Help! Got a Power Mac dual G5... what to do?

[ZeroTX]

I came into possession of a Power Mac G5 dual 2.0ghz tower. It's an impressive looking beast. It came as a corporation donation, minus operating system. I've ordered the RESTORE CD's from Apple, and according to them it will restore to OSX 10.4 Tiger. I have no idea what software it comes with.

Is software still available that will run on this PPC machine? It's obviously on the high-end of the PPC, but it's still not an Intel Mac. Is this machine worth fixing up? Is it worth locating and paying for a copy of Leopard?

It came with no keyboard, mouse or monitor. I'm connecting two 17" LCD's and going to go out and find a USB keyboard and mouse today (not sure I want to pay for a Mac branded one). I could easily upgrade the RAM and HDD, too, but again, I know so little about Mac and whether this is really an archaic piece that shouldn't be invested in?

A few hardware-specific questions: I seen an antenna jack... is this for Wi-Fi? Where can I get an antenna? (this would save me some wiring in the house) ... How fast are dual 2.0ghz G5's compared to say an Intel Core Duo 2.0ghz?

Help!

ZeroTX

 

[pigoo3]

I came into possession of a Power Mac G5 dual 2.0ghz tower. It's an impressive looking beast. It came as a corporation donation, minus operating system. I've ordered the RESTORE CD's from Apple, and according to them it will restore to OSX 10.4 Tiger. I have no idea what software it comes with.

It's mostly just the operating system...and some various utility programs.

Is software still available that will run on this PPC machine?

Sure you can still find software. Best places would be e-Bay, Amazon, maybe from time to time Craig's List, and various other internet stores.

Is this machine worth fixing up?

Well......it's certainly still a good computer. If you were a Mac user that had lots of existing software & files that required a Macintosh PPC computer...then I would say sure. But if you're just starting out with Mac's...you would probably be better off with an Intel Mac.

Basically you just have to be careful how much you spend on it. After you do a ram upgrade, more recent OS install, purchasing PPC application software, and anything else you may need...you might have spent enough money to get an Intel Mac.

Is it worth locating and paying for a copy of Leopard?

Again...it all depends. A copy of Leopard (10.5) on e-Bay it will cost you around $100-$125...just depends on how much money you want to invest.

It came with no keyboard, mouse or monitor. I'm connecting two 17" LCD's and going to go out and find a USB keyboard and mouse today (not sure I want to pay for a Mac branded one).

None of these items need to be "Mac branded".

I could easily upgrade the RAM and HDD, too, but again, I know so little about Mac and whether this is really an archaic piece that shouldn't be invested in?

Again...just depends on your plans for the computer...and how much you want to invest.

A few hardware-specific questions: I seen an antenna jack... is this for Wi-Fi?

Yes...it's for better WiFi reception.

Where can I get an antenna? (this would save me some wiring in the house)...

Various internet "Mac Stores" sell them...as well as e-Bay. I think that they can cost $20-$30 bucks.

How fast are dual 2.0ghz G5's compared to say an Intel Core Duo 2.0ghz?

I would not worry so much about the speed comparison. Your main concern is software compatibility. The G5 is one of the fastest PPC processor based Mac's made...so any PPC based software will run just fine.

But because it's a PPC based Mac...it will not run any software that requires an Intel cpu. So the comparison is really not that important.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

 

[vansmith]

As for software, the very fact that more and more software is being released as "Intel-only" may prove to be problematic. You'll need to find universal apps (ones that run on both architectures) or PPC only apps and be prepared to deal with older software. This doesn't apply to all programs but don't be surprised if you have to use older versions.

 

[ZeroTX]

Well, what I will probably end up doing is getting it up and going and giving it over to my brother who is studying to be a web designer. He has a large Windows 7-based laptop, but I feel he needs to be familiar with Mac to be working in that field. I will minimally install the restore discs and then update hopefully all the way to Tiger 10.4.11 and then install as much quality freeware as I can, such as OpenOffice, GIMP, updated browsers, etc. Any other suggestions or cautions? I'll be in it for under $50, even after buying a keyboard/mouse.

I also have another G5 for parts. I can salvage the RAM and HDD out of it (if the Power Mac G5 has a slot for a 2nd HDD?), etc. Maybe I can part out the rest... any value for a Power Mac G5 full case, motherboard, dual 2.0ghz procs?

Thanks,

Z

 

[pigoo3]

I can salvage the RAM and HDD out of it (if the Power Mac G5 has a slot for a 2nd HDD?), etc. Maybe I can part out the rest... any value for a Power Mac G5 full case, motherboard, dual 2.0ghz procs?

Yes...you can very easily install a 2nd HD into a PM G5.

As far as the parts. Check e-Bay. When you disassemble a computer & start selling the parts individually...it just depends on how many people are interested in or need the parts.

- Nick

 

[iggibar]

Honestly, the only problem that I've run into with my G5 in terms of intel compatibility is not being able to use ilife11, which is not saying much since it's not much of an upgrade from my ilife'08 disk. My G5 has taken over as the main computer...poor MBP

I would recommend an apple keyboard(wired one) because it has all the right shortcut keys. Other than that, a new graphics card, some memory, and a faster harddrive is worth it on the G5...it's still a great computer in my book!

 

[chas_m]

Should be a perfectly functional computer. I would encourage you (or your brother) to eventually max out the RAM and find a copy of Leopard to put on it, otherwise the software search is going to get difficult.

I also second the use of a Mac-oriented keyboard, but a PC one will work in a pinch.

 

[DarkestRitual]

How fast are dual 2.0ghz G5's compared to say an Intel Core Duo 2.0ghz?

Help!

ZeroTX

I owned that dual 2GHz G5 with 1.5GB of RAM, and then my current machine (2GHz core 2 duo). The G5 definitely held its own, but the RAM is 400MHz vs this machine's RAM at 1066MHz. The new machine wins the race, but the G5 doesn't embarrass itself.

 

[ZeroTX]

Thanks everyone. I do find it ironic that my HP machine of the same era is still a viable machine now running the latest version of Windows and latest version of all software packages, but a Mac of that era is coming up on obsolescence... In the past, Macs were known to outlast their PC counterparts generally speaking.

That being said, I've also noticed that personal computing as a whole has slowed down in development, which isn't all a bad thing. My 4 year old machine has a 500GB hard drive and 2 1TB externals.... the vast majority of brand new machines still come with 500 GB hard drives.... strange. My machine is a Core2 Quad 2.4ghz, which is not much slower than the fastest thing you can buy now and it is 4 years old.

One thing, though, a vintage Mac is cool, but nobody wants a vintage Windows 3.1 computer in their house, haha.

-Z

 

[dtravis7]

A lot of the obsolescence with the Power PC Macs is because Apple changed to Intel X86 Architecture. IBM kept promising faster Power PC chips and also a G5 that would work in a thin notebook without melting down, and nothing came. So Apple went with the best platform at the time.

Keeping Power PC support in OSX really is not a good thing as it makes the footprint so much larger. That is why Snow Leopard no longer supports the Power PC.

Agreed on the old Mac Vs old Windows hardware. There is just something interesting about the old Macs. Fun to mess with I guess.