Power Mac G5 Upgrade

I have Power Mac G5 with VRAM 128MB, is there a way to upgrade this to 256 VRAM so I can use Adobe CS5?
Adobe requirements is to have 256 MB of VRAM. If there is a way can you please let me know. Thanks!

And no, there is no upgrade path from G5 to Mac Pro, except data transfer. You don't even need to consider a Mac Pro. Some current Mac Minis even support CS5 and many Intel iMacs do.
If upgrading because CS5 is required for your business, you might want to consider finding out which machine works best by asking on the Adobe forums for what you desire to use it for.
A user tip for migrating to Intels was written here:
kimaccdual: A Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel-Macs
And I've written an extensive FAQ on the migration*:
http://www.macmaps.com/macosxnative.html
Now mind you, you don't have to upgrade to Intel, unless software you require to use only runs on it. There are plenty of older versions of Adobe that function fine on PowerPC.

Similar Messages

Power Mac G5 Upgrades? New to Mac

Hello Everyone, this is my first post here on apple.
I Recently got a M9020LL/A Power Mac G5 1.6ghz tower, 1 gig memory, 80 gig drive. Fresh install of Leopard 10.5. All is working well... Happy with it.
My question is, other than ram/memory obviously, are there any other upgrades i can perform?
There is no possibility to upgrade this computer to a Intel chip, is there? be kind here lol... I have a PowerPC now.
On the website below, it says there is a Dual 2 gig option for this "series" of towers, is that a possible upgrade, and if so, where do i get it or find a part number.
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP96
Thanks everyone

Bigger hard drive for sure. Maybe multiple drives.
Can't put Intel chip in PPC, sorry.
Video card?
Always a matter of what's worth the investment. I regard the transition to Intel somewhat of a wall. In that regard even a G5 is old and cannot get beyond that point. We're up against it already with the recent release of Snow Leopard for Intel only. You can upgrade the G5 until you're blue in the face but come next OS release you'll be left with a non-upgradable computer and one left running an unsupported OS. I guess what I'm saying is, consider first before doing major upgrades.
Oh, if you get a SATA hard drive you can probably use it in your next computer even if it is Intel, so that's not a waste of money.

Apple power mac g3 upgrade

I have a power mac g3 blue and white and I was wondering if I can upgrade the ram more than 1gb and upgrade the hard drive to more than 128gb. Basically upgrade the whole unit. Thanks

consider using an external FW drive, it will be about as fast as a your current internal drive, then you can use it to copy files to another computer later. The only size restriction you have to worry about is that for booting OS9 you must use a partition less than 200GB, if your external FW drive is larger, then you can partition it. This is not an issue for booting OS X.
http://eshop.macsales.com/search/FW400
Not sure the "value" of the G3 is worth the "investment" of any "upgrades" in the current vintage-used-computer market, although it can be a fun hobby if you are so inclined.
the older (discontinued?) ATA133 PCI cards would work
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=PCI+ATA133+Mac+ACARD+6280M&_sacat=0&_odkw=PC I+ATA133+Mac&_osacat=0&_armrs=1
with the older legacy (parallel) PATA drives
http://eshop.macsales.com/search/3.5+Internal+IDE/ATA
otherwise, for more $, you could go for a current technology PCI SATA card and SATA drive, you won't see the full speed benefit of this technology with the G3's motherboard speed.

Power Mac RAM Upgrade - Why not faster?

I just upgraded my Power Mac G5 Dual 2.0 from 1GB to 3GB with Crucial memory. The computer booted up fine and seems to be working perfectly. The system recognizes the full 3GB. Problem is, I cannot tell the difference in speed, either by "seat of the pants" or by benchmark tests. XBench tested almost exactly the same either way (in fact, it was 1/2 point slower with the 3GB). I also compressed a 2-minute movie from iMovieHD into a Quicktime file. It took the same amount of time with either configuration.
Any thoughts? Is there a different comparison test I should try?
Thanks.

Hi
If you have sufficient memory for what you're doing, additional RAM will make little or no difference. You could try using Activity Monitor located in the Applications->Utilities folder to see how much memory is actually being used at any one time. The following document contains more info:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107918
Artificial benchmarks probably won't detect any differences, as the memory footprint of the tests is probably minimal. Likewise movie compression is probably limited by the speed of the processors and/or hard drive more than it is by the amount of memory available.
You should be able to detect a difference when running several memory hungry applications at the same time and switching between them though. The boot up time may be slightly slower with more RAM as a POST (power on self test) is performed.

