Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

rotuts · Oct 20, 2008, 11:51 AM

A friend of mine, who is on a very very strict budget, cant stand the noise from his g4 windtunnel any more

he found a G5 used of course single porcessor 1.5 ghz for 500 $$

for his uses this might be fine unless this model was a lemon. I don't recall that far back

any ideas on this models rep?

cheers and thanks

OreoCookie · Oct 20, 2008, 12:25 PM

G5s are not good buys anymore (especially the slowest one ever built). Advise him/her to get a used Intel-based iMac or a Mac mini instead. Both of these machines will be a lot, lot faster.

Doc HM · Oct 20, 2008, 12:31 PM

You might have a case for a dual 2.0GHz G5 but the single 1.6 was a deliberately hobbled low end G5. The time of Mac that Apple used to throw out as a bargain basement for the truly financially challenged. It basically used the architecture of the old G4 with the G5 chip bodged on. Leave it alone.

Money spent instead on a mini will be money well spent. If you really can't stretch to a new mini then look on craigslist or ebay for a used one (preferably an early core 2 duo but a core solo will still walk all over a 1.6 G5.

sek929 · Oct 20, 2008, 12:41 PM

I'd say get a used White C2D iMac, and it will completely embarrass an old G5 like that. Price should be about 500 bucks too.

Sure it won't have the expandability of the G5's tower, but PPC is dead, and a 1.6 is going to seem dog-slow compared to even the slowest current Intel chips.

Big Mac · Oct 20, 2008, 01:28 PM

PPC4Ever.

But yeah, the single processor G5s were pretty pathetic. If she can find a decently priced Dual 1.8 or 2.0, that would be worth considering; otherwise Intel is the way to go.

sek929 · Oct 20, 2008, 01:30 PM

You think he would be able to find a Dualie for 500 bucks?

rotuts · Oct 20, 2008, 01:45 PM

money is a significant issue in this case, speed itself ( as long as its faster than the G4) really is not.

Ill pass along any suggestions

thanks for the prompt replies

Big Mac · Oct 20, 2008, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by sek929

You think he would be able to find a Dualie for 500 bucks?

Certainly possible. Wasn't a Marketplace posting asking for $700 this week for a 2.0?

OreoCookie · Oct 20, 2008, 02:09 PM

For $700 you should be able to get a very nice Intel-based iMac and you're getting close to refurb iMacs.

sek929 · Oct 20, 2008, 03:33 PM

The 2.4 C2D refurb iMac is now at the price point my 2.0 was (~1000 dollars).

I'd imagine the C2D White iMacs are around 500+ these days.

I wouldn't pay anywhere near 700 dollars for a PPC machine, no matter how well the Dual G5s stack up.

Doc HM · Oct 20, 2008, 03:58 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/PC-Computer-Appl...d=p3286.c0.m14

sek929 · Oct 20, 2008, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by Doc HM

http://cgi.ebay.com/PC-Computer-Appl...d=p3286.c0.m14

No OS and a CD-RW drive?

Waste of $700.

tooki · Oct 20, 2008, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by Doc HM

You might have a case for a dual 2.0GHz G5 but the single 1.6 was a deliberately hobbled low end G5. The time of Mac that Apple used to throw out as a bargain basement for the truly financially challenged. It basically used the architecture of the old G4 with the G5 chip bodged on. Leave it alone.

Money spent instead on a mini will be money well spent. If you really can't stretch to a new mini then look on craigslist or ebay for a used one (preferably an early core 2 duo but a core solo will still walk all over a 1.6 G5.

While I thoroughly agree that $500 for that G5 is too much, given that a Mac mini barely costs more and is a lot more powerful, your explanation of the 1.6GHz is complete balderdash.

Yes, the 1.6 is the slowest G5 ever released, but it's in no way on a hobbled motherboard. A G5 chip cannot, in any capacity, operate in the architecture of the G4, they're waaaaay too different. The only thing different between the motherboard in the 1.6 and the faster models is that the 1.6 only has one bank of RAM (4 slots) instead of two banks (8 slots), resulting in slower RAM access. Either way, vastly faster than a G4. (Though I suppose that on some tasks, a dual-processor G4 at 1GHz or faster might be faster than a single-processor G5 on some tasks.)

P · Oct 21, 2008, 03:33 AM

Originally Posted by Doc HM

You might have a case for a dual 2.0GHz G5 but the single 1.6 was a deliberately hobbled low end G5. The time of Mac that Apple used to throw out as a bargain basement for the truly financially challenged.

In an attempt to quiet down the xMac folks. It did, for a few months, but as soon as it was obvious that noone bought it, Apple killed the model again. xMac supporters eventually rallied, claiming that what they really wanted was something even cheaper with an upgradeable GPU. Oh, and a pony.

