G5 upgrade to Mac Pro

[Seth Mac Fan]

I have a dual 2GHZ Power Mac G5 , I plan on getting a Mac pro next year sometime and I have some questions .

Will I see a big improvement in speed coming from a dual 2GHZ G5 ? I mainly web browse , listen and watch podcasts light email and some video and photo editing .

How is the Ubuntu support on the Mac Pro with the standard parts ? Is it easy to Dual-BOOT ?

Lastly do you think a Mac Pro will be supported for a long time in regard to OS updates ? I have seen what apple is doing to other intel macs by dropping support for mountain lion and I am just wondering do you think I could get at least 10 years out of it at least ? They dropped support for powerpc pretty quickly for my taste .

Thanks .

 

[GermanyChris]

I have a dual 2GHZ Power Mac G5 , I plan on getting a Mac pro next year sometime and I have some questions .

Will I see a big improvement in speed coming from a dual 2GHZ G5 ? I mainly web browse , listen and watch podcasts light email and some video and photo editing .

How is the Ubuntu support on the Mac Pro with the standard parts ? Is it easy to Dual-BOOT ?

Lastly do you think a Mac Pro will be supported for a long time in regard to OS updates ? I have seen what apple is doing to other intel macs by dropping support for mountain lion and I am just wondering do you think I could get at least 10 years out of it at least ? They dropped support for powerpc pretty quickly for my taste .

Thanks .

Why are you buying a MP?

 

[peabo]

I have a dual 2GHZ Power Mac G5 , I plan on getting a Mac pro next year sometime and I have some questions .

Will I see a big improvement in speed coming from a dual 2GHZ G5 ? I mainly web browse , listen and watch podcasts light email and some video and photo editing .

How is the Ubuntu support on the Mac Pro with the standard parts ? Is it easy to Dual-BOOT ?

Lastly do you think a Mac Pro will be supported for a long time in regard to OS updates ? I have seen what apple is doing to other intel macs by dropping support for mountain lion and I am just wondering do you think I could get at least 10 years out of it at least ? They dropped support for powerpc pretty quickly for my taste .

Thanks .

Coming from that machine, you'd see a massive boost on ANY of Apple's current computers, even the cheapest mac mini or an Air. And from the sounds of your actual machine usage, you'd probably be more suited to an iMac than a Mac Pro!

 

[Seth Mac Fan]

Coming from that machine, you'd see a massive boost on ANY of Apple's current computers, even the cheapest mac mini or an Air. And from the sounds of your actual machine usage, you'd probably be more suited to an iMac than a Mac Pro!

Well , I really want something I can keep upgrading and adding to it , I dont like the way apple is glueing everything together thats why I want a tower . I plan on using more heavy applications when I start up college again next year . I also want something thats going to last in regard to the hardware staying relevant years and years down the line .

 

[GermanyChris]

Well , I really want something I can keep upgrading and adding to it , I dont like the way apple is glueing everything together thats why I want a tower . I plan on using more heavy applications when I start up college again next year .

How many $500 mac minis could you buy over the 10 year period vs the one $4000 MP?

 

[peabo]

Well , I really want something I can keep upgrading and adding to it , I dont like the way apple is glueing everything together thats why I want a tower . I plan on using more heavy applications when I start up college again next year .

Well then yes, you'll see a massive boost. Don't look at the GHz, you can't compare a G5 to current models using that as an indicator of speed. Anything Apple makes right now will totally toast your G5 but a substantial margin.

 

[Seth Mac Fan]

Well then yes, you'll see a massive boost. Don't look at the GHz, you can't compare a G5 to current models using that as an indicator of speed. Anything Apple makes right now will totally toast your G5 but a substantial margin.

I just think it would be kinda cool to run the current mac os lol , Im still on leopard ! But it doesn't look like much changed since leopard besides the app store and a couple other things . Mountain lion looks like it is adding almost nothing but a couple ios apps nothing really under the hood so to speak .