Power Mac G4 Upgrading Hardware & Software............

Hi everyone, for the first time I joining the forum.
Ok I think I have done my home work searching for technical support for hardware & software for this Power Mac G4 (AGP)
I decided to keep one machine after my Company decide take 8 Machine to the recycle and they strip the machine taking out most of the hardware, Hard Drive, Video card, etc.
Power Mac G4 (AGP0)
I was able to boost the machine Mac OS 9.2 with 10GB'HD, PowerPC G4 Processor'450'MHZ, Ram 128X2=256 a standard video Card.
Now I want to upgrade Hardware and Software from the one mentioned above to the fallow >>>
Software Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or later Version Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
Using the fallowing Hardware.
Hard Drivve...from Western Digital EIDE'HD 160 GB, 100 MB/s, 8 MB Cache,7200 RPM
Processor.....from Sonnet Encore™/ST G4 1.8 GHz orless G4 1. GHz.
Ram...........from Crucial 512MB X 3 = 1.5GB ,168-pin DIMM, SDRAM, PC133 memory
Video Card....from NVidia GeForce4 Ti 4600, GeForce4 Ti 4600 or.
Video Card....from AMD RADEON 9800 AGP 128MB PRO MAC EDITION.
I do know that I need 867. MHz Processor speed or faster and
9GB of available disk space for the Leopard etc.
So please let me know if there's anything I'm missing and I will post the update when I get all this together or step by step and I don't want to spend to much $$

Hi guys,
Mu name is leon. I am just came across yours conversation about upgrading harwdare and software.
The reason I am in here it because I would like to upgrade my Mac OS 10.2.8 system to Mac OS 10.5 Leopard system as well. I am not sure how smooth this process takes for me to upgrade interms of ( not to loose my graphic Adobe softwares and Wed design softwares that works under this opearting system ). As far as articles goes, Leopard is pretty good right know for Mac OS users. I didn't have experince upgrading operating system on Macintosh platform before. I am just use my macintosh a lot for graphic applications, web applcations and internet. So I would like to convince myself, if buy a new operating system ( Leopard ), I am going to have a better performance on my Mac that I have right know, and all my softwares are going to perfrom as well. Actually Safari 1.0.3 was a pretty good internet browser for me until now, a lot of websites I can open or after get in, application is quite on me. So I would like you guys to ask your advice about upgrading issues.
I have the following specs about my Mac:
System version: Mac OS X 10.2.8
Boot valume: Macintosh HD
Machine speed: 1.250 Ghz
Bus speed: 167 MHZ
Number of processors: 2
L2 cash size: 256 K ( times 2 )
L3 cash size: 1 MB ( times 2 )
Machine model: Power Mac G4 ( version 3.2 )
DDR SDRAM: 256 MB
Thanks,
Leon.

Power Mac G5 upgrade question.

Does anybody know if the G5 can be transformed into an Intel system in order to upgrade to Lion?
I really don't want to have to buy a new Mac.

I did contact Apple and they said pretty much what you discussed in your reply. They also suggested I
upgrade to Leopard which would allow me to upgrade other software I currently have on the computer.
Thanks again.

Power Mac G4 upgrade..what should i get

I have the pci graphics 400mhz model (1999). My budget is £100 and i would like to add more ram (it has 256 just now), pci cards, new hard drive, smart card reader and possibly a new graphics card and, anything else i can sqeese into the budget. Any info on where i could find some bargins (i live in the UK), or any ideas of thigns i could add onto my G4?
any replies are greatly appreciated.

