Help - iMac G5 CPU load problem

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Hello, I would be very grateful for some help regarding my 2.0GHz iMac G5 with 1gb of RAM. The problem I am having is with User CPU % loads that continually hang whatever program I am using. This can occur when simply browsing in Firefox and it is the only program open, Illustrator CS3, and very often the print manager app will spike and hang when printing. I observe this happening with the activity monitor, a program's load will climb and at around 85-90% User CPU, the program will not respond and have to be force quit. This doesn't occur every time but does more often than not.

The activity monitor seems to suggest the User CPU % is strangling the System CPU % for resources and forcing the program to hang. My first impression was that it is a RAM issue, but when it occurs whilst simply net browsing, it feels odd. Does this point to a hardware fault, something allowing the User CPU % to throttle out of control? I did a fresh install of Tiger recently when I replaced the original failing hard drive with an IBM (Hitachi) Deskstar 7K1000.C SATAII 500GB 16MB. Would it be worth trying another fresh install as I have exhausted all the other avenues, reset PRAM, repaired permissions, etc?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give. My partner uses this iMac to run her small greetings card design business and it is driving her up the wall!
 
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Can anybody cast any light on this problem? I can't find any shared problems on Google, CPU loads on particular programs but nothing like mine. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
 

chscag

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Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Could be anything from a failing GPU to something going haywire on the logic board. You could use more memory in that machine but it still shouldn't be eating up CPU cycles like that. Since you have your original Tiger disks, run the Apple Hardware Test and see what it says, if anything.

Might also be time for your partner to invest in a new machine since she uses it for business.
 
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Thanks for the reply. I was afraid somebody would say invest in a new machine. We 'invested' in an old one (2006 G5) because it is a new venture and she was hoping to work up to a much better one. Sadly time... and Apple's shoddy hardware, has got the better of us.

Will try the AHT, a fresh install of the OS, and if that fails... out comes the hammer.
 

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