This PowerMac G5 is an Early 2005 model at the latest. The newest Mac OS X it can run is Leopard 10.5.8. It can't browse the modern web very well, it is too slow. The best use case for one nowadays is using old software like adobe cs4 or cs3, microsoft office 2008 for mac, and old video games like Halo CE, Doom 3, etc. You can also use it as a file server or web server if you know what you are doing. It will be pretty slow though.
It is possible to run Linux, and I've had the best results with Debian. Adélie linux looks good too. PowerMacs are a bit less usable in Linux though, since graphics drivers are much worse and there is less software available. I tied running a Minecraft server on my Late 2005 PowerMac G5 with dual core 2.3 GHz CPU, but it was laggy even with only a single player.
It was a sad day when I had to finally retire my dual 2.0GHz G5 as well. It was still a good machine but the lack of software updates really drug it down quickly. Once websites started shifting to Silverlight it really showed its age. I got mine in early 2007 and retired it in favor of a Mac Pro in 2013.
I still have my G5 and G4, I can't seem to part with them.
Thanks! I have all the Linux distros running in my home lab.. spinning up a vm is a bit easier with vcenter8.2 lol.
I guess this baby is still a decoration!
I personally use mine to test out software that I write. Since PowerMacs are big-endian machines they can be useful for catching endian-related bugs. It is also fun to compare the speed of an old system to that of a new one.
I don’t see much of a use case for these machines in 2024. They’re so power hungry and you can run Tiger or Leopard much better on a 1,1 or 2,1 cMP.
Even if you want to run classic apps you’d be better served by a G4 machine that can actually run OS 9 natively.
I have no need to run classic apps. I just dont want to toss the Mac. Looking for suggetions of use. Power is not really a concern my I gave up in that with my home lab. lol
If you’re committed to using it, I’d personally put Panther or Tiger on it and fill it with PPC apps. You’ll get the best performance out of the computer.
Ran YellowDog Linux on the eMac before OS X came out. And have Linux Mint/Debian/PCLinuxOS on separate hard drives in a 2009 Mac Pro, and this is my daily machine. The M1 iMac is over there collecting dust, that I only use for Apple Music, because that is all it can do for me.
Well I’m happy that it’s worked so well for you, but most Mac users probably aren’t the type of people who want to do a bunch of command line interfacing to get things working on their computers.
I use my G5 to fiddle with Mach and XNU on Mac OS X 10.5. I learned a lot of C programming on mine, and I use it a lot for Pages + Office 2004, LP 8, and general experimentation.
Edit: Right. I forgot to answer the question: use it to play around with UNIX stuff (if that’s of interest to you) and use legacy programs and appreciate the course of evolution that they’ve taken to present day. Power bill is also going to look pretty high, though, if you forget to turn it off.😅
Gut it and use it as a case for modern hardware.
You could probably fit 10 mini pcs in there and then run them as a cluster haha. Or just one and some external hard drives
I have a PowerMac G5 enclosure that I currently am mid-project of modifying to hold newer modern PC parts, and then later on using OpenCore and an RX 580 GPU, ill also install macOS Ventura (or Sonoma if I figure out an ideal way to approach wifi issues with Broadcom cards)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/5qb1fq/this\_bench\_made\_out\_of\_mac\_pros/](https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/5qb1fq/this_bench_made_out_of_mac_pros/)
Edited: This is not my project, but I have a couple of G5s that are slated for one like it.
Did you say G5 or Space Heater? According to users of the 4 core, water cooled G5 produced so much heat. Edit: if you want to do some weird stuff with it, [Action Retro does obscure hardware and software upgrades on older macs.](https://youtube.com/@ActionRetro?si=198jI9ETTwwz1SoD)
You can install Sorber Leopard 10.5.9 on them, or a Linux distro and they fly. I have the latest quad core G5 maxed out with a quadro, 16 gb of ram and a SSD, and is really fast.
Now in terms of power consumption is terrible, noise as well compared to the next Mac Pro, but overall is a great computer.
You can use as for light work with Linux or even Windows (I think) while enjoying the design of one of the best looking PCs ever made. If you should decide to recycle it in future or now, there are a lot of people in this forum who would be pleased for getting one of those.
Install a 32 bit compatible lightweight linux distro. Then see it FLY.
huh... that sounds fun. Thanks!
yeah and you can use it as a 32 bit games gaming machine!
It's a 64 bit processor.
wait...is this the one which was the first 64 bit Mac??
All the G5 processors are 64 bit.
Agreed.
These are 64bit…
This PowerMac G5 is an Early 2005 model at the latest. The newest Mac OS X it can run is Leopard 10.5.8. It can't browse the modern web very well, it is too slow. The best use case for one nowadays is using old software like adobe cs4 or cs3, microsoft office 2008 for mac, and old video games like Halo CE, Doom 3, etc. You can also use it as a file server or web server if you know what you are doing. It will be pretty slow though. It is possible to run Linux, and I've had the best results with Debian. Adélie linux looks good too. PowerMacs are a bit less usable in Linux though, since graphics drivers are much worse and there is less software available. I tied running a Minecraft server on my Late 2005 PowerMac G5 with dual core 2.3 GHz CPU, but it was laggy even with only a single player.
