Sipheren Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Well I have decided to sell my PC and move to a Mac. I am not forking out for an Intel Mac I am opting for something that I have wanted for a long time. A G5 PowerMac. I have a couple of questions though. Can I still run a VM with Windows for anything I may need to do in Windows? I am looking at the 1.8GHz DP PCI-X version, is this system going to be good? I dont need a lot of performance, my PC was built for games which I no longer play, and 3DS MAX which I have doing using VM. I am looking at learning Maya anyway. So any insight into the G5 would be good. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Ahh, the glorious G5. Good choice. The dual 1.8GHz would be a good choice. Should be decently speedy, especially with Leopard taking advantage of the G5's 64-bit capabilities. You will be able to run Windows XP in a Virtual Machine using Microsoft VirtualPC 7. It won't be as fast as a regular PC, but it should be okay for running regular apps like IE and WMP. Also, if you plan on doing graphics intense work like Maya, I would suggest picking up a ATI X1900 G5 graphics card. It should increase your graphics performance dramatically from what the G5 originally shipped with (a 6 series card, I believe). Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sipheren Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 Yeah I was looking at graphics cards, I read something about the X1900 that comes with the MacPro, would they work in the G5? Also would it be possible to flash a X1900 XTX to work with the G5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Yeah I was looking at graphics cards, I read something about the X1900 that comes with the MacPro, would they work in the G5? Also would it be possible to flash a X1900 XTX to work with the G5? Sadly, no. The PC/EFI versions that are in the Intel Macs (in this case, the Mac Pro) are not compatible with the old OpenFirmware PowerPC Macs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sipheren Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 Ok, Thanks for that, I have found a 9800Pro that is meant to work in it, that should be sufficient for my needs. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lessew Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Personally, I'd suggest you go with an intel iMac... as it will give you forwards compatibility... Not to mention that they're generally faster. Either way, good on you that you bought one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sipheren Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 I will upgrade to a MacPro one day, but for now this is what I really would like. I dont like screens with everything built in, I guess I can't let all my PC habits go, something about a tower and upgradable parts... I wouldn't think there is to much speed difference between a Core2 2GHz and a 2xG5 1.8GHz is there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I wouldn't think there is to much speed difference between a Core2 2GHz and a 2xG5 1.8GHz is there? Actually, the Core 2 is much faster than the dual G5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sipheren Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 Yeah, just looked through some reviews, G5 seems good, just not able to touch the Core2. Anyway, it sounds cool to own a G5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Yeah, just looked through some reviews, G5 seems good, just not able to touch the Core2. Anyway, it sounds cool to own a G5 I'll second that. I plan on purchasing a quad G5 off ebay one of these days to use as my new workhorse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westwaerts Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 a G5 is an awsome good machine, but its PPC arcitecture and will become less and less supported. i believe there is no other choice than moving to intel platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 a G5 is an awsome good machine, but its PPC arcitecture and will become less and less supported. i believe there is no other choice than moving to intel platform. That may be the case, but I still firmly believe that Apple will support their PPC customers for many years ahead. Just look at how long they supported the G3s. I'm sure the G5s will have similar life span. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sipheren Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 I agree, there are a lot of PPC out there, Apple will be supporting them for a long time to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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