 

[thekev]

Well , I really want something I can keep upgrading and adding to it , I dont like the way apple is glueing everything together thats why I want a tower . I plan on using more heavy applications when I start up college again next year . I also want something thats going to last in regard to the hardware staying relevant years and years down the line .

Their support policy is the same as usual. They claim things will be supported at least 5 years past the end of production of that model, but it varies. It can be 4 or less. The mac pro 2,1 will be a bit over 4 from the time it was dropped when it goes away with mountain lion. It is absolutely completely impractical to assume 10 years out of any computer. You have no idea what will change in that time. You don't know if parts will die and need to be replaced. You should never adjust your budget to a 10 year replacement cycle. I'd balance your spending on it lasting 2-3, and figure it could slide to 5 or more if you do well. Keep in mind the base mac pro right now still uses hardware that debuted in 2009 with a few 2010 options.

Aside from all of that, saying you may end up using heavier applications in college doesn't mean much. You should look at your requirements then, not try to guess them, and there is no way to guarantee it will remain relevant or keep going without hardware failure of some kind (drives, graphics card, etc).

Last thing is if you want something easy to keep up to date, look at a custom built PC tower where you can swap components out individually. The markup on the mac pros has been pretty high since 2009, and at this point you're paying almost as much for the same thing 3 years later.

 

[Seth Mac Fan]

Keep in mind the base mac pro right now still uses hardware that debuted in 2009 with a few 2010 options.

Well I thought I heard somewhere that Tim Cook said they where planning a update to the mac pro sometime this year or next .

 

[thekev]

Well I thought I heard somewhere that Tim Cook said they where planning a update to the mac pro sometime this year or next .

That PR thing said something was coming. He didn't commit to it being a mac pro. This last "refresh" was more of a rehashing of the prior models, so they still use nehalem and westmere. Next year it may still be sandy bridge e unless ivy e ends up being a full product line release (westmere wasn't). Given that it's sliding a year out from its initial projection, I don't expect it to be a full ivy lineup. I'm not sure why the cop out this year.

Anyway your 10 year estimate is still unrealistic. If it needs to last 10 years, you're spending too much on the computer.

 

[Seth Mac Fan]

Anyway your 10 year estimate is still unrealistic. If it needs to last 10 years, you're spending too much on the computer.

That was just a exaggeration , I just wont something that lasts a while you know doesn't have to be ten years but 5 that would be nice . I would get another computer but would still like to use the mac pro 5 years down the line as a secondary machine .

 

[Mal67]

Well I thought I heard somewhere that Tim Cook said they where planning a update to the mac pro sometime this year or next .

Hopefully the MP won't dissappear and a new one is released soon. Check out the imacs or abuild your own pc and they don't interest you then go for it.

 

[thekev]

That was just a exaggeration , I just wont something that lasts a while you know doesn't have to be ten years but 5 that would be nice . I would get another computer but would still like to use the mac pro 5 years down the line as a secondary machine .

Five wouldn't be that difficult if they'd keep it up to date. Right now you have the combination of a somewhat weak entry model cpu budget combined with older tech. They aren't slow. It's just not a very good deal buying one today. I would evaluate your needs when you're about to go to college. What we have right now is a combination of Intel slipped on shipping dates, then Apple completely ignored Sandy Bridge E, and workstation chipsets do not see much in annual updates meaning they have no real reason to wait for Ivy. I don't know what they're planning for the line.

 

[bf2008]

Sorry, but it doesn't sound like a Mac Pro is the right choice for you. It sounds like the iMac is the best. I'm not sure whether it'll last 10 years, but if you put 8gb of ram and an SSD it'll last many years for sure.

And otherwise you can get a mac mini, and just sell it and buy a new one when it starts getting slow. You can buy 5 mac minis for the price of one Mac Pro, I'm sure that will last longer than one mac pro and it'll be a better user experience throughout their lifetimes too.

 

[Seth Mac Fan]

And otherwise you can get a mac mini, and just sell it and buy a new one when it starts getting slow. You can buy 5 mac minis for the price of one Mac Pro, I'm sure that will last longer than one mac pro and it'll be a better user experience throughout their lifetimes too.

