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Is 900 good for a PowerMac G5 1.6?

A

atticus1178

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 1, 2006
164
0
Austin, Texas
It is a:
PM G5
1.6 Ghz (800 FSB) G5
80 GB (int), 160 (external firewire)
1.5 GB RAM
nVidia GeForce 64 MB VRAM
Includes all original boxes, manuals, discs, etc.
Has a brand new Apple Superdrive (16X)
A fresh install of Tiger
The case is in immaculate condition.

Is this a good deal?
 
It's 50/50. You could get a 1.8 GHz refurb for $1099 off of Apple. It's your chose if you want a warranty and iLife '06. The RAM isn't that hard to come by nowadays.
 
it a great deal

the best thing about the powermac is the ram it could take and the expandability

so it won't run windows, ah too bad, but i don't think most mac users, especially the ones on this board, will really care :)
 
Eidorian said:
It's 50/50. You could get a 1.8 GHz refurb for $1099 off of Apple. It's your chose if you want a warranty and iLife '06. The RAM isn't that hard to come by nowadays.
Click to expand...

Yeah but this one is from someone I know, and I know that they barely use it. Like maybe once a week for two hours, then turn it off. I seriously don't know why they bought it. Also, I could pick it up ASAP, not have to wait a million years to get it shipped to me.
 
atticus1178 said:
Yeah but this one is from someone I know, and I know that they barely use it. Like maybe once a week for two hours, then turn it off. I seriously don't know why they bought it. Also, I could pick it up ASAP, not have to wait a million years to get it shipped to me.
Click to expand...
Ah now that changes things. Shipping sucks and so do taxes. It may not be the fastest machine but Tiger and the RAM stand out. It's a nice machine with some expansion options.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ATI Technologies/630ATI9600/
 
Eidorian said:
Ah now that changes things. Shipping sucks and so do taxes. It may not be the fastest machine but Tiger and the RAM stand out. It's a nice machine with some expansion options.
Click to expand...

I think at the moment I would rather have an iMac, probably a 20 inch, that way I can get the screen and everything, plus it won't take up as much room (seeing as I am in college). Anyone got one for sale? ;)
 
atticus1178 said:
I think at the moment I would rather have an iMac, probably a 20 inch, that way I can get the screen and everything, plus it won't take up as much room (seeing as I am in college). Anyone got one for sale? ;)
Click to expand...
Apple has the Core Duo refurbed for $1099. And if you're in college you'll more then likely have an educational discount for new products.
 
atticus1178 said:
I think at the moment I would rather have an iMac, probably a 20 inch, that way I can get the screen and everything, plus it won't take up as much room (seeing as I am in college). Anyone got one for sale? ;)
Click to expand...


i have a 20 inch imac and it's a pretty good computer for a consumer level beginner or advanced beginner, but it's not a professional machine like any G5 power mac, expandable and able to handle ram to 4-16 gigs, card expansions, and processor expansions (thus doubling the machine's life)

the drawback of the power mac is that you don't have the screen included...but in the long run, you will be so much happier you bought a professional machine...i have two power macs, had one before that, and have the imac and ibook

an ibook, mini mac, or imac are not bad, but you are not going to get the performance, expandability, and long useable life as a power mac...the power mac will last 2 or 3 more years than my intel imac, which is very limited on ram expandability and is still only a 32 bit processor, and the extra years will be worth buying the tower and a nice apple monitor

today's intel imac may beat the oldest g5 power mac, but you cannot expand any imac so it will only take 12 months or so to feel its age and then you will be stuck with one processor configuration, one sound card, one video card, and a very limited amount of maximum system ram

if you can, buy a computer for the long term, especially if you are a student and you want the machine to last you several years of college and possibly graduate school or first few years of the working world
 
I might be wary of the rev A 1.6 ghz G5s. If your friend has had no problems with it, then perhaps that's alright, but I would say that darn near half of the same rev G5s that our Arts Media Lab at school has have serious problems.
 
jefhatfield said:
i have a 20 inch imac and it's a pretty good computer for a consumer level beginner or advanced beginner, but it's not a professional machine like any G5 power mac, expandable and able to handle ram to 4-16 gigs, card expansions, and processor expansions (thus doubling the machine's life)

the drawback of the power mac is that you don't have the screen included...but in the long run, you will be so much happier you bought a professional machine...i have two power macs, had one before that, and have the imac and ibook

an ibook, mini mac, or imac are not bad, but you are not going to get the performance, expandability, and long useable life as a power mac...the power mac will last 2 or 3 more years than my intel imac, which is very limited on ram expandability and is still only a 32 bit processor, and the extra years will be worth buying the tower and a nice apple monitor

today's intel imac may beat the oldest g5 power mac, but you cannot expand any imac so it will only take 12 months or so to feel its age and then you will be stuck with one processor configuration, one sound card, one video card, and a very limited amount of maximum system ram

if you can, buy a computer for the long term, especially if you are a student and you want the machine to last you several years of college and possibly graduate school or first few years of the working world
Click to expand...

