Re: NetBSD on a PowerMac G5

[Thor Lancelot Simon <tls%panix.com@localhost>]

On Wed, Jan 09, 2013 at 05:14:50PM +0100, Julio Merino wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I am really tempted to purchase a PowerMac G5 Quad to run
> NetBSD/macppc on. (Why? Just because! I've always wanted one of these
> old beasts and their second-hand prices seem quite decent.)

Be aware they're extremely unreliable.  The quad-CPU modules fail and
Apple will no longer replace them under warranty (needless to say).  I
have one of these whose CPUs have failed for the fourth time -- they
have been replaced twice under warranty while I owned the system and
once while its prior owner had it, but this time the warranty on the
third warranty repair had just expired when things went south.  You
might want to investigate one of the last-generation dual-G5 models
instead, which are architecturally very similar.  I don't actually know
they're more reliable, but there should at least be less heat!