You know I think you guys are right I looked at the mac mini specs and they look pretty decent im sure the $599 one will probably blow my G5 away . How good are the graphics in the cheapest model ? $599 is a lot better than a $2,499.00 cheapest mac pro , with the extra money I can get a nice 27 inch monitor probably not a apple one though those are $1000 I could get a hp or acer monitor 27 inch for $300 . Lets just hope now they don't get rid of the mini by November or January when I will be able to purchased it .

 

[velocityg4]

Well , I really want something I can keep upgrading and adding to it , I dont like the way apple is glueing everything together thats why I want a tower . I plan on using more heavy applications when I start up college again next year . I also want something thats going to last in regard to the hardware staying relevant years and years down the line .

You can just replace the iMac in two years and sell the old one then do the same thing again in another two years. The total amount you'd have spent including money you get back from resale on the base iMacs would be about the same as one base Mac Pro. Except you would have up to date tech every two years and be able to easily run the most recent software.

As far as heavier applications in college goes. You won't need the extra power in a Mac Pro. Even with courses that use pro apps. Your projects and assignments won't be to the degree that you would need a workstation computer.

As for the upgradeability of the Mac Pro. The days of updating the CPU is pretty dead. The socket gets changed very frequently. Even when a socket does last a few years. New generations of CPU don't always work on old motherboards because the chipset doesn't support them.

You can add external hard drives to the iMac and 8GB of RAM (16GB in higher end models) is more than enough for just about anything. The only thing you can't really do is upgrade the video card but you don't mention gaming as a requirement.

 

[keysersoze]

How good are the graphics in the cheapest model ?

The base model graphics are integrated and about a year old. Doesn't sound like your purchase is imminent, so it's probably best to wait for the Mac Mini refresh that could happen anytime between when Mountain Lion is released (Late July), and the end of the year. The graphics will be improved on the base low end model from the Intel 3000 to Intel 4000 which is a substantial increase (for integrated graphics performance). If the benchmarks show that's not good enough for what you do, then the mid-level Mini has discrete graphics which aren't terrible for basic gaming. Hopefully the new Mini will have a discrete graphics option as well. Your best bet is to wait and see... like all the rest of us!

 

[paulrbeers]

Well , I really want something I can keep upgrading and adding to it , I dont like the way apple is glueing everything together thats why I want a tower . I plan on using more heavy applications when I start up college again next year . I also want something thats going to last in regard to the hardware staying relevant years and years down the line .

I can't believe no one pointed out that if you are going to college, that you would probably be better off with a laptop! Even the Macbook Air's will crush your current desktop (especially now with the 2012's and the Ivy Bridge/HD4000 setup). Get a 2012 Macbook Air 11 or 13, and 8GB of RAM and you can still use an external 300 monitor and it will only run you about half what an entry level Mac Pro (without monitor) will run you....

 

[Seth Mac Fan]

The base model graphics are integrated and about a year old. Doesn't sound like your purchase is imminent, so it's probably best to wait for the Mac Mini refresh that could happen anytime between when Mountain Lion is released (Late July), and the end of the year. The graphics will be improved on the base low end model from the Intel 3000 to Intel 4000 which is a substantial increase (for integrated graphics performance). If the benchmarks show that's not good enough for what you do, then the mid-level Mini has discrete graphics which aren't terrible for basic gaming. Hopefully the new Mini will have a discrete graphics option as well. Your best bet is to wait and see... like all the rest of us!

Do you think they will ever make external thunderbolt graphics cards that you could plug into a imac or mac mini ? That would really make a lot of pros happy in my opinion , The thunderbolt I hear is as fast or faster than using one internally . I don't know just a thought I guess .

 

[keysersoze]

Do you think they will ever make external thunderbolt graphics cards that you could plug into a imac or mac mini ? That would really make a lot of pros happy in my opinion , The thunderbolt I hear is as fast or faster than using one internally . I don't know just a thought I guess .

