The best quiet PowerMac are the PCIe variants.

The only one that has liquid cooling is the 2.5 quad.

I took a 2.0 GHz single processor PCIe system and put a 2.5 from a QUAD in it. Although it bit slower than the mighty 2.7, the PCIe systems have a faster bus and since your only using one processor, it runs cool and quiet.

2.7 is only PCIX and never made it to their newer PCIe motherboards.

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My suggestions is one of this:

Mac Mini G4 1.5 HGz / 64 MB VRAM ( i.e. Silent upgrade )
+ small, nice, low consumption, easily overclockable to 1.8 GHz
- old graphics card gen.R200, only 64 MB VRAM, only 100 MbE, ATA100 HDD, not expandable

Powerbook DLSD/HR - Al G4, 1.67 MHz / 128 MB VRAM
+ portable, decent 128 VRAM, 1GbE
note: graphics gen.R300 is better than Mini has
- ATA100 HDD, native resolution 1680x1050 or 1440x960, not expandable

iMac iSight G5 2.1 GHz / 128 MB VRAM
+ all-in-one, lowest consumption from G5, SATA 150 HDD
note: graphics gen.R300, better than Mini and Powerbook
- not expandable, native resolution 1680x1050, not as fast as should be according to CPU frequency ( faster than Powerbook 1.67, but slower than AmigaOne X1000 1.8 - benchmarks from 2020 )

Powermac G5 2.7 GHz Dual Processor
+ MorphOS fastest
Note: should be used for linux, I have no experience
- terrible power consumption, old type water cooling, PCI-X + AGP bus, i.e. older graphics cards, I not have one

Powermac G5 2.3 GHz Dual Core
+ PCIe bus i.e. more modern graphics cards, expandable, one of MorphOS fastest
Note: should be used for linux, a little bit slow
- I not have one

Powermac G5 2.5 GHz Quad Core
+ PCIe bus, expandable, one of MorphOS fastest
Note: should be used for linux, decent speed
- terrible power consumption


Most often I am using my Pegasos 2 ( 1.33 GHz, Radeon 9800 Pro, SATA ). And sometimes when I need most power, I switched on G5 Quad.

And back to initial question: Mini 1.25 GHz I cannot recommend becouse of 32 MB VRAM. Powermac G5 2.7 GHz has most problematic cooling from all Powermacs.
If I want today buy "new" MorphOS machine, I will select one of this:
Powermac G5 Dual Core ( most modern, expandable), Powermac G5 Quad Core ( most modern, expandable, linux), iMac G5 ( small ), or Powerbook ( portable) depending on your needs.

[ Edited by sailor 28.11.2023 - 10:35 ]

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But if you're happy with the machine for your use and display needs, nothing prevents going on with it either. Good thing is that you can test it to get some kind of impression about the situation.


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Yeah, they're a bit clunky machines in that regard. I have few PowerMac machines (2.0, 2.3/dualcore, and 2.7 modded to air cooled) waiting when my mini breaks/retires, but so far I've just liked the quiet, small, and energy efficient solution more. I also have a Powerbook or two for a compromise, but I just find laptops uncomfortable always :)

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Well the best option to play 3D games is to buy a Power Mac G5 for the best graphic card and to dissipate heat for it has a best cooling fan system than Mac Mini G4, this computer is good for normal games and programs, but with the 3D games all time the fan is trying to remove the heat from the computer.

I use some PMs here: 5x G5 from 1,8 to 2,3GHz and none is noisy! You can't nearly hear them.
If they are loud, it depends on some issues:

1. Correct calibration with ASD-Disk!
2. To set propper temperatures (setcpufancontrol) in MorphOS
3. Most of noise is'nt made by CPU-fans, but by backsidefan (radial-blower) which cools down North-Bridge! It is ablolutely necessary, that fan and heatsink of Northbridge is clean and thermal paste is'nt dry.
(Btw.: Changeing a defective radial-blower is a real challenge!)

There is something interessting too:

Older PM are able to work only with one CPU (you can dismount the second one) - open firmware recognize it.
In that case, Northbridge never get such high temperatures as when using 2 CPUs.
I found out, that such PM also can be used in Open Firmware console, without going into emercency-cooling after a while (and this is really loud).
PM can use up to 1,7GB RAM, different GraphicCards and other cards as SCSI, USB, Soundcards,.......as well.


Mini: Good system to beginn MorphOS. 32MB GRAM is'nt much (as said above), but enough for normal screen-resolutions like 1650x1080 (or less). Useing Wayfarer may be challenging because of only 1GB RAM.

PB: Have more power (1,67GHz) and more RAM (about 1730MB useable) ant they are mobile.

Pegsaos2: The allrounder - if you can get one: Capable to run MorphOS, OS4, Linux, MacOS (Emulation) and is expandable with cards.
Peg runs only with 1GHz, but it never feels slow. Peg can normaly use only 1GB RAM, except last built (Rev. 2B5), where stable working 2 GB are reported.


MorphOS is also running on ACube Sam460cr/cx and A-EON X5000.

