For Sale: PowerMac G5 Quad 2.5 GHz

[Iggy]

I'd buy it if I had the funds.
I'm currently sitting on a 2.3 GHz PCI-e G5 with the hope that it will eventually be supported by MorphOS.
And FreeBSD on a RISC machine fascinates me.
I've actually considered this OS on an SGI MIPS based system or a Sun Sparc, but this would outperform most of those.

A FireGL X3 will not work in these, but a Radeon X1900GT will (that is what is in mine).
Whoever buys it, I can probably find one of these cards for you.

Personally, I think if MorphOS support is eventually released for this system, then TeamBlackFox is going to regret his decision as this will be the most powerful platform available for that OS.
The 2.5 Quad with its faster memory easily outperforms the earlier 2.7 even when only one core is used.

[Iggy]

Thanks David,
But your card was modified by a friend who is much better with R400 cards than I am (although I do mod R200 and R300 cards).
The difference between the 2.5 Quad and the 2.7 isn't great enough to justify the change by itself.
And the X800XT performs pretty close to the X1900GT.

Also, with the PCI-X models we have access to the all the supported PCI cards (like the SB Live, USB 2.0 cards, SCSI cards, etc.).

However, should they start creating video card drivers with bios emulation support, we might eventually see PCI-e cards supported beyond the 1900GT (big might folks, don't even ask the developers about this speculation).

But think about it, a Quad-core 2.5 G5 with an HD4670 card (or better).

[Iggy]

God I'd kill to find an SGI Fuel like you've got, Fox (or better yet a Quad 1 GHz Tezro).
Like I said, I'd buy the G5, but I already have three (a 1.8 and a 2.7 PCI-X and a 2.3 PCI-e), although yours is slightly better.

Throw 8GB of memory into it and your system would make a great OpenBSD platform.

It's a pity that IRIX isn't being developed anymore. It would have made a great open OS.

Still, I guess Linux has become almost tolerable (and OpenBSD is always there).

As to MorphOS, should the developers take the jump to 64 bit SMP, then we'd finally have an Amigoid OS that could compete outside the realm of "hobbyist OS' ".

[Iggy]

Yeah OpenBSD is a decent OS, and a good desktop OS especially in todays highly hackable world - I just prefer FreeBSD for the general use and OpenBSD for firewalls, servers etc. The Linux kernel is alright, if a of a questionable design and architecture, but GNU, the userland stuff is outright horrible and is the main reason I won't touch GNU/Linux with a 39 1/2 foot pole. The GNU project and the FSF are convinced that proprietary software is the capitalism of computing and that it should all be socialised under a licence that forces you to keep it socialised.

I'm really interested in MorphOS and I used it on my PowerMac G4 as a demo OS, but I never really had any use for it beyond screwing around.

As far as IRIX goes I'd like to convince SGI to open it up under the MIT licence since they have stopped supporting it - if you have any ideas please PM me .

I definitely agree the the Linux kernel is pretty poorly designed.
At least recent revisions can dynamically load and unload drivers.

As to IRIX, the biggest stumbling block to getting SGI to open it up is the competition it might provide for more recent SGI offerings.

Let's face it, that is what killed Open Solaris.