[SQLDba]

I'm am itching to pull the trigger on a dual 2.0 or 2.3 and am just curious - how upgradable are these systems?

I know that there are a lot of G4 upgrades for the older powermacs - is it safe to assume that as this system ages, there will be similar proc upgrades etc. for the G5's?

One of the ways I am justifying this purchase to the CFO (err wife) is that the G5 will "last longer" - i.e. the dual and the fact that they are Mac etc. make it have a longer lifespan.

Just wanting some confirmation that I'm telling the truth.

[Luca Rescigno]

I'm quite sure the processors are removable, so theoretically they could be upgraded. I'm sure Sonnet, PowerLogix, GigaDesigns, etc. will get around to making CPU upgrades for the PowerMac G5s at some point. It could take a couple years, though.

Even if the CPUs couldn't be upgraded, a dual 2 GHz+ processor is quite formidable and should be useful for several years, especially if you upgrade the other components like the video card, I/O, optical drive, hard drive, and RAM. I know several people who still use lightly upgraded dual G4s for professional work, with their original dual 450-533 MHz processors. They're still very fast and useful.

Think about it... a few minor upgrades to a dual 500 MHz PowerMac can make it run OS X very nicely. That's a five year old machine. It's not a speed demon but it'll beat just about any single processor G4 under 1 GHz in most things if you give it enough RAM.

[bowwowman]

Think about it... a few minor upgrades to a dual 500 MHz PowerMac can make it run OS X very nicely. That's a five year old machine.

As does my 6 yrd old B&W G4/650......

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by SQLDba

I'm am itching to pull the trigger on a dual 2.0 or 2.3 and am just curious - how upgradable are these systems?

I know that there are a lot of G4 upgrades for the older powermacs - is it safe to assume that as this system ages, there will be similar proc upgrades etc. for the G5's?

One of the ways I am justifying this purchase to the CFO (err wife) is that the G5 will "last longer" - i.e. the dual and the fact that they are Mac etc. make it have a longer lifespan.

Just wanting some confirmation that I'm telling the truth.

Dual processor G5s will definitely be viable far longer than single processor Macs. Now whether or not there will be processor upgrades is still being debated due to the G5's more complicated cooling and clocking design.