Hello DreamBlogger,
I have a G4 400 mhz. PCI the same as you. I got some memory from ebay.co.uk. Put this number 180111643083 in the ebay search. He still has some left at a very good price. I bought 2 and they are both installed and working fine. Max RAM is 4 x 256 meg one in each of the 4 slots.
I also bought a USB 2 PCI card at a car boot sale on Sunday which has the NEC chip set. I am going to install it on Thursday. I will post back with good or bad news on Friday.
Hope this helps,
Alan

Power Mac G5: A common dilemma: to upgrade or buy new

I know there are a lot of discussions on this topic going around, but everyone's needs and uses are different, so I'd appreciate any input on my situation.
I own a Dual 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5 with only 1GB RAM and a failing 160GB hard drive.
At this point, I basically only use this machine for web browsing, iTunes, and Garageband, and am running Tiger.
I had been having some major hard drive problems so I wiped my system and re-installed Tiger , importing everything from my iBookG4 (which, I recently dropped and the screen connection has failed and is unusable except for as an external hard drive in target disk mode. it is probably too expensive to fix for what its worth so I will probably try to sell it for scrap).
Anyway, everything was ok for about a week until I opened firefox and noticed all my settings and bookmarks were gone. When I restarted my computer, my music, pictures, documents, and movies folders were all unable to be located (although my applications were fine and my hard drive still showed that the space was the same). I'm not sure if I imported some problem from my iBook or if my hard drive was just messing up again, but I've decided that I either need to upgrade or get a new computer.
Basically, I am thinking about upgrading my memory, getting a new hard drive, and upgrading to leopard (mostly for time machine). Or, possibly getting a new iMac or waiting a bit and then getting a new iMac or even (gasp) a PC (highly unlikely).
I was going to get the memory from ramjet and I was thinking of only adding 1GB to make 2GB but could be persuaded of getting more but 400Mhz DDR memory is a bit more expensive than other types. As for the hard drive, I was thinking about getting a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 320-GB Hard Drive with a 16 MB cache. I could pay $15 more for a 500GB with 32 MB cache but i really don't need the space and am unsure whether the cache will really help much. Seagates used to have a pretty good rep I thought, but now they seem to be getting mixed reviews, so I don't know.
Obviously, I am no computer expert, so any help would be great. Would it be worth it to spend between $250 and $325 to get the memory, drive, and leapord when I could maybe sell my G5 and my 23" apple cinema display (the old clear kind) and get an iMac? I could maybe get about $700 - $800 for the G5 and around $300 - $350 for the display. Will an iMac be faster than my G5 with the upgrades? I don't think I need a mac pro for my current uses.
Thanks for your help. Feel free to offer advice on what to do with my iBook too.
-rhineth

Memory: $60 for 2 x 1GB, I'd call that very affordable.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/3200DDR2GBP/
Disk drives: 2 x $69 for pair of WD Caviar 640GB
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD6400AAKS/
It is not about capacity as much as speed and quiet, cool, and how well it handles OS X. I use half the drive, other half is unformatted free space. I'd skip the Seagates. 7200.11 is current.
I expect new iMacs in '09 as they are overdue.
Hard drives you keep or put in FW case.
Current Leopard is 10.5.4 DVD but would be nice to see another DVD now with 10.5.6, $109 (Amazon, maybe less Newegg?).
iMac vs others:
http://www.macworld.com/article/133467/2008/05/imaccomparison.html
http://www.barefeats.com/harper7.html
http://www.barefeats.com/imp02.html
Sounds like three things you may not be doing or have:
SuperDuper for backups. You don't need Leopard.
Disk Warrior. Everyone, or I should say "HFS+" needs #1 disk repair utility.
Backup drives. Two backup sets you switch between, and a small "emergency" partition on one for running Disk Warrior and such.
I replace or move older drives to backup use and put new boot drive in on a yearly basis. Some new drives and memory should be all you need. A couple people even stress their system with graphics and video, and upgrading to 3 or 4 new drives revived their system so that they could hold on and wait another year.

Upgrading 1.8 MHz Power Mac G5 (memory and OS)

I recently purchased an iMac loaded with Leopard. I would like to use the install disk to upgrade my older Power Mac G5. My machine is running 10.3.9 currently.
I know I need to increase memory, but by how much? A salesman sold me additional memory some time ago, but it caused a lot of problems and I removed it. Now I'm leery of what to buy. Will the following memory description be appropriate, both in type and quantity to run Leopard?
1GB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Module For PowerMac G5 Models(requires pairs!), iMac G5, Mac mini 1.25GHz/1.42GHz Models. TRUE PC3200 CAS 3.0(or Faster) Non-Stacked 64x8 device Low-Noise PCB Solution! New, Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty. (OWC3200DDR1024)
My Power Mac's memory currently consists of 2-128MB DDR SDRAM PC3200U-30330.
I'm application-oriented and not too technically savvy.

