{"id":1714,"date":"2003-09-09T12:05:05","date_gmt":"2003-09-10T02:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2003\/09\/09\/20-tips-for-new-g5-owners\/"},"modified":"2019-12-06T09:00:52","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T17:00:52","slug":"20-tips-for-new-g5-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2003\/09\/09\/20-tips-for-new-g5-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Tips for new G5 owners"},"content":{"rendered":"

This one’s mostly just for me — originally from Ken Tidwell and posted on MacInTouch<\/a>, but as their archives can be difficult to search, I wanted to keep this around. If all goes well, it might come in handy in a couple weeks. ;)<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. RAM must be added in pairs only…all models. Opinions vary, but 1gb \\~ 2gb RAM seems to be a general minimum before these units really shine. […]<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n

    Clean the cast aluminum exterior with iKlear from Apple, or a mild dishwashing detergent.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    PCI-X (1.8GHz and 2.0GHz G5s only) supports both PCI-X and PCI… but 3.3 volts only… not 5 V.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    The case latch can be used as a locking point for a security cable.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  5. \n

    Carbon Copy Cloner<\/a> is a great tool for moving data from another Mac.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  6. \n

    Virtual PC (current version…6?) will not yet run on a G5.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  7. \n

    The OS shipping with the G5s at this time is an interim OS, and does not yet support the 64-bit capability of this machine. Give it another 2 to 4 months.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  8. \n

    FireWire 800 uses a different connector from FireWire 400 (and Sony’s 4-pin connector).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  9. \n

    The Sony DVD writer is not capable of handling DVD+R.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  10. \n

    The aluminum case inhibits Bluetooth and Airport signals…don’t forget to mount the external antenna(s).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  11. \n

    The G5 will automatically reduce processor speed in response to having the side cover(s) removed. There is also a system preference for selective control. From the G5 Developer Note<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \n Fan speed control: The speeds of the fans are thermally controlled and are automatically set as low as possible to minimize noise. System performance can be specified by a “high\/reduced\/automatic” pulldown option provided in the Energy Saver Control pane in System Preferences.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  12. The rear video connector labeled DVI supports both DVI-I and DVI-D.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
  13. \n

    The rear digital audio connection is a TOSLINK connector…be sure to buy optical cables that use the square (indexed) connector (not round) on at least one end.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  14. \n

    The four screws on the interior bulkhead near the drives are spares that are used when installing a second hard disk. [photo<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  15. \n

    The analog audio input on the rear can be used for directly connecting a microphone, which must be self-powered. [Apple’s G5 Developer Note<\/a>, however, says:<\/p>\n

    \n “The audio inputs are designed to accept high-level audio signals: 2.2 Vrms or +8 dbu, which is the standard output level from CD and DVD players. The output level of some consumer audio devices is lower, often 0.316 Vrms or -10 dbV. Sound recordings made on the Power Mac G5 with such low-level devices have more noise than those made with high-level devices.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    -MacInTouch]<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  16. \n

    The power supply is auto-ranging, meaning it will switch between two choices of voltages: 100-125V AC or 200-240V AC.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  17. \n

    The USB ports on the computer itself are USB 2.0, while the USB ports on the keyboard are USB 1.1.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  18. \n

    G5 owners interested or working with ‘High Throughput Computing’ are advised to check out Condor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  19. \n

    G5’ers curious about 64-bit computing can start here: [Ars Technica 64-bit introduction<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  20. \n

    A good demo for friends and family is always a movie…stop by the Apple Quicktime site for latest trailers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This one’s mostly just for me — originally from Ken Tidwell and posted on MacInTouch, but as their archives can be difficult to search, I wanted to keep this around. If all goes well, it might come in handy in a couple weeks. ;)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2039],"tags":[65],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}