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What To Do With an Old G5 Tower?

Posted by timothy on from the such-a-beautiful-exterior dept.

lunatic1969 writes "I've got an old G5 PowerPC tower that's sitting in a spare room not seeing much in the way of use. I'd like to stick a Linux distribution on it and maybe breathe some life back into it. I've got a few vague ideas — it might be a handy file server, streaming video for a security system, or simply just to have a spare box around. My question is therefore in two parts: First, are there any particularly creative projects or ideas anyone has for an old G5, and second and most important, which distribution currently offers the best support for this box?"

43 of 417 comments (clear)

  1. PPC Linux by worx101 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yellow Dog probably has the best support, but you could always look at the PPC version of Ubuntu.

    1. Re:PPC Linux by cynyr · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd run gentoo on it but I run gentoo on everything, including my dead badger ( http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20040405/badger.shtml ) http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-ppc.xml

      --
      All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
  2. yellow dog linux still around? by alen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    personally i'd send it to China for "recycling" or just junk it or donate it. you'll get better performance buying a new iMac and virtualizing the G5. File servers are so last decade. just get an external hard drive and connect it to a TV all of which come with USB ports these days and play a long list of media files

    1. Re:yellow dog linux still around? by h4rr4r · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The lack of RAID does that for you.
      Plus the lack of rsync to automatically backup everything for you, and the fact that your other network devices cannot easily access it.

    2. Re:yellow dog linux still around? by beelsebob · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I couldn't agree more with this sentiment. The Powermac G5s all idle at around 150W, and most used about 600-700W under load. Left idle all year serving files it'll cost $150 a year just in electricity to run... All this for a slower machine than a MacMini, which doing the equivalent thing would use 10W.

    3. Re:yellow dog linux still around? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's about right. From Apple's docs: idle 120W, max 420W for the single-processor 1.6GHz version, idle 140W, max 604W for the dual-processor 2GHz version. The old G5s were power guzzlers. Each CPU could use 100W by itself. They were the reason that Apple laptops were so slow for so long: IBM couldn't produce a decent low-power chip. Even the 'low power' FX variant used up to around 50W - there was no way Apple could fit that in a laptop. Remember that these machines come from the same era as the Prescott P4s, which peaked at 120W per CPU. Two CPUs, a load of support chips, RAM, multiple drives, and so on all added up.

      Some of the G5s were water cooled, and all of them came with an impressive case design to maximise air flow.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  3. Genius by binarylarry · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think I speak for all of us here on Slashdot when I say, porn file server running Linux.

    --
    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  4. retire it by joe_bruin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A G5 tower is a monstrous waste of electricity with trivial performance in return compared to a modern machine. Its primary use these days is as a space heater.

    1. Re:retire it by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm glad somebody said it. The money you'd save on electricity in a year would probably pay for a little NAS appliance that barely takes up more space than the drive(s).

    2. Re:retire it by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 4, Informative

      Say what?! One of my older machines is a G5 dual proc, 2.7 Ghz. That's still a VERY respectable clock speed, it's 64 bit and the dual procs means it's still pretty fast. The submitter didn't mention what speed his was (I'm guessing slower) but depending on that, a G5 could very well be a useful machine. It's not like it's an Athlon or something that is both slow, 32 bit and single core.

      Since the G5 was designed for performance, it's not exactly a great file server chip though. But it's far from being a "space heater" as you say -- mine gets used every work day. As others have pointed out, either put linux on it, or put an older version of OS X on it. I still have 10.4 on mine because it was the last OS Apple produced that was streamlined for the PPC. However, now that Apple has stopped supporting it, I'll have to break down and put 10.5 on it. On other older machines though I have installed both pbbuttons and gtkpbbuttons which support a lot of of the media keys on the keyboard pretty well.

      --
      Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
    3. Re:retire it by Swampash · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Agreed 100%. Have it recycled.

    4. Re:retire it by Rinikusu · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What utter nonsense.

      I'm typing this now via my Dual G5 2.3ghz powermac that is perfectly servicable. Running OS X 10.5, as well. For web browsing, hulu, ableton live + reason + native instruments, even gaming (world of warcraft, soon to be intel only, though). Everything I want to do, I can do on this machine. Would a new machine be more efficient and even do tasks faster? Yes and probably not because I'm user constrained when it comes to music production (for the most part). however, I'd still have to part with my hard earned cash I'd rather spend on drugs and alcohol than buy another machine where I wouldn't see any 'dividends' for many years down the road.