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I'm running Wayfarer daily on 1GB, and I don't think I've ever run out of memory. Wayfarer is really better in memory usage than Odyssey, which ran out of memory daily. So, I wouldn't worry that at all.

I use Wayfarer also every day - there are situations where Wayfarer consumes more than 1.4GB......

Maybe it caches more if there's more memory? Or just different kind of usage patterns then... maybe about tab amounts etc?

But in any case OWB just leaked memory and you had to quit it regularly or it ran out of mem, and you couldn't use it on certain heavy pages, but nothing like that with Wayfarer here.

[ Edited by jPV 28.11.2023 - 21:49 ]

If what you wanna do is play vintage games, the Mac Mini G4 is probably perfect. I have a PowerMac G5 2.7ghz and I use MorphOS on my Mac Mini instead of that, because I don't personally plan to do any "modern" type computing on it, I just play vintage games as well. It's nice to be able to run old Amiga PPC games with Warp3D fully supported on the built-in GPU of the Mac Mini.

Edit - there's no such thing as a 2.7ghz pmac g4. Fixed :P

[ Edited by esc 29.11.2023 - 01:54 ]

I also suggest the imac isight G5. All in all it is a system that offers enough power for convenient usage, looks rather nice and doesn't need a nuclear power plant in the basement to be operated.
The imac is quite a tad faster on browsing than the mini 1.5 GHz or the Powerbook 1.67 (5.6 in my case). Mplayer can handle hd content okayish on that system.
Surprisingly some things are faster on the G4: watching pictures with Showcase is faster on the G4 systems. The hdd in my mini yields better values than on the iMac - stunning, since the G4 has a PATA controller, but it delivers close to the max (kingston mSATA ssd with ide/mSATA adaptor, vs. a kingston SATA ssd in my iMac). With my hollywood scripts I also got better results with the G4.
The iMac is really a nice system: rather silent (the mini's coolers are louder, the Powerbook ofthenly has these frequent brief spin ups of the coolers which is a bit annoying.

Eventually it depends on your habbits: I use the Powerbook quite a lot as it lays beside my bed and that is very convenient. Well, usng the computer in the bed is not really a suggestion in regard of healthcare but pretty languorous...

> Sam460cr/cx

That would be ex/cr/LE. And please don't ask me why the last one is uppercase ;-)

> I have a PowerMac G4 2.7ghz

Either massively overclocked or... ;-)

> run old Amiga PPC games with Warp3D fully supported
> on the built-in GPU of the Mac Mini.

Yes, I hope MorphOS 3.20 will come with TinyRave for Rave3D/Goa3D/Warp3D on Radeon R300+.

I'm in the Kronos & Zylesea corner . . .
Quote:Quote:I didn't think I was a fan of the iMac initially, but the A1145 2.1GHz G5 has it's own 20" screen built-in, uses 185 Watt power supply, housed-inside case, with all the hardware tucked in the housing, so desk space is only the iMac itself, and as MorphOS can only use 1 CPU core then it's all you need. With v3.18 of MorphOS you can even switch the screen off/on with the keyboard shortcut (F1/F2), so that's another plus for me.

You could also be happy with one of the lower spec AGP G5 PowerMacs, which are maybe easier to find and a bit cheaper than the PCIe G5s or iMacs.

So much great advice, I didn't expect this to turn into such an elaborate conversation. Thank you all and let me address your comments below.

@Kronos - Quote:

That is a very interesting suggestion, I never considered the iMacs since I wasn't sure about the design, although the more I look at them..

@matt3 - Quote:

Nice solution, is the swap difficult? I looked at some videos related to the liquid cooling servicing/replacement and a lot of it looks pretty difficult and risky.

@sailor - Quote:

Excellent summary that I will keep going back to for reference, thank you!

@jPV - Quote:

Good point, I do actually have an iBook G4 A1055 (2003) as well, but it is in a poor state with LCD backlight failing in places and a hard drive that needs replacing. I wouldn't risk purchasing a MorphOs license for that one.

@Templario - Quote:

I don't plan on playing any games that were made after 2005, and I would only stick to dedicated MorphOs software.

@Amigaharry2 - Quote:

Yes, the vram on Mini is very worrying and probably my main issue with them.

@esc - Quote:

Yup, although I would like to do some image editing as well, albeit light I think.

@Zylesea - Quote:

The more I read about iMacs the more intrigued I am, hm.. it does seem to tick all the boxes without being clunky.

@Andreas_Wolf - Quote:

Why is the "LE" upper case?

@NewSense - Quote:

I am almost convinced at this point

@analogkid - Quote:

Yes, the asking prices are quite high at the moment, I guess these machines are entering the "vintage" phase of their existence and the price will only go up from here.

Once again, thank you very much for so many great comments.

>> I took a 2.0 GHz single processor PCIe system and put a 2.5 from a QUAD in it.

> I looked at some videos related to the liquid cooling servicing/replacement
> and a lot of it looks pretty difficult and risky.