There was talk of it, but it's vaporware... it looks great (although underpowered) but never made it to production. So it seems possible.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5352/msis-gus-ii-external-gpu-via-thunderbolt

I think it's the holy grail at this point

 

[GermanyChris]

You can just replace the iMac in two years and sell the old one then do the same thing again in another two years. The total amount you'd have spent including money you get back from resale on the base iMacs would be about the same as one base Mac Pro. Except you would have up to date tech every two years and be able to easily run the most recent software.

As far as heavier applications in college goes. You won't need the extra power in a Mac Pro. Even with courses that use pro apps. Your projects and assignments won't be to the degree that you would need a workstation computer.

As for the upgradeability of the Mac Pro. The days of updating the CPU is pretty dead. The socket gets changed very frequently. Even when a socket does last a few years. New generations of CPU don't always work on old motherboards because the chipset doesn't support them.

You can add external hard drives to the iMac and 8GB of RAM (16GB in higher end models) is more than enough for just about anything. The only thing you can't really do is upgrade the video card but you don't mention gaming as a requirement.

32GB like all Sandy and Ivy

 

[Oldschoolwax]

...with the extra money I can get a nice 27 inch monitor probably not a apple one though those are $1000 I could get a hp or acer monitor 27 inch for $300 ..

Those inexpensive 1080 monitors are fine for watching movies, but if you are doing any kind of computer work, especially graphic work, you'll want a better monitor. The inexpensive monitors don't have the pixel density you will need. I would plan on spending at least $700 for a 27" monitor, unless things get better fast.

 

[Seth Mac Fan]

Those inexpensive 1080 monitors are fine for watching movies, but if you are doing any kind of computer work, especially graphic work, you'll want a better monitor. The inexpensive monitors don't have the pixel density you will need. I would plan on spending at least $700 for a 27" monitor, unless things get better fast.

I guess so , if I was going to have to spend $700 then I would just get a APPLE DISPLAY for $1000 only 300 more , I dont know depends on my budget thanks for advice though college is not cheap lol .

 

[cgk.emu]

That was just a exaggeration , I just wont something that lasts a while you know doesn't have to be ten years but 5 that would be nice . I would get another computer but would still like to use the mac pro 5 years down the line as a secondary machine .

It isn't unrealistic. It might be unrealistic to the users here who lust after the newest hardware. A computer, save for hardware failures that may or may not happen, and 99% of the time can be fixed, can last you as long as you want it to. I said WANT it to...a NEED is a different thing altogether (for example if you have to run the newest version of whatever app and it isn't supported for some reason on your current hardware) Our graphics lab still had a PowerMac G4 MDD running an older version of Quark up until a month ago, and it was going strong, and wasn't slow as molasses (just don't try watching too much Youtube!). The folks you are going to run into on this message board are overwhelmingly early adopters and "gotta have the newest all the time or my machine is junk!!". So, take their advice with a grain or two of salt.

....my B&W G3 tower still fires right up, and runs OS 10.4. It'll do e-mail, word processing, and other light work. Pretty much what most users do anyway, just not as fast as a current machine. It was released in 1999. Do the math.

The original Mac Pro is now 6 years old. There are tons of users still happily utilizing them for everyday computing.

Check out lowendmac.com, that's the crowd you should be talking to, not MR users.

Also, there is still very much a market for older Macs and upgrades for them. For example, OWC offers SSD drives for legacy Macs. Pop an SSD in your G5 before you decide to drop serious coin on a new Mac Pro. You will see a big difference.

 

[cgk.emu]

Those inexpensive 1080 monitors are fine for watching movies, but if you are doing any kind of computer work, especially graphic work, you'll want a better monitor. The inexpensive monitors don't have the pixel density you will need. I would plan on spending at least $700 for a 27" monitor, unless things get better fast.

It isn't necessarily a good thing to have a super good monitor for graphics work. What you see on your screen is totally unrepresentative of what the end user will see. I'm not saying buy a crap screen, but spending $700 on an Apple display won't help you much. Argue with me all you want, that's fine, I don't honestly care, because I figure you will. I know plenty of graphic artists, and they were the ones that convinced me of what I said above.