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What operating system should i run?

I have always had a powermac g4 mdd (1.25 single core with l3 catch) that i never really used since i had a powermac g5, macbook, macbbk pro, so on and so on. But! My powermac g5 recently died and i was just about to convert it to a server for home use. So, why not just now use the powermac g4 mdd instead?

It has two 40 gig hard drives and a 250 gig one. My plan is to get a raid card and throw in 2-4 sata hard drives- probably two 30 gig ssd's and two 160's that i have laying around. Ill have to remove one of the superdrives to have all four 2.5's but i see it as worth it. The maching also has 2 gigs ram and stock video card and a pci express video card *(for secondary monitor) and two usb 2.0 pci cards.

For a machine like this with the parts i am wanting to get/ use, what operating system should i run on it and what raid card would you add to it. I want an extermely cheap one. Also, what parts/ upgrades would you do to it?

Thanks for the help,

noah

PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Mdd, 1.25 single core + modds

Posted on Jun 23, 2012 4:00 PM

Reply
8 replies

Jun 23, 2012 4:15 PM in response to noahfromsanta fe

I am not sure about RAID cards, but you OS X 10.5.8 is as far as you can go with the OS.

And 2 GBs of RAM is as far as this Mac can go with memory.

You could upgrade the video card from the stock card you have in there now.

I had a 256 MB VRAM ATI 9600 PC/ Mac edition card in my MDD for a long time until I upgrading it with a

better 256 MB Flashed ATI X800T card. It ran hotter, so I installed a PCI slot fan to cool the inside of my MDD more.

Another card video card to consider is the ATI 9800. This is 512 MB VRAM card.

Look to eBay for older PowerPC Mac cards and accessories.

Good Luck!

Jun 23, 2012 4:57 PM in response to noahfromsanta fe

a pci express video card *(for secondary monitor)

The MDD has standard PCI slots and cannot use PCIe (express).


what raid card would you add to it. I want an extermely cheap one.

I would add a quality controller card with broad OS support. In the case of SATA drives, that would be Firmtek Seritek cards. I would then likely use SoftRAID to create and admin the RAID set.


A cheap, Silicon Images chipset card might be used, but driver support is spotty and limited, as well as boot to connected drives NOT being supported.

http://www.siliconimage.com/support/searchresults.aspx?pid=32&cat=3


Only Firmtek cards support boot to connected SATA drives.


You get what you pay for, and cheap cards generally provide bucket loads of headaches.

Jun 23, 2012 4:59 PM in response to MichelPM

the ATI 9800. This is 512 MB VRAM card.

No. The AGP Radeon 9800 Pro is a 128 MB or 256 MB VRAM card.

A Radeon 9800 XT (flashed) is a 256 MB VRAM card.


There are NO 512 MB VRAM cards available for use in Mac AGP machines, nor can OS X utilize 512 MB VRAM.

256 MB is as far as is supported.


video cards need to be flashed on PCs of which I do not own.

True in the case of Geforce cards, not so in the case of Radeon cards.

Radeon cards can be flashed in a Mac.

Geforce must be flashed in a PC.


some suggestions for older Mac video.

My upgrade pages are here:

http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/All_Things_PPC.html


Graphics (OS X) here:

4B4B7BA2-7ABB-47F1-87AC-B03D37942BEE.html


The Mac Elite Compatibility chart here:

http://themacelite.wikidot.com/compatibility


For a server, and especially in a MDD, I would NOT upgrade the graphics.

It isn't necessary and the heat of a performance card will exacerbate existing heat problems in a MDD, especially if multiple rotational hard drives are used.

What operating system should i run?

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