Getting a PowerMac 9500 w/450 G4 & 256 MB... Good for OS X?

B

BlingBling 3k12

Somewhere... dunno though
i just got a PowerMac 9500... will upgrade to 450 G4 & 256 or 512 MB for OS X

here's the specs...

CPU: G4/450 MHz
FPU: Integrated G3 FPU
Cache: 1MB/225 MHz

people have said many things about the faster cache speeds... is that a good cache?

anyways, would that be good for OS X? i won't do anything big with it, i got it for under $500...
 
it also has a ATI Mach64-8Mb Video card... does that require a monitor with a weird connection or could i just plug my Dell monitor into it and it would work.... and does OS X support it?

also, if i used the USB ports, could I use the newer apple pro keyboard & pro mouse?
 
The machine should be basically 'okay', but even a 500 MHz iBook or iMac will outperform this machine very easily. You'll never have enough RAM (and it's terribly expensive for the PCI-PowerMacs of the first generation), the graphics card will work but not accelerate that much. Basically, it'll be a pain-in-the-ass Mac OS X machine but a very good OS 9 machine.

Why not find a cheap half-old iMac instead?
 
BlingBling 3k12,

fryke has a point. While a PowerMac 9500 with a G4 or G3 upgrade can run OS X, though Apple doesn't support it, the question should really be:

Why would you want to do that?

You wrote that you've "got it for under $500..."

Does that mean you've already got it and paid for it? Got what by the way? PowerMac only, or with a processor upgrade as well?

Back to fryke's point. G4 PowerMac system all have at least a 100MHz system bus while PowerMac 9500 only has half of that speed, 50MHz. Not to mention the RAM is 70ns, 60ns at best, while SDRAMs are at 10ns (the smaller number, the better).

In short, have fun but I would resell the machine and get myself a G3 or G4 system to begin with.

Regards,
George Lien

PS: fryke, I would not get a iMac, because once the screen is gone, then so is the computer.
 
Originally posted by fryke
You'll never have enough RAM (and it's terribly expensive for the PCI-PowerMacs of the first generation)
Click to expand...

Maximum RAM for the 9500 is 1.5 GB (12 slots... 1536 MB)
RAM for 9500 is $69 for 128

Why not find a cheap half-old iMac instead?
Click to expand...
I dunno... some are still pretty expensive... my "project" costs less than most of them on ebay... if I get one on eBay, I could never get the money to buy it instantly after the auction ends....
 
ahh nevermind now... seems that every route i go to try to get a mac ends up crashing straight in the ground right in front of me....

it's like i'm destined to never get a mac!

every route i've taken so far screws up...

thanks guys anyways
 
I bought a used iMac for $270 for trading with a used Beige Powre Macintosh G3 running at 233MHz. I'm sure you can find something for less than $400 that will allow you to run OS X.

Good luck!

Regards,
George Lien
 
I suggested the iMac because of its price, Georgelien. But your point is true, of course, although I've never seen a broken iMac screen before.
 
BlingBling 3k12,

Check out PowerMax.
This company seems to offer pretty good prices for used Macs.
http://www.powermax.com

Its service, however, is something I need help here,
since I've never done business with them myself before.

Anyone here could help us?

Regards,
George Lien
 
Originally posted by georgelien
I bought a used iMac for $270 for trading with a used Beige Powre Macintosh G3 running at 233MHz. I'm sure you can find something for less than $400 that will allow you to run OS X.
Click to expand...

on powermax.com, the only things below $400 were even worse than what i was going to do!

plus, you had a mac to trade in while i didn't... big difference in price!
 
Whoops... this is a PowerMac G4... would the 450 be good for some Photoshop & iMovie use? This is a great deal I have found... I just hope it's not an old listing like the other one i found..
 
The iMac for Beige G3 was an unusual good deal I admit. As long as it's a G4 PowerMac, it should be able to run OS X.

Have fun!

Regards,
George Lien
 
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