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Apple Mac Pro (2006) vs Apple Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMac Pro (2006)ApplePower Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002)
Overview
ReleasedAugust 2006January 2002
Performance
Processor2 × Intel Xeon 5130, 2 × Intel Xeon 5150 or 2 × Intel Xeon 5160PowerPC G4 800 MHz (Power Mac QuickSilver 2002), PowerPC G4 933 MHz (Power Mac QuickSilver 2002) or 2 × PowerPC G4 1000 MHz (Power Mac QuickSilver 2002)
CPU cores41 or 2
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT, ATI Radeon X1900 XT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500ATI Radeon 7500 (32 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce4 MX (64 MB)
Memory1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB or 16 GB256 MB, 512 MB or 1.5 GB
Storage250 GB to 750 GB40 GB to 80 GB
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.Single 800/933 MHz or dual 1 GHz PowerPC G4. Each processor has 256 KB on-chip L2 cache; 800 MHz has no L3, while 933 MHz and dual 1 GHz have 2 MB DDR L3 per processor. 133 MHz system bus. Supplier omitted from generic per-processor records.
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.800 MHz: ATI Radeon 7500 32 MB DDR; 933 MHz and dual 1 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 64 MB DDR. Retained maker options include GeForce4 Ti 128 MB with ADC/DVI; that later option is not launch stock or an unproven configuration cross-product.
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 GB256 MB PC133 SDRAM on single-processor models, 512 MB on dual 1 GHz. Three DIMM slots support up to 1.5 GB; configurations retain stock processor/storage/graphics ties at base and maximum memory.
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.800 MHz: 40 GB; 933 MHz: 60 GB; dual 1 GHz: 80 GB, all 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/66. Entry model has CD-RW (24x/10x/32x in current maker sheet), higher models SuperDrive (DVD-R 2x, CD-R 8x). Optional Combo drive, Zip 250 and 36/72 GB SCSI choices remain detailed rather than unproven CPU combinations. Three hard-drive bays, supporting two ATA or three SCSI drives.
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.Four open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots plus dedicated AGP 4x graphics slot.
Display
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet1 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displaysUp to 8Up to 2
Wi-FiOptional AirPort Extreme–
BluetoothOptional 2.0 + EDR–
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.Two USB chassis ports at 12 Mbps; the maker’s four-port total includes two on the keyboard. Two FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem, headphone/line-out minijack and Apple Pro Speakers minijack. Optional 11 Mbps AirPort 802.11b card, no built-in wireless or analog audio-input jack.
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.Extended desktop or mirroring on two displays. Standard Radeon 7500/GeForce4 MX cards provide ADC and VGA; optional GeForce4 Ti provides ADC and DVI. A second ADC display requires a separately sold adapter. Supported resolutions depend on the card.
SpeakersFront-panel speakerBuilt-in speaker; optional Apple Pro Speakers.
Keyboard and mouseApple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse; display sold separatelyApple Pro Keyboard, optical Apple Pro Mouse and modem cable.
Design and power
TypeTowerTower
Weight–13.6 kg
Width × depth × height206 × 475 × 511 mm226 × 467 × 432 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 omittedMaker reference weight 13.6 kg varies with configuration and manufacturing process; height 43.2, width 22.6, depth 46.7 cm.
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 rangeMaximum continuous power 360 W.
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 OS X 10.1 as default startup system, with Mac OS 9.2; iTunes 2, iMovie 2 and iDVD 2 for SuperDrive. Apple confirms all three stock configurations immediately available on 28 January 2002.

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