As far as I understand, he has kept the receiving system's air cooling.

>> That would be ex/cr/LE

> Why is the "LE" upper case?

I'm eagerly awaiting plausible answers to this question ;-)

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Keep in mind that an iMac G5 - while great as an "all-in-one" solution - is not so user friendly when it comes to servicing. I'd service a PowerBook any time over an iMac G5. And maybe even an iBook G4, nearly as clunky as it is to service.

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I have seen comments online about capacitors needing replacement on iMac G5s, is that standard practice on those machines? I have replaced them on my Amiga 1200 right after purchase, but I didn't know macs suffered with the same issues.

> I have seen comments online about capacitors needing replacement on iMac G5s,
> is that standard practice on those machines?

It's long been standard practice on the first two iMac G5 generations (PowerMac8,1 and PowerMac8,2) but not on the last generation (PowerMac12,1), which is the only one supported by MorphOS:

http://www.maccetera.com/macstuff/imac_g5.html

Due to age, the issue may increasingly affect the last generation as well. I'm not sure whether Apple switched from electrolytic capacitors to ceramic capacitors for that generation. There are also aging effects with ceramic capacitors, albeit to a lesser extent.

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In "iSight" iMacs the capacitors are not an issue. The older, 1,8 GHz version did suffer from capacitor leaks AFAIK.
But You'd probably want to replace the internal hard drive with an SSD for example? That's quite a lot of work in an iMac, while in PowerMac you just open the side cover and swap the old harddrive out and the new one in (no screwdriver required).

@matt3 - Quote:

The swap was pretty easy and straight forward. There is a video on yt on how to do that.

As Andreas mentioned, I dumped the entire liquid cooling system and just used the 2.0/2.3 GHz PCIe heatsink on the 2.5 that are massive and much better than heatsinks on the older PCIX systems.

This is my ideal system for the following reasons:
1. It runs much cooler, since the heatsink is effective and the fans are quiet even under heavy cpu load.
2. MorphOS only uses 1 core of one processor, so having just one is all that is needed. Technically the 2.5 GHz CPU is a Dual core so you still have an extra core but only one CPU.
3. It uses PCIe video cards and Bigfoot has a bounty to update MorphOS (like AOS 4.1) to the latest/later Radeon chips. The bounty is likely nearly completed, although I haven't heard from Bigfoot to confirm this.
4. I use 2 27 dual monitors day to day for MorphOS and you can't do that with a powerbook or imac. I use ZVNC as well, so I can use the same dual monitors with the pc and only one keyboard mouse.
5. King of the hill status, this system is at the top (the 2.7 PCIX feels faster for video playback and wayfarer) but the PCIe systems have faster buses than the PCIX systems. They also get the newer PCIe video cards where the older PCIX systems use AGP.

The things to consider:
1. You will need a cheapo PCIx NIC card as the motherboard for ethernet, as this is not officially supported system yet and the onboard nics aren't working yet with MorphOS.
2. You should keep a PPC/MAC BIOS radeon card so you can easily install/update MorphOS. The new radeon cards do not support it, MorphOS will work and boot just fine on them but the Mac will not boot to open firmware.
3. The video drivers are in process, so you will need to read over the articles on MZ to see what ones work right now and what ones don't. I'm just using a PPC MAC X1900 and it works fine for me now since it works with dual monitors and boots to open firmware. Cards working on the X5000 may not work on the PowerMac PCIe yet, since Bigfoot is using an X5000 (we need to send him a PCIe Mac :) )
4. This is not a silent system, the fans do spin at a low speed and isn't that noticeable.
5. You will need the worlds longest torc drivers to get the heatsink out :)


I use this for my job every day, where 80% of everything is done on it, so my goal was to make this as fast and quiet as possible. It does all this really well, thanks to the MorphOS Team efforts.

[ Edited by matt3 30.11.2023 - 06:56 ]

Mode troll on

For me, it's Powerbook with external screen on summer and Quad G5 when winter is coming

Mode troll off

> Bigfoot has a bounty to update MorphOS (like AOS 4.1)
> to the latest/later Radeon chips.

No, the 3D driver bounty ends two generations before the oldest fully OS4-supported PCIe GPUs, as I told you half a year ago:

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=13564&forum=11&start=14

It won't add any new Radeon chips, just add 3D drivers for cards already 2D-supported currently. Or has the bounty goal changed meanwhile?
As to "latest", even OS4 is 4 generations behind by now.

> You will need a cheapo PCIx NIC card as the motherboard for ethernet

More like a daughterboard ;-)

> The video drivers are in process, so you will need to read over the
> articles on MZ to see what ones work right now and what ones don't.
> [...] Cards working on the X5000 may not work on the PowerMac PCIe yet

I'm afraid Bigfoot's upcoming 3D drivers won't change this.

@Andreas_Wolf

Thanks for helping my memory, guess I need a reboot. :)

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Somewhat OT, but what PCIe card gives you Dual-head support? Or those 2 monitors connected to "modern" outputs (HDMI,DP) and what resolutions do you get?