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Demonhood · Jul 10, 2009, 07:33 PM

likely. altho, like chris, my G5 won't go to sleep. and if it shuts down for some reason, i have to leave it unplugged for half a day before it'll turn on again.

altho, unlike chris, mine doesn't perform all that well in my main program - Aperture. 8 cores will help with that.

chris v · Jul 11, 2009, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by Demonhood

altho, unlike chris, mine doesn't perform all that well in my main program - Aperture. 8 cores will help with that.

Aperture is definitely pokey on a G5. I think mainly because of the crap video cards. Photoshop doesn't lean on the video card the way Aperture appears to do. Bridge 2.0 in CS3 is pretty slow to load on my G5, but once it's done its caching business, it's fine.

I'm still using a dual 2.0 at work too, and there are days when Illustrator CS3 can bog down real good. Throw 7 or 8 thousand vector points at it, and beachball time. That said, it doesn't seem too much faster on the Intel machine across the building, but it's only a dual-core & not an 8-core like the current models. If Illustrator reliably used all 8 cores, I'd be campaigning for a new machine at work, but I think 6.5 of them would sit idle all day, since 90% of my output is Illustrator these days.

voth · Jul 16, 2009, 11:34 PM

I'm still running my 2004 G5 Dual 2.0Ghz though I try not to have her on as often since she's starting to sound like a jet engine even with the simplest of tasks. I really wish I was kidding.

I don't see myself upgrading any time soon since an aptly equipped quad core (2.66Ghz) would set me back $3,000 and it's just not a practical investment now. If Apple could every get beyond overcharging for their "PC's" then I would consider an upgrade.

driven · Jul 17, 2009, 12:09 AM

Originally Posted by voth

I'm still running my 2004 G5 Dual 2.0Ghz though I try not to have her on as often since she's starting to sound like a jet engine even with the simplest of tasks. I really wish I was kidding.

I don't see myself upgrading any time soon since an aptly equipped quad core (2.66Ghz) would set me back $3,000 and it's just not a practical investment now. If Apple could every get beyond overcharging for their "PC's" then I would consider an upgrade.

That's where I am at (and why I have been considering keeping the G5 going well beyond it's expected life.) I can't justify spending the money now to upgrade that machine. Not now anyway.

As such, I've just spent some time migrating some of my more frequently used tasks BACK to a PC. (Something I didn't ever want to have to do.) Hopefully it's temporary for a few years. The hardest part was getting all of those years of photos out of iPhoto. (BTW: Picasa sucks ... believe it or not Windows Live Photo Gallery is better ... at least it recognizes iPhoto keywords.)

The new RAM is in my G5 2.0 Mhz now. It's MUCH faster. I'll get a few more miles out of it. But damn, original DDR memory is expensive.

bballe336 · Jul 17, 2009, 01:07 AM

I just revived a DP 1.42ghz MDD G4 as a fileserver, it's the first time in nearly 3 years that I've used a PPC machine for personal use. I only set it up because it was the cheapest option I could find, and while it does what I need it to, it is undoubtedly very sluggish with leopard on it.

angelmb · Jul 17, 2009, 03:57 AM

^^ is the RAM maximized?, I don't find my single 1,25 GHz MDD sluggish with 10.5

Rumor · Jul 18, 2009, 05:13 AM

I still have a Sawtooth with an upgraded 1.4 GHz processor. While it has been on the back burner for quite some time, I need to replace the power supply before I do anything with it. I was thinking of using it as a file server for my household. There are three of us living here, two have Macbooks, and I have two Macbook Pros (though will be selling one sometime soon).

Currently, I use a MBP as my primary machine. I just picked it up today, so I am still getting all my information off the old MBP.

reader50 · Jul 18, 2009, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by applefan2009

Attaching related statistic:
Intel 10.6 1.27%
Intel 10.5 81.19%
Intel 10.4 5.92%
Intel 10.3 or before 1.46%
PPC 10.5 5.14%
PPC 10.4 5.92%
PPC 10.3 or before 1.27%

Something here strikes me as suspicious. Does anyone else notice it?

Mac Hammer Fan · Jul 18, 2009, 07:57 AM

Of course, there were no Intel machines shipped with Panther.
And I am also surprised that 1,27% use 10.6. So many beta testers?

Natz · Jul 18, 2009, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by reader50

Something here strikes me as suspicious. Does anyone else notice it?

Is it that the numbers add up to more than 100%?

awcopus · Jul 18, 2009, 08:40 PM

Apple completely replaced the machine. Only my hard drive and ATTO SCSI card remain unreplaced, and that's fine with me (the HD was a recent purchase, the original HD was replaced years ago). Just picked it up from the Apple Store Thursday night (around 1am).

