powermac differences

[Iggy]

What is the difference between a G4 and a G5 for morph os will it work on the G5?

Should the G5 ever be supported, there are advantages and disadvantages to its design.

First, as it can only hold two hard drives (without third party hard drive cages) and as some G4s (like my FW800) can hold four its got less hard drive expansion.

However, the hard drive interface is SATA (although only 1.5 GBs).

Both machines use an AGP video card slot, but the fastest G4 is only 4X while the G5 is 8X.

Depending on the model the G5 features PCI and PCI-X expansion slots while the G4 uses 64bit PCI slots.

The G4 can have 1.5 to 2GB of memory while the G5 can have up to 8 GB.

And finally, the G4 has a max CPU speed of 1.42 GHz (or 2.0 with third party CPU boards) while the G5 maxes out at 2.7GHz.

[Iggy]

OK so the G4 is the one to go for does it matter if its duel or will only one be used?
I am asking as i will be getting a Powermac very soon well it one of them or a macmini just like thew expandability of the powermac over the mini but the mini is nice and small

Personally i choose a 1.42 dual CPU FW800 MDD Power mac.
Yes, only one CPU is used under MorphOS (I've been looking at overclocking a single 1.33GHz Xserve processor card to 1.67 GHz), but its the fastest G4 Power mac available (and will outperform a 1.5 GHz mac Mini)..

I've got an NEC based USB 2.0 PCI card and a Soundblaster Live audio card installed in it.
I've also got an ATI Radeon 9800XT video card (although for now I'd recommend an R200 card for 3D hardware acceleration).

All this can be bought fairly cheaply.
My Powermac was under $75.
The USB card can be had for about $5 (and the Soundblaster is only a little more).

Many Powermacs come with a Radeon 9000Pro video card or these can be purchased starting at around $30.
Other alternatives include the 8500, 9200/9250, 9600, 9700, or 9800.

[Iggy]

Some G5 models had PCIE.

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/specs/powermac_g5_quad_2.5.html

Not that it matters right now since MorphOS doesn't support them yet or at all.

Yes, but when they were still exploring the idea, the MorphOS team was suggesting sticking with the AGP models.
And those models should be able to take most of the video cards we're currently using.

[Iggy]

As far as I know, G4s are way louder than G5s... Which is something important to consider, but, as G5 are not yet supported...
Any information about silent g4 models?
My 933 quicksilver is really loud.

I have heard this reported before, but primarily with the MDD models.
My own Quicksilver (which also had a 933MHz processor) seemed quite quiet to me (especially in comparison to my PC).

My current Powermac, an FW800, is considerably more quiet then earlier MDDs as apple responded to this complaint.

Obviously nothing is going to be as quiet as a Mac Mini as its compact form has a very small cooling fan.

[Iggy]

What exactly is the fastest/best Powermac G5 that was air cooled?

AGP models, the dual 2.7 GHz.
PCIe models, the quad.


Edit - Sorry, I mis-read that.
AIRCOOLED.

Kronos is right. 2.5 and 2.7 is watercooled.

On that note, I don't think even these models are that loud.
But I assume its a matter of perspective, as my PCs have always had additional fans.

[Iggy]

Can you point out some suggestions for fans and controllers?

Anyone else want to field this.

I opened my old Quicksilver and there are only two fans.

One is on the power supply and the other apears to be a 120 mm case fan.

As I've said before, my Quicksilver is very quiet, so I suspect his system has at least one defective fan.

Also, if his 9600 video card isn't passively cooled, that my be making some noise.

[Iggy]

Excellent point about the fan behind the CPU Kronos.
I'd forgotten about that one as I'd removed it on installation of an OWC processor card.
I don't think that one would be easily replaced though.

Your details on the others really useful.

[Iggy]

I might add a PSU fan or move the whole thing to a (bigger) PC-case in order to maximize airflow as the case gets a bit hot for my taste.

Not as hot as the MDD.
The temperatures in mine really bother me.
I like the case layout, but would sacrifice the sound level to increase cooling.

Perhaps if I can modify my 1.42GHz dual processor to a single CPU it will run cooler.

[Iggy]

I've heard a lot of people talk about heat issues in the MDD, but mine's really been perfectly fine. I did have to re-do the thermal paste on the CPUs, but once that was taken care of it hasn't been a problem since, even under load...

Well, that does give me some hope.
Running slower CPUs appears to be cooler so maybe overclocking a single 1.33GHz Xserve processor to 1.67 GHz will remain cooler then two 1.42 GHz CPUs.