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

Which Mac Pros will take any of the components currently in my G5 Quad?

The reason for my posting here rather than in the Mac Pro forum is that I need to lean on the expertise of the Power Mac experts in this forum.


While I'm extremely happy with the current performance of my G5 Quad, I can foresee the need for a Mac-Intel machine in the future in order to run modern Adobe software like Photoshop CS6, Illustrator, and InDesign.


As I'm strictly on a bargain-basement type of budget, I'm beginning to toy with the idea of buying a second-hand basic Mac Pro that could use any of the components I have in my Quad. I know the SCSI card is hopeless, but what about the video graphics card, the RAM modules and the drives?


My thinking is to start looking around for a low-priced, used 64-bit capable Mac Pro.


Any input will be most appreciated.



2.5 GHz Power Mac (PPC) G5-Quad;


16GB RAM (8 x 2GB DDR2 SDRAM PC2-4200U-444);


mutant, flashed 550MHz nVidia GeForce 7800GTX 1,700MHz 512MB VRAM;


ATTO ExpressPCI UL5D LP SCSI card;


Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.11 and Leopard 10.5.8 boot drives; Spotblight, Dashboard and Time Machine permanently disabled;

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);

various internal & external HDs.

PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2.5G5Quad,16GB,7800GTX 512MB, Tiger

Posted on Apr 26, 2012 2:03 AM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Apr 26, 2012 2:40 AM

The only internal components that can be transferred are SATA hard drives, IDE optical to a 2006-2008 Mac Pro, and SATA optical drives to 2009 and later Mac Pros.

Of course, drives will need to be reformatted to GUID partition map to be bootable.

Reading from APM formatted drives is fine.


RAM and graphics cards are definitely out.

PCIe expansion cards are on a case by case basis. Some will transfer, others won't.

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Apr 26, 2012 2:40 AM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

The only internal components that can be transferred are SATA hard drives, IDE optical to a 2006-2008 Mac Pro, and SATA optical drives to 2009 and later Mac Pros.

Of course, drives will need to be reformatted to GUID partition map to be bootable.

Reading from APM formatted drives is fine.


RAM and graphics cards are definitely out.

PCIe expansion cards are on a case by case basis. Some will transfer, others won't.

Which Mac Pros will take any of the components currently in my G5 Quad?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.