Power Mac G5 – Technical Specifications (2003)

I love how many of those machines are still around and still in use today. Low End Mac, for example, has a thriving user base, and there are still other groups about maintaining vintage Macs. Unfortunately, the price on a lot of the older machines has gone way up, as people try to capitalize on the vintage trend. I have a G4/800 iMac (the lamp one) that I still use, with Mac OS 9.2 on it.

It&#x27;s not cheap, but for those who like the aesthetics of the Powermac G5 tower, there is a conversion kit to put a normal ATX motherboard in it, and a standard PC power supply:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thelaserhive.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;g5-atx-kit-psu-holder&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thelaserhive.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;g5-atx-kit-psu-holder&#x2F;</a><p>Makes it pretty easy to choose a new motherboard such as for a Ryzen 2700, with fast M.2 NVME SSD, etc.

Debian can be installed on G5 (although the latest stable Debian 9 &quot;Stretch&quot; isn&#x27;t supported, what you can do is install Debian 8 &quot;Jessie&quot; or the unstable branch &quot;Sid&quot;) [1].<p>Also note the PPC 750 and PPC 7400, used in the Mac G3 and G4 computers, are NOT affected by meltdown &amp; spectre, so if you want a secure desktop, try Debian on G4 [2].<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wiki.powerprogress.org&#x2F;Debian_PPC_Starters_Manual" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wiki.powerprogress.org&#x2F;Debian_PPC_Starters_Manual</a> [2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.makeuseof.com&#x2F;tag&#x2F;computers-unaffected-meltdown-spectre&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.makeuseof.com&#x2F;tag&#x2F;computers-unaffected-meltdown-...</a>

I don’t have any PowerPC machines going any more. But for those who do, it seems that a modern web browser might still be an option: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.floodgap.com&#x2F;software&#x2F;tenfourfox&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.floodgap.com&#x2F;software&#x2F;tenfourfox&#x2F;</a>

I just happened to buy a Dual 1.8Ghz model for $10 CAD at a garage sale yesterday. Beautiful machine. Also had a keyboard, but unfortunately isn&#x27;t a mechanical one (rubber domes over membrane.)

I sold Apple stock to my my Power Mac G5 in 2003. Now it sits on the floor under my desk to remind me of how much it cost in 2003 Apple stock :-)

G5, the first 64bit desktop mac. [1]<p>Another fun fact, I named the Apache Velocity project after the &#x27;velocity engine&#x27; in that chip.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;everymac.com&#x2F;systems&#x2F;apple&#x2F;powermac_g5&#x2F;faq&#x2F;powermac-g5-first-64-bit-pc-velocity-engine-quad-core.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;everymac.com&#x2F;systems&#x2F;apple&#x2F;powermac_g5&#x2F;faq&#x2F;powermac-...</a>

This was an awesome machine with a great architecture, but unfortunately it didn&#x27;t have legs [1] for the long run. The G5 processor architecture was in the end too power hungry, especially for the laptop space - with the fabled &quot;PowerBook G5&quot; never arriving.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;janit.iki.fi&#x2F;shit&#x2F;3Ghz.m4a" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;janit.iki.fi&#x2F;shit&#x2F;3Ghz.m4a</a>

Power Mac G5 (Late 2004)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;kb&#x2F;SP67" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;kb&#x2F;SP67</a><p>Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) &quot;Quad Core&quot; (2.5)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;kb&#x2F;SP37" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;support.apple.com&#x2F;kb&#x2F;SP37</a>

I have a single-core model from 2003 that I pulled from a trash heap. I still use it for scanning film and anything else that Adobe CS2 can handle. I also have a OS X tiger partition to run classic applications on. Great computer&#x2F;space-heater ;)

I have the dual G5 2GHz standard model and it&#x27;s still kickin&#x27;! Sure, the clock battery is way beyond its lifetime. But with a modern Linux distro and ntp it&#x27;s a minor setback.

I only just retired my &#x27;03 dual-2GHz G5 at the end of last year, and only because of space constraints in my current house. It was and still is a great piece of equipment.

Ubuntu Mate 1604 Powerpc, works perfectly on the G5.

I once worked for three months to get a used Power Mac G5 from a company. Totally glad I&#x27;ve done so

And it runs Jagwire!<p>...man, I miss Steve Jobs keynotes.

Is there a particular reason for the specs to be submitted today that I might be missing?