- Joined
- May 20, 2008
- Messages
- 44,213
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- Location
- U.S.
- Your Mac's Specs
- 2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
With all of the excitement (and some disappointment) with the announcements made by Apple at the 2012 WWDC yesterday...and in the light that I sold my 2009 8-core Mac Pro last week...I thought that I would dig out my old Powermac G5...and see how it would perform.
I have to say that I haven't used this computer in a while...so I wasn't sure what to expect. Specs on the computer:
- Powermac G5 (from 2004-2005) 7-8 years old
- dual 1.8ghz cpu's
- 4 gig ram
- 160gig HD
- OS 10.5.8
- GeForce FX 5200 video card with just 64meg of vram
- built-in Airport
The primary daily tasks I use my computers for are internet surfing, e-mail, instant messaging, and some video chat. The websites I normally frequent are:
- Cnn.com
- MSN.com
- Online investment sites
- Mac-Forums.com
- Everymac.com
- Macsales.com
- e-Bay
- Insidemacgames.com
- Craig's List
- Apple.com
- etc., etc.
I got to tell you...I would be hard pressed to see much performance difference between this Powermac G5...and my 17" 2.5ghz core 2 duo MacBook Pro...or even the 8-core Mac Pro I recently sold (for the activities I mentioned above).
Even You-Tube and internet video runs smooth as silk...including the new Apple videos for the new products just announced yesterday!
When you consider that internet surfing & e-mail are the primary activities for many many computer users...and the fact that I saw someone last week buy a very similar Powermac G5 on e-Bay for $55 bucks (usually they sell for more like $125-$150). Folks could sure save a lot of money buying a used computer, versus spending $1500-$2000+ for a 27" iMac or the new MacBook Pro with the retina display.
Of course being a long time computer person...I understand the:
- excitement
- "sexiness"
- bragging rights
...of buying & owning the latest model Apple computer.
But you can see the cost gap between a brand new Apple computer ($1500-$2000+), and a 7-8 year-old Powermac G5 ($55-$150)...and the performance gap that the average computer user actually needs...and the amount of performance they actually own in a much newer & more expensive computer.
Of course again...this is primarily for the computing tasks of internet surfing, e-mail, instant messaging, even video chats (tasks most folks do)...I would say a dual-cpu Powermac G5 is just fine...and you certainly cannot beat the price!
If we were talking gaming, video or serious photo editing, running the latest versions of Adobe Creative Suite or Final Cut Pro...a Powermac G5 won't/can't run these apps.
Just something to think about before swiping that credit card or writing that check for $1500-$2000+ for a brand new computer!
- Nick
I have to say that I haven't used this computer in a while...so I wasn't sure what to expect. Specs on the computer:
- Powermac G5 (from 2004-2005) 7-8 years old
- dual 1.8ghz cpu's
- 4 gig ram
- 160gig HD
- OS 10.5.8
- GeForce FX 5200 video card with just 64meg of vram
- built-in Airport
The primary daily tasks I use my computers for are internet surfing, e-mail, instant messaging, and some video chat. The websites I normally frequent are:
- Cnn.com
- MSN.com
- Online investment sites
- Mac-Forums.com
- Everymac.com
- Macsales.com
- e-Bay
- Insidemacgames.com
- Craig's List
- Apple.com
- etc., etc.
I got to tell you...I would be hard pressed to see much performance difference between this Powermac G5...and my 17" 2.5ghz core 2 duo MacBook Pro...or even the 8-core Mac Pro I recently sold (for the activities I mentioned above).
Even You-Tube and internet video runs smooth as silk...including the new Apple videos for the new products just announced yesterday!
When you consider that internet surfing & e-mail are the primary activities for many many computer users...and the fact that I saw someone last week buy a very similar Powermac G5 on e-Bay for $55 bucks (usually they sell for more like $125-$150). Folks could sure save a lot of money buying a used computer, versus spending $1500-$2000+ for a 27" iMac or the new MacBook Pro with the retina display.
Of course being a long time computer person...I understand the:
- excitement
- "sexiness"
- bragging rights
...of buying & owning the latest model Apple computer.
But you can see the cost gap between a brand new Apple computer ($1500-$2000+), and a 7-8 year-old Powermac G5 ($55-$150)...and the performance gap that the average computer user actually needs...and the amount of performance they actually own in a much newer & more expensive computer.
Of course again...this is primarily for the computing tasks of internet surfing, e-mail, instant messaging, even video chats (tasks most folks do)...I would say a dual-cpu Powermac G5 is just fine...and you certainly cannot beat the price!
If we were talking gaming, video or serious photo editing, running the latest versions of Adobe Creative Suite or Final Cut Pro...a Powermac G5 won't/can't run these apps.
Just something to think about before swiping that credit card or writing that check for $1500-$2000+ for a brand new computer!
- Nick