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| Anybody bother collecting G4/G5 Xserves? |
Posted by: Unknown_K on 2016-11-06 22:57:35
As the title says, anybody bother collecting old G4/G5 Xserve gear? Are they any more reliable then the same generation G4 MDD and G5 Powermacs? Louder or hotter running?
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Posted by: omidimo on 2016-11-07 00:13:47
They are loud as hell, but when they ran in the racks, they were pretty solid. Looking back, they were more reliable for sure than the workstations I managed.
The video card was crap tho.
I saved a few from the scrap heap back in 2010, but they ended up in the back of storage. I know some people who still are running their 2009 Intels still, mostly for legacy systems.
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Posted by: Anonymous Freak on 2016-11-07 02:20:20
I have three slots empty in my mini-rack just waiting for a G4, G5 and an Intel Xserve. Now if only I could find them inexpensively...
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Posted by: finkmac on 2016-11-07 06:09:11
I would, if I had the space, and if I could find any that weren't priced at something like $500.
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Posted by: flecom on 2016-11-07 10:39:49
I had a G5 xserve in service until not that long ago, just sits in the closet now... think the PSU died finally
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Posted by: blitter on 2016-11-07 11:23:51
Anonymous Freak: how much of a hurry are you in? I'm currently in the process of decommissioning my Xserve G4 (it has outgrown its usefulness for me) so when that process is done, you can have it for the price of shipping. Works great. 🙂
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Posted by: Gorgonops on 2016-11-07 11:48:21
The Xserve G5 was probably the best incarnation of the G5 ever made; its cooling system was if anything overbuilt and it let the CPUs fly in a way the desktop versions never did. (I had a dual 2.0 for a few months to play with and it was untouchable on floating-point heavy work, easily faster than contemporary Netburst Xeon systems which I also had direct access to compare it to. Only thing that could beat it was an AMD Opteron.) Of course, it's probably no coincidence that the G5 is also the Apple machine most indistinguishable from the POWER systems IBM was selling at the time.
That said, I sort of question its desirability as a collector's item. They really are supposed to live in a proper server room, out of sight *and* earshot. Frankly I'd consider running one just stuffed in a residential closet a dangerous fire hazard. They're really supposed to be used "headless" and while it's technically possible to cram a video card into one and sort of use it as a desktop that's simply not what they're for.
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Posted by: TheWhiteFalcon on 2016-11-07 11:54:07
The first gen Intel Xserves are pretty cheap right now AFAIK. A friend just got one and pressed it into service.
Edit: said it was $80 shipped on eBay.
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Posted by: Carboy7 on 2016-11-07 14:01:13
I would get a server... If they were cheap on the 'Bay.
My current laptop works fine after running 24 hours with the screen on, fan running, and other problems. So sooner or later, I will take the board out, put it in a fake case, and stick it in my closet as a "server". Better then spending money on a real server, right? 😛
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Posted by: Unknown_K on 2016-11-07 14:22:43
I was just wondering if the G4 xserve was more reliable then a MDD and if the power supply was a standard or Apple monstrocity.
If I ever bothered to get one it would be running in the basement anyway.
The G5 models seem to be $100+ still.
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Posted by: Gorgonops on 2016-11-07 14:38:51
I remember a little mouse in a position to know whispering in my ear once that the G4 xServe was drastically inferior to the G5 version, but I've never had my hands on one so I can't say. Are you intending to use it as a desktop instead of an MDD? It'll be intolerable to sit in the same room with after half an hour, I can guarantee you that.
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Posted by: TheWhiteFalcon on 2016-11-07 14:44:31
Keep in mind the Xserves have the Apple Drive Modules you have to work with, or hack new drives in. It's not like a Power Mac where you can just slap in any drive with a couple screws.
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Posted by: Unknown_K on 2016-11-07 14:57:05
I have 3 functional MDD machines, one in my room, I would use an Xserve as a dedicated mac server in the basement.
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Posted by: Gorgonops on 2016-11-07 15:06:36
Well, if there's something you really want OS X server versions 10.2 through 10.5 for then I suppose it will do as well as anything, but I still question their suitability for any environment outside of a server room. I mean, really, keep in mind that though they may only be 1.75" tall they require 19" by almost *three feet* of horizontal space and you're not supposed to stack anything on top of them. (The upper skin really is just that, a skin, to keep foreign objects from falling into it and direct airflow properly when it's not snuggled in a rack. You also *genuinely* need to keep both the inlet and outlet vents clear of foreign objects.) If you've already got a rack in said basement you're set, I guess, but if not you'll really need to buy one. If all you want is a file server or whatnot you'd probably be better off with a more modern and power-saving solution.
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Posted by: omidimo on 2016-11-07 15:35:50
The G5 model was far more refined than the G4. The USB was 2.0, it had FireWire 800, PCI-X slots instead of PCI/AGP, most importantly it used SATA.
The drivers are easy to upgrade, just unscrew the drives out of the module and pop in a new one. I did that many times.
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Posted by: waynestewart on 2016-11-07 16:43:38
I have 3 1.33ghz DP left. Had 4 but I decided to use the processor module to upgrade a MDD.
I never noticed the noise as being any worse than a MDD
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Posted by: CC_333 on 2016-11-08 10:30:01
I got a prototype G5 Xserve, and it's definitely interesting.
One thing I'll say about it, though, is since it's a prototype, it's not as well refined as a production model might be (the heatsink shield, which is metal with one or two"G5"s embossed on top on a production model, is a simple piece of heavy paper on mine). There are other things, but that difference stands out most.
c
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Posted by: omidimo on 2016-11-09 20:15:02
One thing I remembered that was so awesome too look at was the blue load LEDs in the front.
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Posted by: niner on 2016-11-10 09:41:38
I have a G5 Xserve I got a few weeks ago but I'm having a hell of a time finding a video card that supports QE/CI for it.
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