04-08-2011, 09:00 AM

I was just at an auction this past evening, and stumbled upon a PowerMac G5 7,3 for $110, and I had to have it so I purchased it. It has a 1.8Ghz Dual G5, 1.25GBs RAM, 150GB SATA drive, and 64MB Nvidia with the new and old Apple DVI port. So my question is, what are the max upgrades i can put in this baby, in terms of max 'unofficial' RAM and a newer GPU with the dual monitor support. Is it possible to swap out the processors themselves to a more powerful CPU, or no? I know they have 2.7 dual G5s, but i'm not sure if i could put something like that in or not.

04-08-2011, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by mknabster

I was just at an auction this past evening, and stumbled upon a PowerMac G5 7,3 for $110, and I had to have it so I purchased it. It has a 1.8Ghz Dual G5, 1.25GBs RAM, 150GB SATA drive, and 64MB Nvidia with the new and old Apple DVI port. So my question is, what are the max upgrades i can put in this baby, in terms of max 'unofficial' RAM and a newer GPU with the dual monitor support. Is it possible to swap out the processors themselves to a more powerful CPU, or no? I know they have 2.7 dual G5s, but i'm not sure if i could put something like that in or not.

First let me say that $110 is an EXCELLENT price for a dual processor Powermac G5...assuming everything is working ok. The Powermac G5 dual 1.8ghz (model Powermac 7,3)...has a max ram capacity of 4 gig, and has PCI expansion slots.

As far as the video card...the best choices for upgrading would be either a:

- Radeon 9600 128meg (2 DVI Ports)
- Radeon 9650 256meg (2 DVI Ports)

But don't be surprised if these cost close to or more than the $110 bucks you paid for the whole computer (especially the 9650)!

Another upgrade I would consider almost mandatory...is an Airport Extreme card (probably around $20-$30 + shipping on e-Bay). You will also need the special Powermac G5 external airport antenna (about $20-$30). This is assuming it doesn't already have an airport card installed & it doesn't have the antenna.

To be honest. I would quit while I was ahead...and enjoy the $110 price tag...and not put too much more into it. But I would install an airport card...and I would probably recommend increasing the ram to at least 2 gig...if not maxing it out to 4 gig.

HTH,

- Nick

04-08-2011, 10:11 AM

My main purpose for wanting this was for a backup to my current MBP, which by-the-way, i did the SMC reset on, and it has been lasting a bit longer now, so that's good. Yea I had it plugged in last night, it came with a Dell Ultrasharp 17in, apple keyboard, and mouse, and it flies with the 1.25 GBs of RAM installed. I'm not quite sure about the Airport card, i know it has this little hole on the back for the airport, but i'm not sure what i would plug in there. I would like to max the machine out, so i'll be looking into that, but i probably will get the 256 ATI, but if i install that with its current Nvidia card, would I be able to use 3 monitors with it? It has a DVI and ADC on one card, so i would need an adapter for the ADC.

04-08-2011, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by mknabster

I would like to max the machine out, so i'll be looking into that, but i probably will get the 256 ATI, but if i install that with its current Nvidia card, would I be able to use 3 monitors with it? It has a DVI and ADC on one card, so i would need an adapter for the ADC.

The video card is usually installed in an 8x AGP slot (different from the PCI expansion slots)...thus you would only be able to install 1 video card. To install a 2nd video card...you would need a "PCI" video card (not too easy to find).

But if you go the 9600 or 9650 card...you would be able to have dual monitors.

If the current video card has a DVI & an ADC port...you can run dual monitors with it. But yes...you would need an ADC to DVI adapter if you don't have an older Apple monitor with an ADC cable.

- Nick

04-08-2011, 04:38 PM

Oh ok, that's not too big a deal then. So the rest of the slots in the machine, the black ones, are they the same as the one the video card is in? Thye all looked the same to me, I thought they were all PCI; so the video card is the only AGP slot?

04-08-2011, 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by mknabster

Thye all looked the same to me, I thought they were all PCI; so the video card is the only AGP slot?

They may look the same at a quick glance...but the pin/tab configuration is different for the AGP slot (where the video card is)...compared to the PCI slots.

- Nick

04-08-2011, 09:03 PM

Oh ok. I'm currently doing some burning with the tower, and it's only hitting 5x max; would I be able to get a 16x burner upgrade for this.

04-08-2011, 10:30 PM

Originally Posted by mknabster

Oh ok. I'm currently doing some burning with the tower, and it's only hitting 5x max; would I be able to get a 16x burner upgrade for this.

The burn speed depends on what sort of media you're burning...CD's, DVD's, etc. Here's a possibility:

Samsung SH-S222 Int 22X DVD/CD 'Super-MultiDrive' DVD... $29.99 at OWC

- Nick

04-09-2011, 11:38 AM

Yea it was DVD+R going at 5x, too slow for me.

04-09-2011, 06:38 PM

Do not set the burner at a set speed. Just position to 'Best' and let it run. Speeding it up too much will produce drink coasters. And it is an old machine probably with an old Superdrive also.

04-13-2011, 09:12 AM

Yea that's what i have it at, best, but it's still considerably slow compared to my other external drive i have.

04-13-2011, 09:18 AM

Oh another question, I have an HP 1040 external dvd burner; would i be able to install that in the tower, or would i need drivers for that one?

And...would this GPU work: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...deon_9250.html

04-13-2011, 06:10 PM

If the HP is an ATAPI IDE drive it may well install but may not burn any faster. Remember an internal optical drive requires a molex power connection and the IDE cable connectors. Sure the external has these?

For the price of them, get a Pioneer internal as they are as cheap as chips.


http://www.serversupply.com/products....asp?q=DVD-120