      --
      If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
    5. Re:retire it by Kenja · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sad, but true.

      I'd use it for a practical joke, will it with cement and put it outside with a "free" sign on the side. Sit back and watch the hijinks.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    6. Re:retire it by the+linux+geek · · Score: 3, Informative

      G5's aren't incredibly slow, but nor are they particularly fast. The clock speed bump over the G4 meant the loss of some performance per cycle, and the amount of heat those things put out is obscene. A reasonably clocked C2D or any Nehalem should be vastly faster than a G5.

    7. Re:retire it by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Another thing I'll point out is that debian includes binaries compiled for the ppc. I've never had any problems putting debian on ppc hardware. I would think Ubuntu would work as well, and as others have mentioned, yellow dog is still around. The days of needing a specialist distro for a ppc are long gone though.

      --
      Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
    8. Re:retire it by Brett+Buck · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Hey, I am using a Wind Tunnel G4 right now. It works fantastically well and is lightning fast at running satellite simulations. Faster than my Core 2 Duo PC by a fair margin.

    9. Re:retire it by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So turn it on when needed, but I wouldn't say it's a waste of electricity, considering it's already paid for.

      Apple has done a great job of making XGrid platform independent. If you code with Xcode it'll speed up your compile times. If you do any video rendering, it'll speed that up.

      Or toss OS X server on it and use it as a home server (if you continue to use OS X) or Debian

    10. Re:retire it by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yup, I was going to post the same thing. I was using one as a file server until recently, when it occurred to me to check how much power it was consuming. Christ! For the cost of running that beast a few months, I could have just bought a cheap NAS.

      Basically, yah. It's useless, sell it to some sucker, buy a cheap NAS, and move on with your life.

      --
      Comment of the year
    11. Re:retire it by Brett+Buck · · Score: 3, Informative

      On the core 2 duo, it takes about 10 minutes for a 3-day run, on the G4 it takes about 3.5 minutes.

              Brett

    12. Re:retire it by DAldredge · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This $299 T110 from Dell will be much faster and use less power than the G5. http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/poweredge-t110?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

    13. Re:retire it by SpazmodeusG · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There are so many reasons why that can happen though. One of the first things i think of is that your program works well with the cache line size of the G4 (32bytes, i think) whereas the Core 2 is loading up more than it needs when it loads each new cache line (256bytes, i think).
      You'll probably find if you make even the slightest changes to the data structure size or alignment in the program the benchmarks will switch around.

      In the end CPUs have to be general and there is no doubt that in general the current x86s are faster. If you find the G4 is faster for you well then i say keep using it. It's an exceptional circumstance that you happen to have where your code closely matches the design of the G4.

    14. Re:retire it by beelsebob · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Consider that a bottom of the line MacMini is faster than your G5, and consumes 140W less power when idle, and 600W less power when under load. If you're not using your G5 much, you'll pay for the MacMini in 4 years by trashing the G5 now, if you *are* using it (and it sounds like you are), you'll pay for the MacMini in only 1 year.

  5. G5s are power hogs by sith · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unless you just like the look of the G5, I think you'd be better off trying to get a little money for it on craigslist, and then buying/building a cheap x86 machine if you need a server. G5 power consumption is pretty crazy for the performance you get - best case, at idle, you're looking at 140w, but in reality it's much higher.

    1. Re:G5s are power hogs by Albanach · · Score: 4, Informative

      That Is The Correct Answer.

      You can get a nettop for about $200 that will have as much storage. It will be fast enough and be x86 so give you a wide choice of distros and with the correct choice of GPU will do hardware accelerated 1080p. Finally it will be a fraction of the size and consume 20 watts.

      You're doing no-one other than your power company a favor by resurrecting the G5 tower.

  6. Old Games by painandgreed · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm keeping mine around to run games on, especially old classic games that have stopped working under newer versions of OS X or Intel chips. In addition to that, it might go to my photo studio as a browser and photo editing machine.

  7. Audio Workstation/Recording Studio by dangitman · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you have the model with the PCI-X, rather than the PCI Express bus, then probably the optimum usage is putting it in a recording studio. There are some great rack-mount multi-channel (like 10 in, 10 out) audio interfaces by the likes of M-Audio which use the PCI bus, and have never been updated for PCI Express compatibility, so they won't work in a Mac Pro.

