Q: Fastest, RELIABLE used Mac G5 Quad?
I have a need for the fastest PPC (non-Intel) machine in order to run certain software under Tiger for the rest of my life (I have a short personal life expectancy, under 18 months or so). I'd need it to be noticeably faster than my current machine, of course.
There are some G5-Quad and G5-Dual machines available on eBay. I understand that some G5 Quad models are better avoided due to power supply problems, but I'm not sure which ones.
I'd be grateful for any input from the experienced forum contributors who may have any advice.
Thanks in advance.
Dual 1.25MHz MDD G4, 2GB RAM, 4 int dr.3ext FW drives, Mac OS X (10.4.11), nVidia 7800 GS 425MHz 256MB video card, dual 22" CRT monitors
Posted on Aug 2, 2011 4:11 AM
Hi-
The Quad is the fastest PPC machine.
They didn't have any more power supply issues than other models, and are possibly one of the more reliable machines.
http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/pmg5.html
The one caution point for the Quad is the liquid cooling.
However, I haven't seen that the Quad is a prone to failure as early LCS machines (all 2.5 GHz and 2.7 GHz dual processor G5's).
If one wanted to forego the potential minefield of the LCS, a late 2005 2.3 GHz dual core would be the fastest air cooled machine.
Geekbench CPU and Memory Benchmark:
| Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) PowerPC G5 (970MP) 2.5 GHz (4 cores) | 3318 |
| Power Mac G5 (June 2004) PowerPC G5 (970FX) 2.7 GHz (2 cores) | 2259 |
| Power Mac G5 (June 2004) PowerPC G5 (970FX) 2.5 GHz (2 cores) | 2100 |
| Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) PowerPC G5 (970MP) 2.3 GHz (2 cores) | 2084 |
Posted on Aug 2, 2011 5:52 AM

