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Apple Mac Pro (2006) vs Apple Mac Pro (Late 2013)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMac Pro (2006)AppleMac Pro (Late 2013)
Overview
ReleasedAugust 2006December 2013
Performance
Processor2 × Intel Xeon 5130, 2 × Intel Xeon 5150 or 2 × Intel Xeon 5160Intel Xeon E5-1620 v2, Intel Xeon E5-1650 v2, Intel Xeon E5-1680 v2 or Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2
CPU cores44, 6, 8 or 12
CPU threads–8, 12, 16 or 24
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT, ATI Radeon X1900 XT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500Dual AMD FirePro D300 (2 GB GDDR5 each), Dual AMD FirePro D500 (3 GB GDDR5 each) or Dual AMD FirePro D700 (6 GB GDDR5 each)
Memory1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB or 16 GB12 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB
Storage250 GB to 750 GB256 GB to 1 TB
CPUTwo dual-core Xeon 5100-series processors at 2.0, 2.66 or 3.0 GHz, with 4 MB shared L2 cache per processor and independent 1.33 GHz frontside buses; EveryMac identifies Xeon 5130, 5150 and 5160 respectively. Four cores total. Later 2007 eight-core MacPro2,1 upgrade is a separate generation, not included in these configurations.3.7 GHz quad-core, 3.5 GHz six-core, 3.0 GHz eight-core or 2.7 GHz twelve-core Intel Xeon E5. Exact identities are E5-1620 v2, E5-1650 v2, E5-1680 v2 and E5-2697 v2, cross-checked against Geekbench device records and Ars hardware testing; Intel specifications supply thread counts and maximum Turbo frequencies.
GPUGeForce 7300 GT has 256 MB GDDR2, one single-link and one dual-link DVI; Radeon X1900 XT and Quadro FX 4500 each have 512 MB GDDR3 and two dual-link DVI. Quadro adds stereo 3D. Maker also confirms two, three or four 7300 GT cards; multi-card upgrades are described here rather than inferred mixed-card configurations.Dual AMD FirePro D300 with 2 GB GDDR5 per GPU, D500 with 3 GB per GPU, or D700 with 6 GB per GPU. Memory is specified separately for each GPU, rather than pooled. All graphics options are available by upgrading the original quad-core base configuration.
Memory type667 MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMMs; eight slots on two removable risers, up to 16 GB; factory options 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 GBFour user-accessible slots for 1866 MHz DDR3 ECC memory; 12 GB (three 4 GB modules), 16 GB (four 4 GB), 32 GB (four 8 GB) or 64 GB (four 16 GB)
Storage typeFour independent SATA 3 Gb/s direct-attach bays. Launch supports 250/500 GB drives and up to 2 TB; later archived specification adds 750 GB drives and up to 3 TB. Configurations list one primary drive; additional independent drives and optional RAID card are separate upgrades, not a Fusion Drive. One or two 16x SuperDrives with double-layer DVD support.PCIe-based SSD; 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB. No internal hard-drive bays or optical drive.
Expansion slotsOne double-wide x16 graphics slot and three full-length PCI Express expansion slots with configurable bandwidth; 300 W combined maximum. PCI/PCI-X cards are incompatible.No internal PCIe card slots; peripherals and compatible external expansion chassis connect through Thunderbolt
Display
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack4 × USB-A, 6 × Thunderbolt 2, 2 × Ethernet, HDMI, headphone jack
Ethernet1 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displaysUp to 8Up to 6
Wi-FiOptional AirPort Extreme802.11ac
BluetoothOptional 2.0 + EDR4.0
Front portsTwo USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and headphone output–
Back portsThree USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, two Gigabit Ethernet, optical TOSLINK input/output and analogue line input/output. Graphics card DVI outputs vary by configuration; included keyboard USB ports excluded from chassis count.Four USB 3 USB-A ports, six Thunderbolt 2 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, HDMI 1.4 Ultra HD, 3.5 mm headphone jack with headset support, and a separate combined optical digital audio output/analogue line-out minijack. Thunderbolt ports are divided across three controllers, as explained in Macworld and Ars reviews.
External displaysUp to eight displays requires four GeForce 7300 GT cards. Single-link DVI up to 1920 × 1200; dual-link DVI up to 2560 × 1600; analogue up to 2048 × 1536 using included adapter.Apple's current support specifications allow six Thunderbolt displays or three dual-cable 5K displays. The launch announcement specified support for three 4K displays; the later 5K statement should not be read as launch-day capability.
SpeakersFront-panel speakerBuilt-in speaker; HDMI supports multichannel audio output
Keyboard and mouseApple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse; display sold separatelyKeyboard, mouse and display sold separately
Design and power
TypeTowerCompact
Weight–5 kg
Width × depth × height206 × 475 × 511 mm167 × 167 × 251 mm
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Size and weight detailMaker standard-configuration weight 19.2 kg; actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process, so shared scalar weight omittedCylindrical enclosure; 251 mm high and 167 mm in diameter, with 5 kg weight from Apple's Japanese specification sheet. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Power supply100–120 V or 200–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz single phase; maximum 12 A in low-voltage range or 6 A in high-voltage range100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 450 W
Noise–Apple's overview reports 12 dBA operator-position sound pressure at idle, while the acoustic table reports 14 dB at idle and 14.5 dB during wireless web. These are conflicting maker statements; no single noise value is selected.
Materials–Highly recyclable enclosure; BFR-free and PVC-free, with regional exceptions for the power lead
In the boxMac Pro, keyboard and mouse, DVI-to-VGA adapter, USB keyboard extension cable, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Launch software Mac OS X 10.4.7 Tiger and iLife '06; later archived sheet lists Leopard and iLife '08. Launch AirPort Extreme optional; archive later specifies optional 802.11n.Mac Pro and power lead. Launched with OS X Mavericks; the current support page describes the later macOS Mojave release. Original standard configurations were quad-core with 12 GB memory and D300 graphics, and six-core with 16 GB and D500. The current support sheet also lists an eight-core standard configuration with 16 GB and D700. Configurations below include independent processor, memory, graphics and storage upgrades of the original quad-core base, so 12 GB or D300 with a higher-core processor represents a customised base model.

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