---------- Original message ---------- Subject: Bob's G5 odyssey Date: Wednesday, 25. April 2012 From: various To: g3-5-list@googlegroups.com > > My MDD pulls 155-170 watts (monitor off) just twiddling it's > > thumbs. It is _massively_ hot. > > That's pretty high, even for a wind tunnel Mac. My dual 1.8GHz MDD (using > an aftermarket Sonnet G4 card) pulls around 140, but it is usually in OS 9, > so OS X might flog it harder. The G4 card also has its own fan, so core > temperatures stay much more reasonable.
> > > My G5 Dual-Core 2.0 GHz did draw around 90W/h when idle and around > > > 130 when doing something under Mac OS X 10.5.8. That's pretty likely. The Dual-Core should be the most efficient of the G5s. > > >Which one do you have? > > > > > A dual 1.0 gHz FW400 MDD I have (had) the same one. I never looked into its power consumption or efficiency though. But I have to say that I was very satisfied with it – until I lent it away and got the Dual-Core G5 instead, which I also lent away. If you're interested, I now own a Cube and a G5 Dual-2 GHz (first G5 from 2003 with PPC 970 processors i.e. not so efficient as the 970fx processors that came in 2004). I did upgrade my G4 MDD with the FW800 Dual-1.42 GHz processor module AND heatsink. It is very very hot, the CPUs report around 65°C when idle. Opening the side door is a no-go because of the fan. I never really understood why they didn't place the fan on the heatsink… > The G5 would not have been practical without the cheese-grater case. It > still manages to look good despite the odd appearance. It is the best fan concept I've ever seen. I personally like its appearence too; much better than the later G4s (MDD and newer) to be honest. > > Thanks, Stephen. I am leaning towards a single CPU G5. > > I would strongly recommend against this. Me too. My advice is: always go for a dual system! > The original 1.6 in particular has dismal numbers, and both revisions of > the single 1.8 are better but still below average. Avoid the iMac-1.8 GHz system too – that's a Power Mac G5, but with the logic board design from the iMac. It has a 600 MHz 3:1 systembus speed instead of the regular 900 MHz 2:1. It had issues. http://support.apple.com/kb/TA23484?viewlocale=en_US > The two G5s to get are either the air-cooled dual 2.3 (the first one), or > the quad, which has better performance and reliability numbers than any > other liquid-cooled unit. If you are concerned about the reliability of > the LCS and need PCI, get the dual 2.3. Bob, in your case I'd either go for a 2.0 or a 2.3 system. Just be sure to get the newer PowerPC 970fx processors. I'd also see if I could get the PCI-X version. Just in case you ever need it. This leaves you specifically with these two models: PowerMac7,3 Mid-2004 Dual-2.0 GHz PowerMac7,3 Early-2005 Dual-2.3 GHz Note that the Early-2005 Dual-2.0 GHz model only has PCI, not PCI-X. Be aware that all models exept the 2003 (PowerPC 970, "PowerMac7,2") and Late-2005 (PowerPC 970MP, "PowerMac11,2") have model ID "PowerMac7,3". To find out the details, I recommend this site: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/index-powermac-g5.html Look for "970fx" and for "PCI-X" to be present in the same model. As for the Quad: in my opinion they are still very expensive and you will get an old liquid cooled system. A service of this cooling system may be required, and if you don't want to do this yourself you will have to spend quite a lot of money. On the other hand, a leak will destroy your system. http://www.saunalahti.fi/~holindho/g5-quad-v1-lcs-repair.html And last but not least, with the Quad, which is a PCIe system, you won't be able to reuse your parts (RAM, graphics card). Cheers, Andreas aka Mac User #330250 -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
