A 450 mhz G4 isn't pitifully slow is it?

[PieIsAwesome]

I'm trying to get someone a cheap Mac with OS X that will be used for things like internet, word processing, and Photoshop. How would something like a 450 mhz G4, 512 MB SDRAM, with OS X fair?
I used to use eMacs for a graphic design class I had ages ago, we used Photoshop and ran OS X, all perfectly, and I don't believe they could have been much more powerful. They definitely didn't have more than 512 MB of SDRAM and a 16 MB videocard, but I don't remember the CPU speed.

 

[Keitero]

I can say that I have a G4 Cube with a 450MHz processor and with 640MB of RAM and it runs 10.4 painfully slow. That being said however, I also have a 500MHz G4 Ti Powerbook with 512MB of RAM and it runs just fine under 10.4.

 

[ShawnD1]

It would probably be painfully slow. You're talking about computers that were made 9 years ago.
My ex had a G5 powerbook with 512mb, and it was pretty slow. Biggest problem was a total lack of ram. No place sells ECC PC100 ram these days, so you're pretty much stuck with a machine that thrashes the hard drive all the time.

 

[TheStu]

450 G4 can run Tiger (so long as there is a Firewire port) but not leopard. Tiger should run fine though, even with the 512MB of RAM. Don't expect multi-tasking to be great, but it will work.

 

[bearxor]

We have plenty of 333mhz, 400mhz and 450mhz machines in my company running 10.3 and 10.4. 10.3 is a great choice for these as well. They're still decent machines.

Up until about this time last year our copy desk had 450mhz dual-proc G4's running OS9 doing our daily production. The thing about Mac's is that they perform really well with the OS over time. It will work great. I'd go for 1GB of RAM and an older version of Photoshop if possible. CS or 7.

 

[Eug]

A G4 450 is painfully slow with 10.4 Tiger. It's even slower with 10.5 Leopard. (You have to do some extra steps to get Leopard installed on it, but it can be done fairly easily.)

 

[CrackRabbit]

I'm running Leopard on my 400mhz g4 and yes it is quite slow, but I think another 512mb of ram and a quartz extreme capable video card and it would be much better.
Tiger and Leopard lean so heavily on the video card the rage 128 that most of those macs came with doesn't cut it.

 

[Eug]

I have 1.25 GB of RAM with a 1.7 GHz G4 in my Cube, along with a Radeon 6200. In Tiger it's fairly nice. In Leopard it slows down a bit but it still is fairly OK. With a G4 450 and Rage 128 in Tiger, I wanted to rip my hair out.

Mind you, at the time I (re)tried the G4 450, I was using a G5 iMac, and I'm currently using a 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo iMac, so my threshold for "slow" might be a little different than yours.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

What about OSX 10-10.3?

 

[bearxor]

Originally posted by: PieIsAwesome
What about OSX 10-10.3?

Originally posted by: Bearxor
10.3 is a great choice for these as well.

 

[chcarnage]

I have a G3 450 Mhz, 512 MB SDRAM, Ur-Radeon 32 MB that I still use for the mentioned tasks. It runs OS X 10.2 and like the OP's G4 would even run 10.4, but 10.3 probably is the sweet spot for his machine.

 

[bearxor]

I just saw this today... Maybe you'd like to try it:

http://power-mac-g4.com/g4clockup.html

 

[Eug]

Personally, I wouldn't consider running 10.3 at all (if you have a G4).

10.4 is slow, but I'd rather run a slow 10.4 than a very slightly faster 10.3, just to avoid various software headaches, and because 10.4 is simply a much, much nicer OS.

10.5 is nicer still, but not only is it slower than 10.4 at times, it's also too new. Many apps don't work well with it.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: Eug
A G4 450 is painfully slow with 10.4 Tiger. It's even slower with 10.5 Leopard. (You have to do some extra steps to get Leopard installed on it, but it can be done fairly easily.)

It's gonna be interesting... but I just ordered a second Cube. It's only going to be a G4 450, but it's also gonna have a GeForce 6200 in it.

I'll be able to do some side by side testing of two Cubes:

G4 1700 with GeForce 6200

vs

G4 450 with GeForce 6200

Basically, the G4 450 is only going to be used for LogMeIn PC control over the net of my work computers, and watching DVDs. Hopefully it's up to the task. I can try both 10.4 and 10.5 to see how they are.