    The G5 has plenty of performance for audio work, and plenty of space for internal hard drives or RAID. This would really be the optimum niche for such a machine. For other purposes (file server etc), it sucks too much power and takes up too much space for its usefulness. But for audio work with dedicated hardware, it's perfect.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
    1. Re:Audio Workstation/Recording Studio by jewishbaconzombies · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Bingo.

      I had the bottom of the line G5 for a time and had 2 other computers that had replaced it. Between Berkley and Emeryville, there were several studios and colleges for advanced audio. I think I got about 60-75% of what I paid for it. They didn't even haggle (and I priced a bit high for haggleability).

  8. Debian by dandart · · Score: 5, Informative

    Debian's PPC port works well, I used it on an iMac G3.

  9. Re:Like the look of the G5 ... by Darth+Sdlavrot · · Score: 5, Funny

    it may take a little more than a phillips screwdriver to accomplish this.

    Yup, you'll need a Torx driver instead.

  10. Debian or Recycle it by dondelelcaro · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can rather easily run Debian on the thing with support for all of the non-architecture specific packages that you'd find on an equivalent machine running another architecture; I had quite a few of them around at one point.

    That said, you really should strongly consider not running the machine unless you have a very specific use for it; there are many lower powered machines which won't waste as much eneergy and will provide equivalent functionality.

    --
    http://www.donarmstrong.com
  11. Perfectly usable and powerful with OS X by astro · · Score: 3, Informative

    We're using a G5 PowerPC tower to run all functions, including 24/7 streaming, of an internet radio station. Tons of modern software for it (including being able to live-stream after a compression and other audio manipulation chain)... I love Linux and use it on many machines for many purposes, but there's no reason to ditch OS X just because the machine is aging.

  12. A file server? Linux? by Darth+Sdlavrot · · Score: 5, Informative

    Seriously? Okay. The OS that probably works best with this machine is --- drum roll -- OS X.

    Without hardly thinking about it it'll serve files via AFP and SMB.

    Google will tell you how to enable the NFS server on it. (That's right, you don't need OS X Server.)

    Streaming video? If there's open source software for Linux to do this, there's a pretty good chance it'll build on OS X too.

  13. Best Buy Trade In Program by mory · · Score: 4, Informative

    Trade it in! Best Buy has an online trade in program where you can get cash or a Best Buy gift card. I got a $200 for mine. You fill out some stuff online, print a pre-paid UPS label, wait about 3 weeks. Same money you'd get from craigslist, none of the emails for interesting trades. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Electronics+Promotions/Online-Trade-In/pcmcat133600050011.c?id=pcmcat133600050011

  14. Make it a modern Mac by Stormwatch · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Gut it and use the case to build a modern PC, on which you can install Mac OS X by using Prasys' EmpireEFI. Or just install whatever you want. The G5 may be outdated, but the case is still beautiful.

    --
    Circumcision is child abuse.
  15. Re:Folding@Home by Macrat · · Score: 3, Informative

    I don't think you realize how much electricity a G5 tower sucks up.

  16. I hate to say it... by MarcQuadra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hate to say it, but the nature of CPUs has changed so much since the Core architecture that you might want to eBay that box and buy something like an Atom Nettop.

    The G5 and P4 were both pretty much the 'end of the line' of the idea that faster=hotter and more power-hungry.

    I keep a G4 dualie around for Mac work, but it's basically a space heater. I advise clients to decommission their P4-based systems ASAP. My dual-core Core 2 idles at under 60W, the G4 uses almost 200W and shows a lot less for it.

    Seriously, somewhere out there is a young web designer who wants that G5. eBay it. Take the money and buy a modern machine that -is- supported by the latest distros and won't silently cost you $10/month.

    I really like the Atom 330/ION combination, you get low-power, dual-core, accelerated video and 2D, and 64-bits of goodness. Sure, it's slower than a G5, but it's enough to saturate a gigabit pipe, or play 1080p h.264 via HDMI, browse, type, serve files or multimedia, etc. You could probably buy three matching ION-based nettops if you tossed the G5.

    --
    "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
  17. Space Heater by djdavetrouble · · Score: 3, Funny

    Get those CPU's working and those 5 fans cranking and it makes a pretty attractive space heater.
    I know that my Macpro with dual 8800GT's is in a pretty fair matchup against my 5000 btu air conditioner.

