Apple Mac Pro (2006) vs Apple Power Mac G4 (FW800)

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

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

Mac Pro (2006) compared with Power Mac G4 (FW800)

	AppleMac Pro (2006)	ApplePower Mac G4 (FW800)
Overview
Released
Released	August 2006	January 2003
Performance
Processor
Processor	2 × Intel Xeon 5130, 2 × Intel Xeon 5150 or 2 × Intel Xeon 5160	PowerPC G4 1000 MHz (Power Mac FW800), 2 × PowerPC G4 1250 MHz (Power Mac FW800) or 2 × PowerPC G4 1420 MHz (Power Mac FW800)
CPU cores
CPU cores	4	1 or 2
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT, ATI Radeon X1900 XT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500	NVIDIA GeForce4 MX (64 MB) or ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64 MB)
Memory
Memory	1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB or 16 GB (better)	256 MB, 512 MB or 2 GB
Storage
Storage	250 GB to 750 GB (better)	60 GB to 120 GB
CPU
CPU	Two 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.	Single 1 GHz, dual 1.25 GHz or dual 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4; each physical processor has 256 KB on-chip L2 cache. L3 cache is 1 MB on the single 1 GHz, 1 MB per processor on dual 1.25 GHz and 2 MB per processor on dual 1.42 GHz. Bus is 133 MHz on the single model, 167 MHz on dual models.
GPU
GPU	GeForce 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.	Single 1 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX with 64 MB DDR. Dual 1.25/1.42 GHz: ATI Radeon 9000 Pro with 64 MB DDR. Optional NVIDIA GeForce4 Titanium and ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, each 128 MB DDR; independent CTO options stay in details.
Memory type
Memory type	667 MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMMs; eight slots on two removable risers, up to 16 GB; factory options 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 GB	Single 1 GHz: 256 MB PC2100 DDR at 266 MHz; dual 1.25 GHz: 256 MB PC2700 DDR at 333 MHz; dual 1.42 GHz: 512 MB PC2700. Four DIMM slots support up to 2 GB. Configurations retain stock drives and GPUs at base and maximum supported memory.
Storage type
Storage type	Four 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.	Stock 60/80/120 GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 drives on 1/1.25/1.42 GHz respectively. Lower models have Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW; top model has SuperDrive (DVD-R 4x, CD-R 16x). Four bays support two ATA/100 and two ATA/66 drives; two optical bays, one occupied. Optional 180 GB drive, SuperDrive on lower models and second Combo drive are not assumed in every configuration.
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	One 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.	Four open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots and AGP 4x graphics slot.
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 8 (better)	Up to 2
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Optional AirPort Extreme	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	Optional 2.0 + EDR	–
Front ports
Front ports	Two USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and headphone output	Headphone minijack and built-in speaker.
Back ports
Back ports	Three 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.	One FireWire 800 and two FireWire 400 (15 W total), two chassis USB 1.1, Gigabit Ethernet, V.92 modem, ADC/DVI, audio line-in/out and Apple Pro Speakers minijack. Maker four-port USB total includes two ports on the keyboard. Optional AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g card and Bluetooth 1.1 module.
External displays
External displays	Up 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.	Two displays in extended desktop or mirroring modes. ADC and DVI connectors with included DVI-to-VGA adapter; digital up to 1920 × 1200, analogue up to 1600 × 1200. A second ADC display needs a separately sold adapter.
Speakers
Speakers	Front-panel speaker	Built-in speaker; optional Apple Pro Speakers.
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse; display sold separately	Apple Pro Keyboard, Apple Pro Mouse, USB keyboard extension, DVI-to-VGA adapter and modem cable.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	–	19.1 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	206 × 475 × 511 mm	227 × 468 × 432 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker standard-configuration weight 19.2 kg; actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process, so shared scalar weight omitted	Maker reference 19.1 kg varies with configuration and manufacturing. Height 43.2 cm, width 22.7 cm, depth 46.8 cm.
Power supply
Power supply	100–120 V or 200–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz single phase; maximum 12 A in low-voltage range or 6 A in high-voltage range	100–125 V or 200–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz; maximum current 6.5 A at low voltage or 7.5 A at high voltage. No wattage is supplied by this sheet.
In the box
In the box	Mac 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 OS X with Classic environment rather than native Mac OS 9 boot; iLife and productivity software. Single 1 GHz and dual 1.25 GHz were available on 28 January 2003; dual 1.42 GHz was announced for the following month and subsequently reviewed. Its later availability does not change the generation’s first on-sale date.