Power Mac G5 upgrades

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The last of the PPC Macs still has the horsepower to muscle through complex computer tasks

When Apple introduced the Power Mac G5, it was the most powerful personal computer in existence. In the years since, even faster computers have appeared and Apple has abandoned the Power PC in favor of Intel processors.

While it's glory days may be over, the PowerMac G5 is still a very capable machine. If you don't require the performance of a full-tilt Mac Pro, a G5 tower is still a viable option for many tasks. This lens will look at some of the ways you can maximize the G5's productivity.

Every G5 tower needs a ram upgrade 

To get the most out of a G5 system; add more ram

Old hot rodders had a saying: "The only substitute for cubic inches is more cubic inches."

That may be true for hot rods, but in the computer world...the only substitute for ram is more ram.

Make no mistake, the most important thing you can do to improve your G5 is add more ram. There is simply nothing else you can do to increase a G5's performance.

Don't assume just any ram will work, however. Different versions of the G5 utilize different ram chips, and even chips that meet the published specifications have been known to cause problems. To avoid frustration, only ram designed to meet Apple's guidelines should be used. That doesn't mean you have to buy ram from Apple -- the OEM ram chips are far more expensive than third-party ram. Just make sure you buy from a vendor who guarantees that their ram chips will work correctly in a G5.

You could pay a shop to install ram, but the task of adding ram to a G5 is quite simple. Generally, it only takes a few minutes, even if you take your time.

(All photos © Copyright 2008, Tom Bonner. All rights reserved.)


The Power Mac G5 shipped with a meager 512mb ram



The Power Mac G5 shipped with a meager 512mb ram, barely enough to run OS X, let alone get some work done.

Time to fix that with a ram upgrade.




Open ing the case Powermac G5



Open the G5 case by pulling the lever on the back of the machine. Always disconnect power and other cables before opening the case




removing the Powermac G5's plastic cooling baffle



Once you remove the aluminum side panel, you will need to remove the molded plastic cover.

NOTE: this cover is required for cooling, so don't misplace it.




Ram sockets under cooling fans



The ram sockets are located behind the processor fan assembly.




CPU unit on Powermac G5 slides out without tools



The beauty of the G5 case is that no tools are required to access most of the components. To remove the fan assembly, simply grasp the handle and slide it out.




view of ram sockets, Power mac G5 mother board



With the fans removed, you have full access to the ram sockets. Some G5 models have 8 sockets, while others have 4. This is the basic G5 512kb ram configuration, with two 256kb chips installed.




Ram chip for a Powermac G5



The largest ram chips the G5 Powermacs can use is 1GB. Chips MUST be installed in pairs; one in the upper bank and one in lower.




upper ram socket



A new 1GB ram chip is inserted into a free upper bank ram slot. Openings in the chip must match solid areas in the ram slot to prevent the chip from being inserted incorrectly.




locking mechanism, Apple G5 ram socket



With the second chip of the upper bank removed, you can see the the new 1GB chip in place.






A closeup of one end of the ram slot shows the pivoting locking tab securing the chip in place. You don't have to push the tab in place, the tab will snap closed when the chip is pressed into its slot.






Another view of the locking mechanism shows a chip locked in place with the pivoting tab and an empty slot with the tab swung open.






Both upper slots are populated with ram chips. Remember whatever memory is inserted in the upper bank must be exactly duplicated in the lower bank.






The lower ram bank is shown with both chips in place.






All four ram sockets are populated. All that is left is to slide the fan assembly in place, replace the plastic cover and reinstall the side panel.




Dialog box showing 2.5BG of ram installed.



No more virtual-memory bottle neck. With 2.5 GB of ram, the Power Mac G5 can work the way it was intended to. Of course there is no reason to stop here; another couple of chips will boost the total to 4GB.

Power Mac G5 computers and accessories on eBay 

Bid on a Powermac G5 and accessories on ebay.