The G5s came stock with 256MB 6 yrs ago but even then it was sub-standard amount and 1.2 - 1.5GB RAM was much better for even basic light use.
2GB should be a good improvement, you have 4 DIMM slots likely. But it depends on what you plan to do or use it for. Buy from vendors that sell and cater to Mac hardware.
OEM DVDs like from an iMac can't be used, they don't load sometimes, and you really do need retail discs. Good luck finding 10.5.x DVD retail.
New drives can also do a lot to improve performance.
Realize though, other than running older PowerPC applications, the iMac should be able to do most things very well.

Upgrade Power Mac G5 Hard Drive: But New Drive Doesn't show up??

Hello,
I have a Power Mac G5 1.8 (circa 2003). I bought it in 2003 and it has travelled all over the world with me. I love it. It has been the best and most reliable computer I ever owned; and I'm trying to keep it humming along as long as possible.
I am currently running Leopard (OS 10.5.8).
I have 2.5 GB of Ram (I upgraded 2 GB a few years back)
I have currently run out of room on my Hard Drive 160GB - the original one that came with the computer.
I purchased a Seagate Barracuda 2TB Hard Drive (Seagate ST2000DL003) to replace the 160GB one.
However, when I tried to replace the drive - it wouldn't show up on my computer. I could see it appear on screen when I looked at Disk Utility but not in the window that allows you to select a drive? - and continue the installation process? did I buy the wrong kind of drive?
I'm 100% sure I'm doing something wrong. I just have no clue what it is?
Could someone please help; or point me in the right direction?
I'm not a computer whizz; nonetheless I'm not affraid to dabble in DIY.
Many Thanks
foginwater

Hi foginwater, just asking since you don't specify, did you use Disk Utility to Format it for Mac yet?
How to format your disks...
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html
Thanks to Pondini, Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks...
http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html
And if you would like to just have everything on the old drive transferd to the new ine...
Get carbon copy cloner to make an exact copy of your old HD to the New one...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
Then you can hold the Option/alt key down at bootup to choose the HD to boot from when completed.

Upgrade Power Mac G5 Quad to Leopard

Hi, we have a Power Mac G5 M9592LL/A with Mac OS X 10.4.11 (8S165) and I would like to install Leopard 10.5.8.
Where can I buy this upgrade?
Regards

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard installation system requirements
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24950
Look on eBay or Google the installer part numbers to possibly find at an on-line store. Here's what to look for:
MB427Z/A Leopard 10.5.1 install DVD
MB576Z/A Leopard 10.5.4 install DVD
MB021Z/A Leopard 10.5.6 install DVD (single user)
MB022Z/A Leopard 10.5.6 install DVD (5-user family pack)
Installing Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1544
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Installation and Setup Guide
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/leopard_install-setup.pdf
After you install the base 10.5, download & install the 10.5.8 combo update at http://support.apple.com/downloads/Mac_OS_X_10_5_8_Combo_Update
The DVD should look like this
Caution - Leopard does not support classic mode. So, if you currently open OS 9 apps in classic mode, you won't be able to do this if you upgrade to Leopard.
 Cheers, Tom

Upgrade to 10.5 from 10.4.9 on a Power Mac G5?

I'm running Pro Tools|HD 7.4 in a 10.4.9 environment on a Power Mac G5 dual 2.3 GHz (The last Power Mac G5 ever released before Intel) with 4.5GB Ram and I was wondering if the upgrade to 10.5.4 would bring on better performance and stability or if I should stick with 10.4.9. Theres nothing wrong with my current configuration but if anyone thinks 10.5.4 would run better/smoother than 10.4.9 I think I would upgrade.

Leopard is definitely a better choice than Tiger. However, before upgrading, get a bootable, external HD (preferably FireWire), and make a bootable backup/clone of your current Tiger installation before upgrading and ensure that it's bootable and works like the original. That allows you to revert to the previous good state without having to reinstall anything. See these for details:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106941
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/installswupdates.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/backuprecovery.html
Once that's done, see these for info on the three installation options:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5757385
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5666369
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5646414
BTW, if you decide to remain w/Tiger, update to 10.4.11. It's much better than 10.4.9.

Upgrade Power mac G5 OSX 10.5 to Snow Leapard

Need help running Power Mac G5 OSX 10.5 Leapard planning to upgrade for Snow Leapard. I see that this is not possible is there anyway round this issue like installing Core Duo 2 Processor or buy new computer.

