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G5 upgrade to Mac Pro
- Thread starter Seth Mac Fan
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I'd say you don't need an Apple monitor, but definitely find something with an IPS panel if you can -- if you're doing any work that requires color fidelity.
Secondhand Apple monitors are also nice, and they age well. And Dell released a few in 2007 that used the same panel as the Apple displays.
But yeah, I second the suggestion that for college you get a laptop. Or at least an iPad + keyboard to go alongside your desktop computer. You'll regret not having the portability.
I plan on it , I will probably put 4GB in my G5 or 2GB . I also plan on putting a ssd in eventually . But basically my G5 will become a extra machine by early next year so 2GB will probably do good enough for average day tasks such as podcasts and web browsing .
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How would I do that lol ? That does sound like a cool mod though if it was possible it would be like a mac pro with the mini parts on the inside . When I get my mini though I would just keep it the way it came because I do think they look pretty nice the way they are . They are so small and easy to move around almost like a external dvd drive .
gut the G5, put some holes in the back where the fans are so the cables can go in and out.
A good rule is 2gb per core. But if it's not going to be your primary machine anymore, 2gb should be fine.
Its a cool idea but seems like that would pretty much completely void your warranty and good luck bringing it to the apple store lol . But yeah it is a cool idea for a mod but I would rather keep my warranty maybe after the warranty is over .
not if dont do anything to the mini. pad the inside of the g5 with foam so the mini wont get scratched
The mini still hasn't updated to ivy bridge. This should be significant if you're looking at the cheapest model. Ignore the discrete gpu model. They put an ultra low end laptop gpu in it. Intel has been focused on upgrading their integrated gpus, and the HD4000 was a definite improvement. It's not perfect, but it's worth the wait and see given that you're already on an almost 7 year old computer. Another month or two shouldn't hurt. Dell has some decent low end displays. I don't care for the 27" 1920x1080 versions. You can get a reasonably nice 22-24" display cheap rather than a crappy 27". I've explained this in countless threads, but even if two turn up the same panel number, don't assume they're the same thing.
It's been discussed before. The only solutions are very expensive, making them not worth it. If you want the best graphics cards, you're better off on Windows. Things like external gpus turn the mini from a budget solution into an expensive solution without fully catching it up in performance.
The Apple display isn't anything that special. It's better than many of the $300 displays. It's not definitively better than other displays in its price range unless you're after the docking features.
Given the cost of upkeep and repairs and unknown requirements for newer software, it's absolutely impractical. Apple cuts you off after a certain amount of time as do developers. They don't all offer support on legacy versions. For hardware failures, logic board replacements come up frequently. They're extremely expensive, and looking at the newest hardware doesn't have to be techno-lust. You know what software you intend to run. You know what you find acceptable. If it won't run suitably on G3 era hardware, it's time to upgrade. As far as SSDs, hard drives were a much bigger bottleneck with 32 bit applications. At this point you can pretty much turn virtual memory into a non issue.
When I had a G5, I could max the cpus all the time. At that point no SSD was going to save me. The users who just need email/word processing have migrated towards minis and Airs for a long time. I'd never suggest they buy a mac pro. If they really wanted a tower, I'd say buy a Windows box that is well reviewed. Being stuck to legacy software can become immensely frustrating if anything breaks or requires replacement. You mentioned an older version of Quark. Most people moved on from Quark years ago, so yeah you need to stick to something from a prior era. I suggested that there's no point in spending more just to run the same thing for a decade, especially in the OP's case where he mentioned disappointment in how fast the G5 support dropped off.
Safari easily consumes over a gig per session. 2GB is too low. 4GB minimum then the 2GB per core rule.
Don't.
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Agree to disagree. I haven't spent anything up-keeping my old machines except for hard drive replacements. New IDE drives are pretty cheap from Macsales.com. You are far too eager to drop older machines. I have an early 2009 Mac Pro, you'll tell me it's crap, right?
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Seems pretty accurate. It looks like we have almost the same setups. I have 16GB in my MP, though. I never hurt for RAM. Sitting here browsing using Chrome, with mail and iTunes open, I'm using 3GB.