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Power Mac G5 photos on Flickr 

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Power Mac G5 Support links 

Apple - Support - Advanced Search
Official Apple support files related to the Power Mac G5
Diplodocs - User manual APPLE POWER MAC G5 (2005) & User guide ...
Download the user manual POWER MAC G5 (2005), user guide APPLE
PowerMac G5 Coolant Leaks/Repairs
PowerMac G5 tower owner reports on coolant leaks, repairs in and out of warranty, alternate repair sources/DIY repairs.

Blog Posts relating to the Powermac G5 

Single User Mode and G5 Fan - ehMac.ca
Join Date: Feb 2006. Location: Toronto Proper. Posts: 10635. Same thing happens if you replace the CPU. You have to use some Apple Technician software to re-set the fan speed. The fans also go full tilt during a kernel panic. ... Not entirely true -- this actually only applied to Power Mac G5 towers (not iMacs or other units). Thermal Calibration had to be performed or otherwise the fans would run at high-speed all the time. (Had to be performed if the processors were ...
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troubleshooting bluetooth Apple Macintosh Service Repair Manuals & Utilities Disc pic $2.50 SHIPPING TO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ***UPDATED*** Now includes : MacBook Air - iMac Intel Core 2 Duo - Mac Mini Intel MacBook Pro - PowerMac G5 ...
Macintosh Technician Course: Trouble shooting Preferences
A customer with a Power Mac G5 (Early 2005) system states that he cannot locate the Bluetooth System Preference in Leopard. Why is he not able to see it? 4. A customer left a MacBook Pro running over the weekend plugged in and set to Never for Screen Saver ... What is one quick check to see if it is a software issue? 12. A customer states that her MacBook is taken a long time to awaken from sleep. What should you check first? Posted by Apple Technician Course at 10:21 AM ...
In Depth: Got a new Mac for Xmas? Here's your Apple A-Z ...
See also: Unix PowerPC All new Macs are powered by Intel chips. Older generations had PowerPC chips, including the G5, G4 and G3. Quit Mac apps don't close automatically when you shut the last window associated with them, as happens in Windows. ... Quit is almost always the last item under the application menu, or you can just get used to tapping Cmd+Q. Safe Boot A special troubleshooting mode you invoke at start-up by holding Shift as you switch your Mac on.

Apple Power Mac G5 on YouTube 

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Powermac G5 Introduction

Runtime: 6:33 | 81249 views | Comments

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Power Mac G5 Tear Down

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Power Mac G5 10.5 Boot Time

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Installing leopard on my Power...

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Installing Al's PowerMac G5

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Watercooling Powermac G5

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Reader Feedback 

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  • Reply
    John Coppedge John Coppedge Mar 11, 2009 @ 3:30 pm
    A few notes from a PC guy:
    1. The memory pairs on a mac are laid out differently than a PC. The inside memory slots form a pair (A2 A1 / B1 B2); a PC would be (A1 A2 / B1 B2). For example you see in pic 5 that the 2nd and 3rd slots form a pair- in a PC this would be the 1st and 3rd slots.
    2. Install memory in decreasing size (largest memory pair first). The G5 I just upgraded wouldn't recognize the memory upgrade until this was reordered.

    I found this thread helpful in troubleshooting: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1714978&tstart=7
  • Reply
    tombonner tombonner Dec 27, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
    Hey Jacob,

    Thanks for your input. The G5 series isn't exactly the latest in Mac hardware, but I think they are amazing machines anyway. Have a great 2009. -- Tom
  • Reply
    JacobsR JacobsR Dec 19, 2008 @ 8:55 am
    Nice lens about the latest macs. More people out there need to appreciate these amazing machines for what they are.

RSS feeds from Tom Bonner's Alphatracks weblog 

Alphatracks is a photography blog. While the copy is dedicated to Sony Alpha dSLRs, all images are processed on a Powermac G5 using software such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.

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by tombonner

Hi. I'm Tom Bonner and I'm happy you're here.

Like most creative people, I work in a variety of disiplines.

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