Apple iMac G5 (20-inch, 2004) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleiMac G5 (20-inch, 2004) | ApplePower Mac G5 (June 2004) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | September 2004 | June 2004 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | IBM PowerPC G5 1.8 GHz (iMac 2004) | 2 × PowerPC G5 1800 MHz (Power Mac June 2004), 2 × PowerPC G5 2000 MHz (Power Mac June 2004) or 2 × PowerPC G5 2500 MHz (Power Mac June 2004) |
| CPU cores | 1 | 2 |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB) | NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB) or ATI Radeon 9600 XT (128 MB) |
| Memory | 256 MB or 2 GB | 256 MB, 512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB (better) |
| Storage | 160 GB to 250 GB (better) | 80 GB to 160 GB |
| CPU | 1.8 GHz PowerPC G5 with 600 MHz frontside bus and 512 KB on-chip L2 cache. Generic maker-clock chip record retains the single-core identity; uncertain silicon revision is not inferred. | Two physical PowerPC G5 processors at 1.8, 2 or 2.5 GHz, each with 512 KB L2 cache. Per-processor front-side bus is 900 MHz, 1 GHz or 1.25 GHz respectively. Only the dual 2.5 GHz uses the maker’s liquid-cooling system. |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB dedicated DDR video memory and AGP 8x support. | Dual 1.8 and 2 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB DDR. Dual 2.5 GHz: ATI Radeon 9600 XT with 128 MB DDR. Optional ATI Radeon 9800 XT with 256 MB occupies the adjacent PCI slot as well as AGP. |
| Memory type | 256 MB PC3200 (400 MHz) DDR SDRAM standard, expandable to 2 GB in two slots. Configurations conservatively list the published base and maker maximum. | DDR400 PC3200 in matched pairs. Dual 1.8 GHz starts with 256 MB and has four DIMM slots with a 4 GB maximum. Dual 2 and 2.5 GHz start with 512 MB and have eight slots with an 8 GB maximum. Base and maximum memory rows retain each model’s stock storage and graphics. |
| Storage type | 160 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, with a 250 GB build-to-order option confirmed by maker launch press. Slot-loading SuperDrive DVD-R/CD-RW writes DVD-R at 4x and reads DVDs at 8x; writes CD-R at 16x and CD-RW at 8x. | Stock 80 GB on dual 1.8 GHz and 160 GB on dual 2/2.5 GHz; 7200 rpm Serial ATA. Two bays with 150 MB/s interfaces; optional 80, 160 or 250 GB drives, up to two 250 GB drives. One optical bay with 8x DVD-R SuperDrive; Combo drive is optional. |
| Expansion slots | – | AGP 8x Pro graphics slot. Dual 1.8 GHz has three 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots. Dual 2 and 2.5 GHz have PCI-X: two 100 MHz and one 133 MHz slots. |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 20″ | None built in |
| Resolution | 1680 × 1050 | – |
| Brightness | 230 nits | – |
| Display type | Widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD with millions of colours and typical 350:1 contrast. Panel technology and refresh rate are not published in the exact maker sheet. | – |
| Display features | Typical viewing angles: 170° horizontal and vertical. | – |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack | 3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack |
| Ethernet | 0.1 Gb/s | 1 Gb/s (better) |
| External displays | – | Up to 2 |
| Front ports | – | USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack. |
| Back ports | Three USB 2.0 ports on the computer, up to 480 Mbps, plus two USB 1.1 ports on the keyboard; two FireWire 400 ports with 8 W shared power, Mini-VGA, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, headphone/optical digital audio output and audio line-in. AirPort Extreme 802.11g card and internal Bluetooth module are optional, rather than standard. | Two USB 2.0, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet, V.92 modem, optical Toslink input/output and analogue audio line-in/out. Three chassis USB ports in total, plus keyboard USB 1.1 ports. Optional 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 1.1. |
| External displays | Mini-VGA provides video mirroring on a VGA display or S-video/composite television through optional adapters. Output resolutions: 640 × 480 at 60 Hz, 800 × 600 at 75 Hz or 1024 × 768 at 75 Hz. | ADC and DVI with included DVI-to-VGA adapter; two displays in extended or mirrored modes. A second ADC display requires a separate adapter. |
| Speakers | Built-in stereo speakers, internal 12 W digital amplifier and built-in microphone. | Built-in speaker; analogue and optical connections for external audio. |
| Keyboard and mouse | Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse and modem cable. | Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable, DVI-to-VGA adapter, modem cable and AirPort antenna. |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | All-in-one | Tower |
| Weight | 11.4 kg (better) | 20.2 kg |
| Width × depth × height | 493 × 189 × 472 mm | 206 × 475 × 511 mm |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Size and weight detail | Published metric size and reference weight; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. | Maker height 51.1 cm, width 20.6 cm, depth 47.5 cm; reference weight 20.2 kg varies with configuration. |
| Materials | – | Aluminium enclosure with separate cooling zones. |
| Power supply | 100–120 V AC or 100–240 V AC depending on country of purchase, 47–63 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 180 W. | – |
| In the box | Launch Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, iLife ’04 and bundled productivity software, with Classic environment support. The retained specification lists the later iLife ’05 bundle. Apple announced the model on 31 August 2004 and stated worldwide shipping would begin in mid-September; the release field therefore retains September month precision. | Mac OS X Panther and iLife. The 1.8 and 2 GHz models were available on 9 June 2004. Apple initially stated July availability for the 2.5 GHz model, later than the generation’s first sale. |
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