Just acquired a mint Power Mac G5 (1.6)...I know I know, lol

Hey there Mac Forum! (Long time lurker, first time poster)

I've searched and searched for info and have found some posts that were informative but in the end, it was hard to get the info I needed without weeding through the endless amount of troll posts.

ANYWAY,

The title says it all. I rescued a Power Mac G5. It looks amazing. Clean, well kept etc. I have yet to power it up but let's just assume it boots up fine, what are my options for making this current...or as current as possible? It's not Intel so I know motherboard and processor is going to be my first bridge

Basically, what are my options? Most programs I want to run on this thing are Intel based so I guess I need to start from the ground up.

If anyone out there doesn't mind me picking their brain about this, it'll be greatly appreciated. And sorry if this topic has been done before...

Welcome to Mac-Forums..

A Mac isn't a PC, you cannot replace the guts of it to update it or anything. So it's not like you can find the Intel versions of the Logicboard and replace the PowerPC based one in there..

You are stuck with the PowerPC G5 processor in there and at best can update to OS X Leopard 10.5. This, however, isn't really much since virtually all applications these days require OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 as the minimum requirement and Snow Leopard needs an Intel-based Mac..

I'm not sure how much you "rescued" this Power Mac for, but you'll have to invest some time in finding applications that will work with this well over 10-12 year old machine..

Bah, that's what I figured. The machine was free so I'm not really losing out. And I just love the case. Maybe I'll just try to upgrade it as much as possible and have it as a knock around desktop to check email and browse the internet with.

Thanks again!

Well free is good..

You can upgrade the RAM and the hard drive. Hopefully you got the original installation media with the Mac so you can do a clean re-install to get it back to its original performance..

As far as browsing goes, you can use Safari that came with it, but if you want another browser, you'll have to use specific versions for PowerPC since all newer versions have dropped support. You will also likely have to find an old version of Adobe Flash if you want that..

Grayfox215th said:

Bah, that's what I figured. The machine was free so I'm not really losing out. And I just love the case. Maybe I'll just try to upgrade it as much as possible and have it as a knock around desktop to check email and browse the internet with.

Click to expand...

Hi & welcome to the forum! Guess that there may be a reason why something might be free - just saying -

BUT, check HERE to see if you can identify your specific G5 model - then, plenty of information that might be useful - Dave

Ha, I deff got what I paid for. Maybe I'll just gut the case out and turn it into a cool fish tank.

Grayfox215th said:

I have yet to power it up but let's just assume it boots up fine, what are my options for making this current...or as current as possible?

Click to expand...

Unfortunately there's really nothing reasonable you can do to make this thing "current". And if you did try "something"...it would cost you so much...that you might as well just go out and purchase a first generation Mac Pro. And unfortunately...even a 1st gen. Mac Pro cannot be made current.

And for what it's worth (and not to be negative)...but a 1.6ghz Powermac G5 is the worst Powermac G5 there is. But...free is alway a good price!

You're pretty much stuck with OS 10.5.8...which is about 4 versions behind the most current (10.9.x).

You don't need to turn it into a "fish tank"...otherwise you would negate the "rescue" you made!

- Nick

Yeah, I have a current gen mbp which is a beast in itself...I just wanted to take some of the strain of my day to day off it and on to a desktop. But it is what it is.

I appreciate all the help, guys!

GIVE IT A MISS.

To install a SATA I 1.5GB/ps SSD, boost memory to say 8GB sand then an ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card is going to set you back the best part of $300 and it will still be an outdated slow 2003 computer.

I still have 1500 mbs of ram from my old G5 I will give you if you get it operational by using leopard.
PM me if you are interested.