    --
    music lover since 1969
  18. power hungry, yes. Trivial performance, no. by SuperBanana · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They may be power-hungry (idle power usage is 120-160w depending on the model/year; the later models were more power-efficient) but the G5's had a very impressive memory architecture. That and the G5 processor itself were designed to shovel bucketloads of data, mostly for media. Keep in mind that MacOS resumes from sleep mode very quickly, and power usage in sleep mode is nil. Not great for servers, but great for occasional work with media like photos or video.

    --
    Please help metamoderate.
  19. Sell it by Teese · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You'd be surprised what an older G5 desktop sells for on the used market. Any software dev that supports PowerPC apps needs testing machines, and dev boxes. Faster PowerPCs like G5s are in demand out there.

    --
    "I'm a Genius!"*


    *Not an actual Genius
  20. Quite simply by cyberzephyr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fish tank

    --
    I'm here for the experience, not the Hyperbole.
  21. Re:Perfect use for a G5. by trapnest · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You're an idiot if you really believe an Atom will out preform a G5 processor.

  22. Best recommended use by far! by ROMRIX · · Score: 3, Funny

    My favorite use for any G5 has been in the Marine environment as a Geo-Synchronous aquatic stabilizer.
    To use simply load any flavor of Linux you prefer, attach one (1) CAT5 securely to the G5 unit and to your MTV (Marine Transportation Vehicle). Place the G5 into a solution of 100% Dihydrogen Monoxide and feed out the CAT5 cable as needed to achieve Geo-Synchronous aquatic stabilization. If however you prefer to use a solution of 96.5% Dihydrogen Monoxide and 3.5% Sodium Chloride then I highly recommend networking a minimum of 100 G5 units securely attached with multiple CAT5 cables or scaled to the size of your MTV.

  23. Buy OS X Leopard (or server) and use it by Ilgaz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Geez, that is not a G3 Machine for God's sake. It is a workstation which is still used in production environments.

    It is supported via OS X Leopard which the Snow Leopard doesn't share the same name just because Apple couldn't find a new cat name, it is because Snow Leopard was _built on_ OS X Leopard. Just like Windows 7 vs. Windows Vista. Of course, Apple did "security/safari/itunes only updates" but, it was their own choice with lots of iPad/iPhone stuff going on. Also you wouldn't want "snow leopard" pure 64bit OS on it since on G5, "pure 64bit" really means "access more than 4 GB on a single application", not anything else. It is not x86 which had "bonus stuff" coming to that archaic architecture which wins because of popularity. I am telling these "karma suicide" things since if you actually go pure Linux, make sure you pick a 32bit distro as "pure 64bit coolness" may&will mean overhead and slowness.

    Unless developer is a complete "trendy type", he/she still supports OS X Leopard/PPC since there is no reason not to. Of course, I speak about "native OS X apps", not Adobe stuff coming with lots of Windows/X86 copy paste code. Look to top 10 downloads in various sites, they are all PPC/X86/Leopard+. Tiger has issues since it doesn't have kernel functionality in some cases, like the VLC (I heard it is about threads).

    For the people saying "massive heat", "power". G5 in Workstation configuration, idles 37 degrees celsius. How much does your Intel do? SJobs had very valid points, about future of Apple and how IBM G5 (PPC970) doesn't fit to it... But the "heat", "watt" etc. were all misunderstood, out of context. It doesn't fit to portable future (which was proved right), it happily runs on desktop, _still_ with IBM current AIX 7 (beta, massive specs) included.

    I owned a G5 1600, moved to Quad G5 2500 so I can keep on PPC arch for a long time (was proved right not to jump to those early Intels), I also got G4 Mini, there are more Intel Macs in house... I try so hard to get "impressed", like Wow factor, when you as Amiga 500 user, run Amiga 4000 first time... Can't yet... As Apple keeps doing crazy things like using core duo in this age, where i5/i3 exists, for a long time, I am staying. If Developers doesn't support? "My" vendors are real Mac software houses, you know the ones running XCode. They still support and unless a real necessity happens, they will keep supporting.

    It would be "fun" to suggest some nerd fantasy, some kind of joke but, really if you come to slashdot asking "what to do" with a 64bit RISC processor which, if it was IBM pSeries, would have current OS.... You get it... Check the websites/irc channels you frequent, someone really did some reality field distortion to you.