MP All Models New life into older Mac Pro's (G5 and Cylinder)?

[forrie]

I have a couple of older Mac Pro systems that I'd love to breath new life into.

The aluminum G5 tower is likely most promising; I also have the Mac Pro Cylinder, which may be more limited.

I've read some scant (older) articles out there, but I wonder if there are updated guides, FAQs etc., on this topic -- perhaps examples of what others have accomplished, etc. And of course whether it's worth it, as surely the hardware motherboard itself is going to be limited, unless that can be replaced. Then, there is what version of the OS you may be limited to as the result?

Thanks in advance.

 

[chrfr]

I have a couple of older Mac Pro systems that I'd love to breath new life into.

The aluminum G5 tower is likely most promising

Do you have G5s or Mac Pros? In spite of the very similar case, the internals are very different between the two.

 

[forrie]

I have both (in the subject).

I'm going to guess the G5 is more promising in terms of getting it hacked/upgraded -- not sure how the OS will apply here, in terms of limitations, etc.

 

[m1maverick]

I have both (in the subject).

I'm going to guess the G5 is more promising in terms of getting it hacked/upgraded -- not sure how the OS will apply here, in terms of limitations, etc.

A G5 is a PowerMac and not a Mac Pro. As has already been stated the G5s and look very similar to the non-cylinder Mac Pros. A simple way to tell the them apart: Does the system have one or two slots for an optical drive? A single slot means you have a G5, dual slots means a Mac Pro. If you have a G5 then I would recommend posting in this forum:

PowerPC Macs

If you have a Mac Pro then this is a good forum but, depending on the model / age, this forum may also be of benefit:

Early Intel Macs

 

[KeesMacPro]

It might be helpful to the reader to post more technical details or screenshots of the "About this mac" view on the Macs you're referring to.