I already have an iBook (the newest 14 inch one) that I got for graduation. I just want something that doesn't take 20 minutes to boot up (what is up with that???). And I know that the G5's are good computers, but I still think the iMac, because I live in a 3 bedroom apt, with 2 other people, so space is a huge issue.

Does any know how much faster an iMac G5 2Ghz would be than the PMG5 1.6? Alot, a little, substantial???? I really don't care about the processor expansion, or the video card (as long as it has 128 MB).

I don't know, I still have time to think about it.

But I am still in the market for both computers, a cheap older G5 or a 20 inch iMac.
 
mopppish said:
I might be wary of the rev A 1.6 ghz G5s. If your friend has had no problems with it, then perhaps that's alright, but I would say that darn near half of the same rev G5s that our Arts Media Lab at school has have serious problems.
Click to expand...

At UT, they have about 30 upstairs in the FAC, and I have never seen one down for maintenance or anything.

What were the problems with them?
 
Speaking of iMacs.......can anyone that has one tell me the resolutions on them?

17 inch 1.6
20 inch 1.8
17 inch 1.9
20 inch 2.0
20 inch 2.1

I am sure there are other models, but those are the only ones I can think of.

I think I would want the 20 inch 2.0, because they have those at school and I sue them some, and they rock.
 
I don't know.. I personally would actually prefer a Intel Mini Duo.

The G5 might be quicker right now, but currently the only apps that I need to run via Rosetta are CS2 and MS Office. When those go universal the advantages of a G5 diminishes tremendously.

To sum it all up, are you willing to put up with slow apps now and get blazing performance tomorrow, or shell out now and get blazing apps now, and less than blazing apps tomorrow?

At the end of the day for universal apps the Mini Duo will still best that G5 tower... ;)
 
atticus1178 said:
Gracias.

P.S. How do you like yours?
Click to expand...
It runs hot while doing intensive work but I bought it with an additional $100 off from Apple last June. The Mac experience I got over the summer helped me land a Technical Assistant job on campus. So getting the Mac helped more then waiting for the Intel models. I bought my iMac 2 days before Steve Jobs announced the transition to Intel at WWDC 2005. I knew about it too.
 
generik said:
I don't know.. I personally would actually prefer a Intel Mini Duo.

The G5 might be quicker right now, but currently the only apps that I need to run via Rosetta are CS2 and MS Office. When those go universal the advantages of a G5 diminishes tremendously.

To sum it all up, are you willing to put up with slow apps now and get blazing performance tomorrow, or shell out now and get blazing apps now, and less than blazing apps tomorrow?

At the end of the day for universal apps the Mini Duo will still best that G5 tower... ;)
Click to expand...

there is no evidence adobe is going to go native with osx on intels...i wish they could guarantee that, but why would they do it now that macs have boot camp?

and who said the 32 bit intel processors, even in dual format, which were originally designed for longer portable battery times, are going to be blazing, especially on adobe apps?...that remains to be seen

last year's power mac will almost always have better useable life overall than this year's imac, mac mini, or ibook

apple carefully makes sure that their professional machines are more than a notch above their consumer machines

like i said, i have the core duo imac, and it has its good points, but you are still getting what you pay for...if you are the most modest of users and you want a machine through college, or around four years, then maybe an imac now will do the trick
 
jefhatfield said:
there is no evidence adobe is going to go native with osx on intels...i wish they could guarantee that, but why would they do it now that macs have boot camp?

and who said the 32 bit intel processors, even in dual format, which were originally designed for longer portable battery times, are going to be blazing, especially on adobe apps?...that remains to be seen

last year's power mac will almost always have better useable life overall than this year's imac, mac mini, or ibook

apple carefully makes sure that their professional machines are more than a notch above their consumer machines

like i said, i have the core duo imac, and it has its good points, but you are still getting what you pay for...if you are the most modest of users and you want a machine through college, or around four years, then maybe an imac now will do the trick
Click to expand...

What are the advantages for Intel iMac over iMac G5? I mean besides the obvious. And nobody say anything about dual-booting, because I think that is C-R-A-P. I bought an Apple for the OS. So any REAL advantages.
 
atticus1178 said:
What are the advantages for Intel iMac over iMac G5? I mean besides the obvious. And nobody say anything about dual-booting, because I think that is C-R-A-P. I bought an Apple for the OS. So any REAL advantages.
Click to expand...
You have a dual core CPU, faster bus, and a faster video card. You get the iSight and Front Row too. I'd go with it just for the dual core CPU.
 
Eidorian said:
You have a dual core CPU, faster bus, and a faster video card. You get the iSight and Front Row too. I'd go with it just for the dual core CPU.
Click to expand...

If that is the case, then I would probably want an Intel iMac. But I would probably have to sell my iBook. Any idea how much that would sell for? I never paid for it, so I don't know how much it depreciates, etc.
 
atticus1178 said:
If that is the case, then I would probably want an Intel iMac. But I would probably have to sell my iBook. Any idea how much that would sell for? I never paid for it, so I don't know how much it depreciates, etc.
Click to expand...
Which model is it? What are the specs?
 
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