Veltliner · Oct 22, 2008, 11:49 PM

white intel iMac with a SuperDrive.

Then fill it up with RAM from crucial.com.

Look at Apple's refurb's. They have a one year warranty.

SSharon · Oct 29, 2008, 01:12 PM

How fast is his G4? Is he looking to sell it?

Veltliner · Oct 29, 2008, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by SSharon

How fast is his G4? Is he looking to sell it?

Fast enough for a digital aquarium.

SSharon · Oct 30, 2008, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by Veltliner

Fast enough for a digital aquarium.

Lol, I can see why you would say that in a thread about how fast a 1.6 G5 is but let me explain.

My MDD is dual 1.0 and to upgrade to dual 1.8 G4 would be something like $700 and obviously not worth it. Since I really like my MDD I am always on the lookout for dual 1.25 or dual 1.4 machines that I can buy for less than the cost of a processor upgrade. I'm looking for a deal on a video card as well.

P · Oct 31, 2008, 11:53 AM

Don't bother with an upgrade as small as 1.25 or 1.42 Ghz version of what you already have. You are already hamstrung by the low FSB, and a higher clocked model will be even more hamstrung. If the speed is enough, stay with what you have. If it's not enough, save up for a new iMac.

Bwa · Nov 5, 2008, 11:40 PM

I wouldn't bother with the G5. If you _do_ go the G5 route, get one of the dual core ones. I had a dual 2.0 single core/dual proc and a dual-core 2.3 G5. The dual-core box was significantly faster and significantly more stable, ran cooler and quieter.

But at this point, there is no reason to buy a G5 unless you are trapped in needing OS 9--but frankly, it's time to upgrade if you are.

Buy a used Intel box. It will smoke the G5 and use a lot less electricity.

scottiB · Nov 6, 2008, 11:50 AM

I had a 1.6 G5 from my wife's school for a few months. It ran CS3 quite slowly even with maxed RAM. My DP-800 G4 was faster in most ways.

cgc · Nov 13, 2008, 03:02 PM

Wasn't the low-end G5 the one that had that PCI-X card slots in it, which were quickly replace to PCIE?

P · Nov 13, 2008, 05:48 PM

No. The low-end G5s from first, second and third generation had only PCI while the rest in those generations had PCI-X. Only the last generation had PCIe (on all models).

cgc · Nov 13, 2008, 10:54 PM

Ahhh...I was too lazy to look it up...

We got a Dell server at work and it has PCI-X...WTF? This is a late 2008 model with XEON CPUs...IT people...

shdwghst457 · 02:51 AM

Originally Posted by Bwa

I wouldn't bother with the G5. If you _do_ go the G5 route, get one of the dual core ones. I had a dual 2.0 single core/dual proc and a dual-core 2.3 G5. The dual-core box was significantly faster and significantly more stable, ran cooler and quieter.

But at this point, there is no reason to buy a G5 unless you are trapped in needing OS 9--but frankly, it's time to upgrade if you are.

Buy a used Intel box. It will smoke the G5 and use a lot less electricity.

Truer words never spoken about the dual core. i have a dual proc 2.5 and a dual core 2.0, and the dual core is virtually silent whereas the dual proc processed a fair amount of ambient fan noise. with the Late 2005 (dual core) i literally have to be using it or look at the power light to see if it's on.

but, as far as OS 9 goes, G5s don't boot into OS 9, and leopard on any platform doesn't run classic (Tiger does, Intel and PPC)

reader50 · Sep 16, 2009, 08:12 PM

Tiger runs Classic only on PPC. Tiger/Intel never got that ability.

Big Mac · Sep 16, 2009, 08:53 PM

My dual processor 2.0 is quite quiet, FWIW.

shdwghst457 · Sep 18, 2009, 06:31 AM

right on reader50, hadn't thought about it being a PPC-only thing but that makes perfect sense. and big mac, you're lucky, i had one dual 2.0 with a logic board that woudn't calibrate the fans so it ran full blast 24/7, and my second 2.0 DP made a fair amount of noise from time to time as well but if it wasn't doing much it would be quiet. nothing's as quiet as my G4 Cube chillin' in the corner running Leopard with it's 1.5GHz proc though!

Doc HM · Sep 19, 2009, 02:44 PM

Here's a weird one. My 2.7dual has been running the fans at full blast and sounding like a plane on take off. Tried all sorts of things but no joy. This morning I took the door off because it needs a clean and replaced it with the door from my defunct 2.0dual which is in better condition. Ever since then the fans have been whisper quiet.

I know the inner plastic door trips a sensor if it's not in place but I'm fairly certain the G5 is unaware of the state of the side panel.