Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

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 4:09 AM

Best reply

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Posted on Aug 2, 2011 5:52 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

View in context

65 replies

BDAqua

Level 10

239,279 points

Aug 28, 2011 9:25 PM in response to romko23

Hey, great to see you back! 🙂

Aug 28, 2011 10:02 PM in response to romko23

romko23 wrote:

…I thought the Quad was SATA I only? Show me where it says 3 gb/sec verus 1.5?

Well, this may or may not satisfy your demand for proof, but using OWC's "upgrade by model" selector, a page suggesting a bunch of SATA II drives as options for the PowerMac G5 Quad, including a few 3-Gb/s drives:

Internal Drive Upgrades for Your PowerMac G5 Quad 2.5GHz 'Dual Core/Late 2005' (October, 2005):

http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=236&type=Internal+Dr ive

Aug 28, 2011 10:12 PM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

Ramón G Castañeda wrote:

…Well, this may or may not satisfy your demand for proof, but using OWC's "upgrade by model" selector, a page suggesting a bunch of SATA II drives as options for the PowerMac G5 Quad, including a few 3-Gb/s drives:

Internal Drive Upgrades for Your PowerMac G5 Quad 2.5GHz 'Dual Core/Late 2005' (October, 2005):

http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=236&type=Internal+Dr ive

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Aug 29, 2011 3:15 AM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

The G5 Late 2005 machines conform to SATA rev. 1 standards.

The controller is SATA 1.5 Gbps

Aug 29, 2011 9:45 AM in response to japamac

japamac wrote:

The G5 Late 2005 machines conform to SATA rev. 1 standards.

The controller is SATA 1.5 Gbps

Thank you for that info.

Then, I suppose that OWC is showing all those SATA II drives at 3 Gbps for the G5 Quad as being able to be installed and run on the Quad but with their performance limited to SATA I and 1.5 Gbps?

It's a bit unclear to me. 😕

romko23

Level 2

408 points

Aug 29, 2011 11:08 AM in response to BDAqua

Good to be back.. I was never dead 🙂

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Aug 29, 2011 2:43 PM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

I suppose that OWC is showing all those SATA II drives at 3 Gbps for the G5 Quad as being able to be installed and run on the Quad but with their performance limited to SATA I and 1.5 Gbps?

Yes.

From a practical standpoint, with the advent of SATA rev.2 standards, no more SATA rev.1 drives were made.

Part of the SATA standard is backward compatibility, thus the ability to use SATA 3.0 Gbps drives in a SATA 1.5 Gbps machine.

This is why you see SATA 3.0 Gbps drives listed for the G5.

Of course, there always seems to be one or two exeptions to any rule/standard.....

BDAqua

Level 10

239,279 points

Aug 29, 2011 2:55 PM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

And the WD drives will likely need a jumper on pins 5&6 to slow them down.

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Aug 29, 2011 2:58 PM in response to BDAqua

And the WD drives will likely need a jumper

The SATA 6.0 Gbps WD drives, not the SATA 3.0 Gbps drives....

Aug 29, 2011 7:57 PM in response to romko23

romko23 wrote:

…I was never dead 🙂

That's a very good feature… from which we all benefit! 😎

Aug 29, 2011 8:09 PM in response to japamac

japamac wrote:

…This is why you see SATA 3.0 Gbps drives listed for the G5…

There's a bit more to the story: with the addition of a Sonnet G5 Jive cage, two controller cards are indistinctly vsuggested by Sonnet and OWC that do indeed give the PowerMac G5 Quad actual, full SATA II capabilities:

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo_sata_e4i.html

and

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo_sata_x4i.html

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Aug 30, 2011 2:16 AM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

That's correct.

The PCIe controller and the PCIe bus double the data rate of data transfer.

All the more reason to go third party.......

Aug 30, 2011 3:51 PM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

This post is just to thank each and everyone who contributed to this thread, which I started four weeks ago in an effort to satisy my "need for the fastest PPC (non-Intel) machine" as described in the OP.

Thanks to the input and assistance received here, I believe I have indeed achieved that goal. I'm picking up my machine at the shop this evening, and here's what I ended up with:

2.5GHz Power Mac (PPC) G5Quad; 16GB RAM; mutant flashed 550MHz nVidia GeForce 7800GTX, 1,700MHz 512MB VRAM; Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.11 and Leopard 10.5.8 boot drives; dual 22" CRT monitors; USB wireless n available but connected to the Internet via wired Ethernet; FW flatbed scanner; 2 SCSI scanners (one tabloid-size transparency scanner and a film scanner); lots of internal & external HDs.

The only conceivable upgrade woud be to increase the RAM from 16 GB to 32 GB and to add an SSD or two, but that's rapidly approaching the limits of dimishing returns.

Thanks, everyone! 🙂

romko23

Level 2

408 points

Aug 31, 2011 12:23 AM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

Hi again,

Just make sure the G5 Quad you get has the PANASONIC single pump and not the DUAL rev 2 LCS with two pumps. The rev 2 dual pump is the MOST unreliable, where as the single pump Panasonic is much better and will last longer. I know.. I had the dual pump.. I will never trust the delphi/cooligy LCS ever again. G5 Quad is running whisper quiet, as quiet as my mac pro with temps below 100 degrees, even at full load.

Aug 31, 2011 7:54 AM in response to romko23

Well, I got the G5 Quad already and I'll be picking it up from the shop today. I had read about the Panasonic pump being more desirable, and I very much hope that's what it has, as this particular unit was built in late June of 2006 according to its serial number. Not much I can do about it now if this is not the case, but my understanding is that Apple went to the Panasonic pump at some point and did not revert to the dual pump after that.

Since my unit was one of the very last to be built before production of the G5 Quad was halted a few weeks later, I feel and hope that I have a very good chance of having the single Panasonic pump. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Thank you for this valuable information. 🙂

Fastest, RELIABLE used Mac G5 Quad?