Making my 1st Mac purchase, info needed.

Hi,
I have never owned a Mac and am considering making my 1st purchase and to this end it will more than likely be a second hand unit just to see how I get on.
I can currently get my hands on a PowerMac G5 that has 1.25 GB RAM, 123 GB Hard Disk, Super Drive, 1.6GHz processor, Mac OS 10.5, Leopard & Apple Studio Display 17" at a reasonable price.
As a complete Mac novice I have a few questions;
Can the RAM be upgraded?
Can the Hard Drive be upgraded?
What is a Super Drive?
Can the processor be upgraded, i.e. as with a PC, buy a faster chip and install it?
Also the unit has a fresh install of the OS but unfortunately no discs come with it, can the OS be upgraded to the current Mac OS?
I appreciate any help on these points.
Kind regards..,
K

I can currently get my hands on a PowerMac G5
Power Mac G5 Reliability
Apple Studio Display 17"
Negative history, but remaining monitors may have escaped the common failures.
at a reasonable price.
$50?
Can the RAM be upgraded?
Yes, to 4 GB max.
Can the Hard Drive be upgraded?
Two hard drives, SATA 1.5 Gbps (SATA 3.0 Gbps can be used), up to 2TB models (for sure) supported.
SATA 6.0 Gbps drives need to be jumped to limit throughput to SATA 3.0 Gbps.
What is a Super Drive?
A combo DVD/CD burner.
Can the processor be upgraded, i.e. as with a PC, buy a faster chip and install it?
No.
Some will say "Yes, but", a yes requires that only OEM processors be used (there are no third party processors), it also requires a matching logic board, cooling, often PSU, and variations by production date require case change.
So, No, no processor upgrades.
Also the unit has a fresh install of the OS but unfortunately no discs come with it, can the OS be upgraded to the current Mac OS?
OS X 10.5.8 through software update is as far as the machine goes.
You left off graphics card upgrades.
Mac compatible 8x AGP cards in the list on the following page can be used:
4B4B7BA2-7ABB-47F1-87AC-B03D37942BEE.html
If you keep the 17" Apple monitor, it limits you to OEM graphics cards with an ADC port.
Otherwise, you will need a (roughly) $100 DVI to ADC adapter.

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