Anyway, Apple doesn't cut you off from using your machine, what kind of crap is that?? But yes, Apple did drop G5 support rather quickly. I dunno, I plan on running my 2009 Mac Pro until its virtual wheels fall off.
Chrome is sneaky and has a mother process and individual page renderers. Each page is usually 128MB or so. So 12 tabs in and you have a whole bunch of memory out there even though "Chrome" the process uses only 200-300MB. It's a basic form of sandboxing but I hate having to add all on my own (It'll never crash!!!) Sort of true. Safari Webkit bundles only 2 processes.
don't say it can't be done - i'll make it work and post pictures by early next week
I didn't say it can't be done. I said "don't" as in, it's not a great idea. It's something a teenager would do and feel proud of.
When I moved from a G4 to a G5 (2GHz x 2) I was quite disappointed, but when, later, in 2008, I replaced the G5 with a 3.2 GHz, early 2008 MacPro, I could feel the difference, not only in terms of raw power or elaboration, but also in the daily tasks and general feedback. Go for it, you won't be disappointed.
The more RAM you have, the more the apps will use. Likewise, the less you have, the less apps will use. So just because Safari is using 1gb on a machine with say 8gb doesn't necessarily mean that same session will be using the same amount on a machine with say 2gb.
Also, if a safari session is "easily" consuming 1gb, something might be wrong such as a memory leak. Or you have an insane amount of tabs open. (200+)
I disagree about the Mini; IMO they are only faster if a turd notebook drive isn't used. They are severely crippled without ample ram and a decent drive. My old PowerMac dual G5 LC with raid 0 was faster then my Mini until I installed a hybrid drive and 8GB ram in the Mini. Only then was it able to pull ahead of my G5 and then it smoked the G5 as well! So don't skimp on specs. IMO old school notebook gear is never fast.
@OP
IMO if you have been using a G5 this long then a MacPro may well be overkill and an iMac could suit your needs just fine. However, since iMac upgradability is limited, I would opt for a hot rod iMac to ensure some future proofing.
I think you need to run a 'top -a' command and come back after an hour session or so. Let us know the Real Memory use. You don't need a specific memory leak. Safari is it's own memory leak
Also not sure why so many laymen users call everything a memory leak. OS X sucks at recoup always. It is built that way that's why people always say to buy so much. It'll recoup after closing but not while open. It'll stay at a threshold paging out forever. Like bumping a head on a ceiling. And as concord stated this is why your Mac slows down and pages out to disk. It means you need more memory for an experience free of slowdowns.Seth Mac Man,
I've been scanning this thread, since I am also running a G5 and in need of upgrading to a Mac Pro SOON! As I said, I've been scanning the thread, so I may have missed this. I don't recall anyone mentioning a Refurb Mac Pro. I've been keeping careful watch on the Apple site for a few months, thinking that the refurb prices would be lowered when some "newer" Mac Pros were introduced. That is exactly what has happened of course and now you can get a 2.8GHz 4-core for $1899CDN and a 3.2GHz 4-core at $2099CDN. For some strange reason the U.S. Applestore is still showing the 3.2GHz with a price of $2459USD, go figure. I guess if you're in the U.S. you should go to the Canadian Applestore site and order from there if possible. Fill it with HDDs and at least 24GB Ram and you're cookin'.
Good luck with whatever path you chose!
I've been scanning this thread, since I am also running a G5 and in need of upgrading to a Mac Pro SOON! As I said, I've been scanning the thread, so I may have missed this. I don't recall anyone mentioning a Refurb Mac Pro. I've been keeping careful watch on the Apple site for a few months, thinking that the refurb prices would be lowered when some "newer" Mac Pros were introduced. That is exactly what has happened of course and now you can get a 2.8GHz 4-core for $1899CDN and a 3.2GHz 4-core at $2099CDN. For some strange reason the U.S. Applestore is still showing the 3.2GHz with a price of $2459USD, go figure. I guess if you're in the U.S. you should go to the Canadian Applestore site and order from there if possible. Fill it with HDDs and at least 24GB Ram and you're cookin'.
Good luck with whatever path you chose!