 

[f1sh3r]

i have a G4 400MHz that has 10.3.9 installed. 1GB ram, and it comes to a halt quite often. i think i need to run a memtest, because it may have something to do with the ram. if i get this thing running smooth, how much can i sell it for? anyone know?

 

[indigo196]

Not sure what 'cheap' is... but if you can afford about $350-400 you can get a good computer that is brand spankin' new.

Link

If you don't like Windows you can add Ubuntu, Fedora, openSuse, PCBSD or some other variant of Linux/BSD. From my understanding there is an open source version of OSX available too.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: indigo196
Not sure what 'cheap' is... but if you can afford about $350-400 you can get a good computer that is brand spankin' new.

Link

If you don't like Windows you can add Ubuntu, Fedora, openSuse, PCBSD or some other variant of Linux/BSD. From my understanding there is an open source version of OSX available too.

There is no such thing as OpenSource OS X. OS X is based on an open kernel, and there is OpenDarwin I believe, but OS X as it is, is not Open Source. Also, running OS X on non-Apple hardware is a violation of the EULA.

 

[MovingTarget]

It shouldn't be for what you are trying to do with it. I would definitely max out the ram in that puppy though.

 

[indigo196]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: indigo196
Not sure what 'cheap' is... but if you can afford about $350-400 you can get a good computer that is brand spankin' new.

Link

If you don't like Windows you can add Ubuntu, Fedora, openSuse, PCBSD or some other variant of Linux/BSD. From my understanding there is an open source version of OSX available too.

There is no such thing as OpenSource OS X. OS X is based on an open kernel, and there is OpenDarwin I believe, but OS X as it is, is not Open Source. Also, running OS X on non-Apple hardware is a violation of the EULA.

I am curious if Apple's EULA is even legal... but you are correct I was referring to Darwin which appears to be a 'free' version of OSX -- though they likely cut some stuff out.

http://www.opensource.apple.com/darwinsource/

Darwin 9.0 appears to be equivalent to OS X 10.5 though the last binary release for it was Darwin 8.0 which is 10.4

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

I know that you guys say that it's not worth it to run Leo on a G4 but can it be used just for email and skype?

I have a G4 I have to setup, my friend bought Leopard already and I didn't open it yet. What can I do to speed it up. Install a 7200 16 MB Cache hard drive? I added about 512 MBS or ram total I think. Should I tell him to buy some SD RAM even though it's expensive?

It's a 450 MHz G4.

I want to use Leopard too because it's fully compliance with Polish language. This G4 is gonna go to Poland.

 

[TheStu]

Leopard's cut off is an 867MHz G4, that is the slowest. I found a guide somewhere for installing it on slower machines, if I can locate it again, i'll link it.
The Guide I mentioned

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
I know that you guys say that it's not worth it to run Leo on a G4 but can it be used just for email and skype?

I have a G4 I have to setup, my friend bought Leopard already and I didn't open it yet. What can I do to speed it up. Install a 7200 16 MB Cache hard drive? I added about 512 MBS or ram total I think. Should I tell him to buy some SD RAM even though it's expensive?

It's a 450 MHz G4.

I want to use Leopard too because it's fully compliance with Polish language. This G4 is gonna go to Poland.

Five things are very helpful.

1) RAM
2) RAM
3) Video card that supports Quartz Extreme and Core Image (eg. PC-flashed GeForce 6200 with temperature diode deactivated)
4) Fast hard drive
5) More RAM

512 MB RAM is bare minimum for Leopard.

 

[TheStu]

I think what Eug is trying to say is that you need a really fast NIC to run Leopard I could be wrong though, he was a little vague.

 

[robisbell]

I put Fedora Core on G3's and G4's under 800mhz. and then I can load up OO, Firefox, Thunderbird and Gimp. runs like a charm.

 

[Eug]

Yeah, but Linux usually runs well on slow machines. However, if it's running Linux, it ain't a Mac.

Anyways, when my G4 450 Cube arrives I'll stick a Radeon 9200 or a GeForce 6200 in it and put it through its paces with Leopard (and possibly Tiger). I know it will be quite slow even with lots of RAM, but the question is whether I can tolerate it without ripping my hair out. With a Rage 128, I did want to rip my hair out though.

P.S. That G4 450 Cube will have 768 MB minimum, but I'll likely increase it to 1.0 GB.

I find 768 MB - 1.0 GB the sweet spot for a low end PPC Mac that's just for basic stuff. 512 MB not enough. However, for my main machine which is a Core 2 Duo iMac, I found that even 2 GB was limiting when I ran big apps. With 3 GB I'm much happier.