[bighead]

I recently bought a new Dual 1.25 GHz G4 tower (MDD2003) to replace my Dual 500 tower as my bedroom server. It will be here within a week. The G5 just isn't a space option either in the room my bedroom has, nor in the internal drive capacity and convenience. Processing power just isn't the primary concern for the machine.

It has the dual 1.25 G4s, 256 MB of stock RAM, 80 GB stock drive, and a combo drive. I'm going to be putting in 512 MB of Crucial DDR RAM, (2) 200 GB Western Digital WD2000JB drives (RAID1), and a Pioneer DVR-107 burner. I have an additional 10/100 NIC that will be going into it as well, and maybe a flashed Radeon 7000 video card (also lying around.) With tax and shipping (after my discounts), it rounds out to about $1950. I think I'm going to be very happy.

My question is, what if anything would you guys suggest I add, not add, or change about the system? I've not ever bought a desktop Mac before, as they've all been inherited. I think I've got a good start on it, but would like some pointers from those more experienced than I.

(I'm also thinking about replacing all of the fans with faster, quieter ones but won't do that for a while yet. I want to get the machine stable and running first...)

[BrettOZ]

Hey Bighead

I too have one of these machines, the noise is certainly one thing that still gets to me about this beast - but I put up with it. I opted to install the Pioneer A05 'Superdrive' and it works a treat.

I would suggest, just make sure the xtra RAM you throw in is 100% Apple compatible - that has been the only problem I have had so far (Generic RAM just doesn't cut it) and it caused no end of problems. No only with stability of the machine but also in installing Software (eg iLife - just would not load, crashed through the install)

All the best with the machine - they have enough grunt for what I need from a Mac (so far anyway)

[BrunoBruin]

Originally posted by BrettOZ:
I would suggest, just make sure the xtra RAM you throw in is 100% Apple compatible

What he said. You should be okay with Crucial RAM. That's what I use in my dual-1.25. The MDD models were picky about RAM and Crucial seemed to be the safest way to go.

The machine is definitely not quiet but it's much better than the first round of MDD Power Macs, before they changed the fans on the power supply.

[OzarkMtn]

Couple of things to consider:

1. If this is going into your bedroom, you better opt for the quieter fans ASAP, the thing is noisy.
2. Because it is noisy, be sure that the NIC card you plan to install does not prevent the G4 from sleeping, otherwise you are going to have to shut it down to be able to sleep, unless noise does not bother you.


If you could make room for a G5, I would seriously consider moving forward with the newer technology. It is not that much bigger than a G4 case. Think about setting yourself up for the future not just for today. You reference "discounts", sounds like you might be getting the educational discounts, if so, check into the entry level G5. Do you already own the hard drives? If so, you can put them into external FireWire enclosures.

Good luck & enjoy whatever you end up doing!

[bighead]

Originally posted by OzarkMtn:
Couple of things to consider:

1. If this is going into your bedroom, you better opt for the quieter fans ASAP, the thing is noisy.
2. Because it is noisy, be sure that the NIC card you plan to install does not prevent the G4 from sleeping, otherwise you are going to have to shut it down to be able to sleep, unless noise does not bother you.

The machine will be running distributed.net 24/7 in addition to its serving purposes, so it will be generating a significant amount of heat and not sleeping. The NIC isn't going to be an issue.

I'm probably going to replace the main blower with this 120mm fan from SilenX: http://www.silenx.com/productcart/pc...p;idproduct=76

I may also buy a couple of their smaller fans and use them in a manner similar to this XLR8yourMac.com article: http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/m...ling_mods.html

The SilenX fans are a bit more expensive than normal ones, but everything I've heard of them has been pretty darn good. I don't want this to turn into a mod thread, but I'm looking forward to some fun tweaks as well.