Snow Leopard only runs on Intel Macs. Leopard is the last OS you can run on a G5. The workaround is to buy a new computer.

I've got a 10.5.8 power mac G5 but would like to upgrade to new software, lion and office 2011, but that requires an intel processor. Is this a lost cause? If not any ideas what it might cost me?

Okay looks like I didn't understand the format for these questions. I have used my Mac BookPro almost exclusively for work and my Power Mac for my home recording studio but now want the Power Mac to be a second computer for my work. So I need to upgrade to Lion and install office 2011. So, considering my subject line, any help offered is appreciated.
Thanks.

The max OS for all Macs with a PowerPC processor is Leopard OS 10.5.x.
If you are going to consider getting a newer, but used, Mac, here's the requirements for Lion.
Lion 10.7 System Requirements
    •    Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor (most models released since late 2006 - early Intel-based Macs with Core Solo or Core Duo processors aren't compatible)
    •    2GB of memory (recommend at least 4GB -- and ideally even more, as you'll see benefits in many computing tasks)
    •    OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended) for Lion download from Apple App Store; or Leopard 10.5.x if using Lion on USB drive
    •    7GB of available space (10GB recommended)
 Cheers, Tom

Upgrading Power Mac G5 Dual 2.0 Ram/Video Card/Hard Drives

Hi there,
Ok so I am an avid Mac user, but have neglected one of my machines lately. This old Power Mac G5 just pushed the 3 year mark and I had a bunch of repairs done to it (New Logic Board, Hard Drive, Power Supply) before the Apple Care ran out. I used to do all of my editing and stuff on it but haven't had time this past year so it has just sat here and not gotten any use. I felt as if it was time to get back in the game so I picked up another Apple 20" monitor, some M-Audio studio monitors, a 11" Wacom, but feel the machine is too outdated to do anything.
Ok first off, I am looking to upgrade from the four 256 sticks (1GB) that I have in my computer with some 2 2GB kits (1GB x 2) (4GB total) and have been looking at the ram that Crucial suggests for this machine (8 Slots). Is there anything that I should look for in ram that will help me get through all of my 3D motion design faster (HD Final Cut too). I don't know a lot about ram when it comes to buffers and such, just how to buy compatible ram. Any suggestions?
Second I am looking to upgrade my video card. I currently have the GeForce FX 5200 with 64 MB of VRAM, which is completely unacceptable. I am looking for a card that can handle all of my motion work along with rendering in Final Cut, something with 256MB of VRAM or more.. I want something that has 2 DVI connections so I don't need an adapter like I currently do with this card to hook up both Apple displays. Suggestions?
Lastly I am looking to up my storage space on this beast. I currently have a brand new 160GB main HDD (Courtesy Apple Care) and a 250GB Maxtor internally. I would really like to have at least a TB of storage. My question is wether I should just keep the 160 for the main boot up drive and apps along with minimum documents to keep the speeds faster, and get a 500 internal and 500 exclosure, or get two 500's for internal?

Hi-
With RAM, fancy isn't necessary, compatible is. Buffers aren't supported, so stick with the recommended memory. Memory should be 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMMs that are 2.5 volt, unbuffered, 8-byte, nonparity, and DDR400-compliant (PC3200).
Important: DIMMs with any of the following features are not supported in the Power Mac G5 computer: registers or buffers, PLLs, ECC, parity, or EDO RAM.
For two DVI outputs, and the power to run your software, the only choices are the Geforce 6800GT and the Geforce 6800 Ultra. For a bit less money, but requires an ADC to DVI adapter for second DVI, the Radeon X800XT will help with the softwares needs. These benchmarks will help you see the performance of the cards.
For storage, the 160gb will work for OS and applications, but you might as well add two 500gb-750gb drives. The new, enterprise drives have great performance, and though larger, will most probably work faster as a startup drive than the 160gb drive. These benchmarks are from a Mac Pro test, but the results illustrate the speed of the larger drives.
The Western Digital SE16 series, or the Seagate ES series offer excellent performance and reliability. See Storage Reviews. For a 1tb drive, see this article.
Of course, whatever you install, add enough external for full backup capabilities.

Power Mac G5 Upgrade

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