Product reviewsApple PowerMac Desktop - M9747LL/A (April, 2005)

Aeons ahead of its time

16 years later, my dual 2.0 GHz PowerMac G5 is still running like a champion. I believe I paid $3500 for it, including upgrading the RAM to 1GB (512MB was standard), adding a second 160GB 7200 RPM SATA drive, and an NEC LCD flatscreen monitor. I do remember the name monitor cost $500! DVI, flatscreen, HD-capable monitors were new, still had a 4:3 aspect ratio, and were pricey. But it was far cheaper than getting an Apple Display.

The computer came with a 7200 RPM 160GB SATA hard drive, an AGP Nvidia graphics card with 64 MB RAM, 8x superdrive branded as Apple (but made by Pioneer), airport extreme card. As mentioned above, I doubled the RAM rather than have the standard 512MB.

Now, in 2021, it has 8GB of RAM (the maximum according to Apple and most sources. I’ve read reports of 16GB ECC RAM working and may try that), an 18x DVD-RW drive (using a SATA to IDE adapter, and the free app, Patchburn, for OS X 10.4.11. 10.5 and above natively support s 3rd party drives), a widescreen LCD monitor, an ATI Radeon Pro 9600 Mac/PC edition with 256MB RAM, a PCI-X SATA II controller, which doubles the transfer rate from 1.5Gbps to 3Gbps, and 2 1TB SATA SSD’s. Aside from the possibility of 16GB of EEC server RAM working, and 2 remaining PCI-X slots that are empty, it’s been pimped out to the MAXXX.

I could not possibly say exactly how much the computer, as it is today, cost me. I upgraded the RAM gradually, as the price went down, then up, then way down. The video card was the most expensive one available at the time, and cost between $250-300. Before upgrading to SSD’s, I upgraded the internal HD’s several times, for more storage and better performance. Ultimately, it was all worth it. Note: replace the PRAM battery on the motherboard about every 5 years (it’s about 1/2 the length of a AA, and costs maybe $5).

I have newer Macs. I’ve had older Macs. I have a Windoze PC. I have a self/built desktop that tuns any OS I want it to. Out of all of them, this machine has never failed me. I’m talking not once having a problem. No repairs ever necessary, never needing tech-support, always functional. The design alone is so amazing. Opening up the tower, it’s like a museum display case inside. Despite the enormous amount of heat and fan power required, with the case closed, this machine is extremely quiet, and has been used as my number one digital audio workstation computer for as long as I’ve had it.

The powerpc G5 CPU’s were made by IBM. Kind of ironic in a way, considering that prior to 1995, IBM and apple were each other’s largest competitors. The G5 was the first 64-bit processor available for consumers in home computers. To this day, they are still made by IBM and used in servers. The only reason Apple discontinued using them was the cooling issues. The G5 tower case (which was obviously such a good design, considering the Mac Pros of today look pretty much identical), It was very roomy an allowed for very powerful fans or liquid cooling system. Apple iMacs and laptops on the other hand could not handle the heat. The fastest G5 iMac had only one CPU, and reports of Proto types to make a Powerbook G5 were total failures, not just because of cooling issues, but because of size. As everything electronic was getting smaller and slimmer, especially when Intel came out with the CoreDuos, two separate CPU cores on on physical CPU, apple finally made the switch.

As long as you have the versions of software that were made for PowerPC, this machine is extremely functional and can still be very useful, even to professionals, especially people in audio/video. While it does run leopard, it’s best performance is definitely when booted into tiger. I can run ProTools 7.3.1 and Plenty of plug-ins without any issues whatsoever. Also, until snow leopard was released, Photoshop ran much faster on the dual G fives in it did on the core2duos.

There are sites dedicated to hosting download archives of PowerPC compatible software. There are also sites dedicated to keeping the PowerPC platform alive. Thanks to planned obsolescence, it was very difficult for a while to go online with this machine at all. However, thanks to the people running the tenFourfox project, A fork of Mozilla Firefox specific to the PowerPC architecture, it is once again usable online. Even on YouTube.

Remember, when it comes to software, and even operating system versions, newer is not always better. If you are trying to put together a home recording studio on a budget, I would highly recommend purchasing a used dual or quad G5. Max out the ram, put in the best graphics card possible, and upgrade to SSD’s. But make sure you can either find links to download the software you need, or find a friend who has the install discs. Otherwise you’re not going to find anything on any official website, for the most part.

I cannot think of another computer that still does exactly what it was bought for 16 years later…
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Verified purchase: No

Love this machine but wish it could run current high-end commercial apps

I do freelance design on my Mac. I bought this to replace my original G5 dual when its power supply failed (and I failed to repair it myself!). I was able to just migrate my storage (and OS, apps, etc.), memory and newer superdrive to it and was back up working in under 2 hours. These machines are workhorses. My only gripe is not with the G5 but with Software companies for abandoning the universal builds so the apps run on both the newer intel and the older PowerPC systems (like this one). Most high-end applications released after 2009 probably won't work on these.Read full review...

All in all, a great performing product and value for your dollar.

I bought this Mac G5 because I need to upgrade my hardware. New software required an updated system and my G4 was just too old. What I dislike is the metal case. I've been a Mac user since 1988 and I think the metal cases of newer models, desktop and notebooks alike, are the most fragile of any computer I've owned over the years; they easily dent and ding or worse. I much preferred those of the blue and white G3s and all those of the G4s. The most durable notebook case was on my Powerbook 165 and 180 followed by my Wallstreet. I still occasionally use the Wallstreet and, since it is a relatively tough plastic, it is still in good shape. My newer 17" G4 hasn't fared as well even though I'm just as careful with it.
I'm kind of stuck, though; staying up-to-date means ditching my old favorites and going with the flow. I only have complaints with the package—everything else is tops as it has been since the first Mac.Read full review...

Excellent replacement for our office computer.

Our office Mac G5 ended up with a bad core and had to be replaced. I pulled the hard drive from our maching and slapped into this one and viola! It worked perfectly!

A finely crafted peice of machined space age technology.

This is an Amazing peice of work, crafted from top to bottom. Its like a small space ship on your desk just waiting blust you off to another world.

Great computer.

My first actual experience with a Mac, So far I really like quality of the design and simplicity of the OS. When my PC is outdated, I may switch to Macs.