

 

[Hrududu]

G5's are risky though. Last summer I picked up a single 1.6GHz Powermac G5 for $250 thinking it might be an easy fix. Ended up having a fried logicboard or processor so I ended up selling it for $200 to someone for parts. Seems like most G5's that don't work have something serious wrong with them 99% of the time. Glad you got lucky with yours.

 

[benjgvps]

The leaking coolent seems to be a big issue with them. One loose hose and * Sizzle*.

 

[Christopher]

I know, I know, this isn't 68k... but I did pick up a working TRS-80 model 4 out of someone's trash the other day, so it all balances out, right?*picture of awesome G5*

Like most G5s of its era, the bottom handles are bent and the rivets under the door have popped out, but there's nothing a torch and some patience can't fix, especially since the processors haven't leaked any coolant yet. It was listed on ebay for parts at a buy it now of $499, but the seller's description of the problem pointed to nothing more than a bum video card.

Sure enough, $70 and a Geforce 6200 later, it was up and running with a badly corrupted 10.4.8 install on the included harddrive that I quickly replaced with a fresh install of 10.5.6. A little stress testing with the beta OS X port of Prime95 and the system appears solid as a rock... and as loud as a jet.

Specs:

PowerMac G5 (early 2005) Dual 2.7 GHz Liquid Cooled

2 GB RAM

250 GB HDD

Bluetooth option

+ $70 for a Geforce 6200 AGP from another seller

The only bummer... I'm stuck using my old 15" Apple Studio Display until I can justify buying a good 23" or 24" flat panel.

I can't help but laugh that it took me until 2009 for me to get a mac from this decade... unless my Lenovo-based HackBook Pro counts. :lol:

Dude, check every hose to be safe.

 

[~Coxy]

I don't think G5's are at their bottom of the value curve yet. Anybody have a clue how many G5's were built compared to G4 towers? You still see massive quantities of G4s around, but not G5s.

G4s were 1999-2003, plus a little longer because Apple kept selling G4 towers for people who needed OS 9 bootability.

G5s were only 2003-2006, and not only that but the Intel transition was announced in June 05 so I bet they didn't sell too many of them in that last year.

A rough estimate indicates that there are just under two G4 towers for every G5 tower. Given that G4s are more out of date with a lot of them being obsolete while all G5s are still fully supported in 10.5 I think that explains why you see so many of the former compared to the latter.

 

[4seasonphoto]

Nice! But I don't know that I would've taken a $569 chance like that myself.

 

[lighting]

Dude, check every hose to be safe.

Don't worry, first thing i did when I got it was to pull the processor cartridge and look for leaks. And yeah, $570 is a little steep for a gamble, but the individual parts for one of these in "as-is" condition (meaning, yeah it's probably bad but we're not going to say it outright) were selling for more than that... the dual 2.7 processor cartridge alone was about $400.

 

[lighting]

Haha, I never thought new computers would throw me more than older ones.

you see, this G5 originally came with an ADC card. And, on the G4s, when you replaced an ADC card with a PC card that had been flashed for Mac, you had to tape two connectors that were off-spec or the system wouldn't power on. Well, I figured it was the same in the G5... cue intermittent kernel panics and problems restoring from sleep. (Sounds like a power supply or ram issue, right?) Well it turns out the 6200 really doesn't like being run at 4x speed in an 8x slot... and this is how it shows it.

Apple fixed their AGP implementation in the G5, and I didn't bother to look it up. :O

I pulled the tape, and now the system works wonderfully.

 

[Dan 7.1]

Actually the problem isn't the hoses, its the seals on the bottom of the LCU which make contact with the processors themselves. Its a really cheap o-ring and the liquid inside the LCU is corrosive, stinks, stings your skin, and looks like yellow milk. If you don't look out for it, this will happen. That one caught fire at my work, literally caught fire. there was ash as far up as the video card.

 

[Christopher]

I knew the G5's were a hot product but thats taking it a little too far.