Apple also gave me a $100 coupon on any Apple Store purchase as a way of acknowledging that there had been some confusion generated by contradictory feedback from various employees. I was not that upset but Apple volunteered this all the same. I'll promptly spend the $100 on a gpu upgrade for my Mac Pro after Snow Leopard comes out and there are published specs comparing nVidia and ATI options.

The G5 looks brand new. It has none of the slight blemishes (a cosmetic scratch here and there) that had accumulated on my previous G5 over the course of five years. And it's definitely running quieter than it had been for the last few months (not whisper quiet like my Mac Pro, but pleasantly hushed). Wife and I are thrilled to be able to hold off on a Mac Pro upgrade, hopefully for another 365 days. She is a book designer and this machine serves her Quark/InDesign needs more than adequately. If/when it finally dies, I plan on turning the faceplate with the Apple logo into wall art in my office.

Apple definitely stepped up to the plate on this one. My wife fears I will now become an intolerable fanboy, which, for a while, I may resemble. But I wouldn't have thought to approach Apple if not for MacNN and, specifically, reader50. I deeply appreciate your chiming in with encouragement and helpful information when I posted earlier this month. You really helped me out, man. Thanks again.

Don Pickett · Jul 19, 2009, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by chris v

Aperture is definitely pokey on a G5. I think mainly because of the crap video cards. Photoshop doesn't lean on the video card the way Aperture appears to do. Bridge 2.0 in CS3 is pretty slow to load on my G5, but once it's done its caching business, it's fine.

I'm still using a dual 2.0 at work too, and there are days when Illustrator CS3 can bog down real good. Throw 7 or 8 thousand vector points at it, and beachball time. That said, it doesn't seem too much faster on the Intel machine across the building, but it's only a dual-core & not an 8-core like the current models. If Illustrator reliably used all 8 cores, I'd be campaigning for a new machine at work, but I think 6.5 of them would sit idle all day, since 90% of my output is Illustrator these days.

Illustrator isn't a speed demon on a dual quad-core machine. I think Adobe's just given up.

awcopus · Jul 22, 2009, 11:21 AM

I am now experiencing intermittent problems with the newly repaired G5. The problem involves the machine going to sleep, revving the fans to the max, and not responding to anything but a power button shutdown. Since picking up the machine last week, this has happened twice. Fortunately, Apple covers Apple Care repairs for 90 days. They are having me run an extended hardware test, and then conducting a clean install of Leopard if that doesn't turn up any problems.

The drama continues to unfold.

Big Mac · Jul 22, 2009, 12:12 PM

That sounds like a thermal runaway. One of the temp sensors may be malfunctioning and forcing the Mac to sleep. Take it back in.

iChris · Jul 22, 2009, 01:04 PM

I have an old G4 laptop I use for my Nikon scanner. Good old Nikon refuses to update the software for intel macs.

BaBaBooey · Jul 22, 2009, 02:57 PM

I have a 2x 1.8 ghz Powermac g5 with 4 gigs of ram a 250 gig master and 1 TB slave, Leopard, CS4 and Final Cut 6

it runs real well, can be slow when certain things are open, but i do love it. Alot of the time now i'm using my dual 2.1 ghz macbook (white) after i upgraded the ram to 4 gigs and a new 320 gig seagate HD

i still love my g5 and even when i get a Mac-Pro in the future, my G5 will find a home as a server probably

chris v · Jul 27, 2009, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by Don Pickett

Illustrator isn't a speed demon on a dual quad-core machine. I think Adobe's just given up.

They bought, then cancelled Freehand, so what's the point? It's not like we've got anywhere else to go. CorelDraw? (I laugh in its general direction)

Todd Madson · Jul 30, 2009, 03:23 AM

Well I'm using my G5 2.5 dual still because with the economy being what it is, I'm not able to afford a
MacPro machine that is its equivalent for some time.

Besides, in terms of computer upgrades my wife's 1.2 ghz lamp style imac needs replacing first.

This machine is mostly maxed out and I use it for my music productions without issue. To get a
machine with this kind of spec in the Mac Pro line, well, I'd have to pay a lot. And this G5 was one
that while under applecare had one of those pesky coolant leaks. If it happens again I'll just go to
my backup, a dualcore Athlon64x2 windows box. Ain't no way I'm going back to a 400 mhz G4
in 2009 or later.

But here's the spec on this beast:

Biggest issue is the weaky-weakey video cards - if I could replace it with a better AGP video card
I might get another couple of years out of it. I'll still need to get a couple years out of it anyway.

As it is, my G4 was a better deal economically - it lasted longer but then again they were still
banking on PPC at the time.

I can was hoping to see Corei7 Xeons in MacPro by the time I switch finally.

CoachU · Jul 30, 2009, 02:21 PM

I've been using my G5 dual 2GHz for a bit more than 3 years now. Haven't had any problem with it so far. It is doing great with its 5.5 Go of RAM. A very good machine. But life is too short to wait for a change. I should receive my new baby today or tomorrow. 8-core Nehalem. Sorry G5...