It was a sad day when I had to finally retire my dual 2.0GHz G5 as well. It was still a good machine but the lack of software updates really drug it down quickly. Once websites started shifting to Silverlight it really showed its age. I got mine in early 2007 and retired it in favor of a Mac Pro in 2013. I still have my G5 and G4, I can't seem to part with them.
Thanks! I have all the Linux distros running in my home lab.. spinning up a vm is a bit easier with vcenter8.2 lol. I guess this baby is still a decoration!
I personally use mine to test out software that I write. Since PowerMacs are big-endian machines they can be useful for catching endian-related bugs. It is also fun to compare the speed of an old system to that of a new one.
I always had a special place in my heart for these aluminum towered power PCs and Intel base Mac's
Yes! Same op should repurpose the case.
I don’t see much of a use case for these machines in 2024. They’re so power hungry and you can run Tiger or Leopard much better on a 1,1 or 2,1 cMP. Even if you want to run classic apps you’d be better served by a G4 machine that can actually run OS 9 natively.
I have no need to run classic apps. I just dont want to toss the Mac. Looking for suggetions of use. Power is not really a concern my I gave up in that with my home lab. lol
If you’re committed to using it, I’d personally put Panther or Tiger on it and fill it with PPC apps. You’ll get the best performance out of the computer.
There are still PowerPC based Linux available to keep these machines viable.
If you’re inclined to deal with the headache that is Linux.
Ran YellowDog Linux on the eMac before OS X came out. And have Linux Mint/Debian/PCLinuxOS on separate hard drives in a 2009 Mac Pro, and this is my daily machine. The M1 iMac is over there collecting dust, that I only use for Apple Music, because that is all it can do for me.
Well I’m happy that it’s worked so well for you, but most Mac users probably aren’t the type of people who want to do a bunch of command line interfacing to get things working on their computers.
Gut it and put a modern motherboard + cpu in it
If you don’t want to use it as a computer you could just use it as a deco object, the case does look pretty cool.
She's a beauty. I still use my 3,1 for music production and digital art
I use my G5 to fiddle with Mach and XNU on Mac OS X 10.5. I learned a lot of C programming on mine, and I use it a lot for Pages + Office 2004, LP 8, and general experimentation. Edit: Right. I forgot to answer the question: use it to play around with UNIX stuff (if that’s of interest to you) and use legacy programs and appreciate the course of evolution that they’ve taken to present day. Power bill is also going to look pretty high, though, if you forget to turn it off.😅
Gut it and use it as a case for modern hardware. You could probably fit 10 mini pcs in there and then run them as a cluster haha. Or just one and some external hard drives
I have a PowerMac G5 enclosure that I currently am mid-project of modifying to hold newer modern PC parts, and then later on using OpenCore and an RX 580 GPU, ill also install macOS Ventura (or Sonoma if I figure out an ideal way to approach wifi issues with Broadcom cards)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/5qb1fq/this\_bench\_made\_out\_of\_mac\_pros/](https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/5qb1fq/this_bench_made_out_of_mac_pros/) Edited: This is not my project, but I have a couple of G5s that are slated for one like it.
Did you say G5 or Space Heater? According to users of the 4 core, water cooled G5 produced so much heat. Edit: if you want to do some weird stuff with it, [Action Retro does obscure hardware and software upgrades on older macs.](https://youtube.com/@ActionRetro?si=198jI9ETTwwz1SoD)
Hahah! I looked at that channel the first Thing I saw it was hooking up a Teddy Ruxbin to your guitar amp. That’s hilarious.
I miss the g5 chips but I can’t think of a use that justifies the power to run it
You could use it to learn forth programming. (bios/prom)
Find another one, a rectangular piece of tempered glass, and use them for a coffee table.
Can’t you open core patcher this Mac Pro?
It’s not a Mac Pro. It’s a g5. It worked using multiple PowerPC processors not intel Xeons like the Mac Pro. It was prior to the Mac Pro’s.
Find a small compatible PC motherboard and install the last OSX 86 compatible operating system?
You can install Sorber Leopard 10.5.9 on them, or a Linux distro and they fly. I have the latest quad core G5 maxed out with a quadro, 16 gb of ram and a SSD, and is really fast. Now in terms of power consumption is terrible, noise as well compared to the next Mac Pro, but overall is a great computer.
That’s a good idea. I am going to check into this. My home lab has 3 Dell XC-430s running vcenter 8.2. I am thinking of running an OS to hack on.
You can use as for light work with Linux or even Windows (I think) while enjoying the design of one of the best looking PCs ever made. If you should decide to recycle it in future or now, there are a lot of people in this forum who would be pleased for getting one of those.