powermac to intel?

[elm4cbeth]

hey, im new to the forum and i dont know if anyone has asked this questions before but here it goes....

i have one of the first Powermac G5 line computers, its the 1.6ghz powermac but heres the issue...as you can tell my computer is greatly out of date with all this new technology and what not. I know all you can do is upgrade a videocard and add some RAM and what not...but is there a way to upgrade everything?

i dont want to have to spend another +$2000 for an intel because my computer is running fine, but i feel that i'm falling too behind considering all the new editing software have greater system reqs. what im wondering, is there a someplace where i can upgrade my 1.6ghz to maybe a duo 2.0ghz? or even an intel? or maybe theres a website that will guide me to upgrade it myself?

any help, thanks. i find this forum very usefull already =D

 

[0007776]

There may be upgrades to faster G5s but you can't go to the intel processors, without taking out everything in the case and replacing it with everything from a Mac Pro case, but then I'm still not sure that that would work and it would cost the same as a new Mac Pro.

 

[laidbackliam]

i'm not sure about the upgrades, but you can't go from a g5 to an intel processor. different architectures, pin layouts, its like an apple and a different colored apple. similair, but different.

 

[elm4cbeth]

ah yeah, i guess i shought have thought of that before asking...hehe ok, i know powermac to intel wont work but are there any other ways to upgrade the G5? Sorry for anyone who was tricked into looking at my post

 

[roland.g]

Really there isn't much you can do. There are sites for upgrading cpu's. Like others have said, Intel would require a different motherboard and you can't do that. It wasn't too hard to upgrade 450mhz G4s to 1.4Ghz or so, same with Cubes, you see that a lot. Problem is, that I don't think you can go dual, and that a 1.6 up to a 1.8 or 2.x isn't going to be that noticable. A 1.66 or 1.83 Core Duo Mini is faster in some regards than a Dual 2.0 G5 PowerMac. That said, maybe think about a Mini or iMac if that fits your budget better. Those have great perfomance and can be replaced more often at less cost. Ask yourself, is a Mac Pro my only option.

 

[JeffDM]

I don't think the single processor G5s even had a second socket to add another CPU, each CPU has its own bus, so it's not as if you can easily add a second CPU on a G5 upgrade card. I haven't seen an upgrade CPU offered either.

I think you are better off trading up.

Thankfully it's not that way with the Mac Pro, you just drop in a compatible chip.

 

[4JNA]

as the others have said... as well as pointing out that the g5 boards are 'locked' to the cpu. that is, you can't turn a single into a dual, and can't install a faster processor than the original system shipped with. memory, faster hard drive (or raid if you feel lucky) and a better but still older video card are your options with the current system.

my upgraded mini kicks the crap out of my dual g5 1.8 on everything except quake 4 for a reference point.