Request a product

Apple Mac Pro (2006) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMac Pro (2006)ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005)
Overview
ReleasedAugust 2006October 2005
Performance
Processor2 × Intel Xeon 5130, 2 × Intel Xeon 5150 or 2 × Intel Xeon 5160PowerPC G5 dual-core 2000 MHz (Power Mac Late 2005), PowerPC G5 dual-core 2300 MHz (Power Mac Late 2005) or 2 × PowerPC G5 dual-core 2500 MHz (Power Mac Late 2005)
CPU cores42 or 4
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT, ATI Radeon X1900 XT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (128 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)
Memory1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB or 16 GB512 MB or 16 GB
Storage250 GB to 750 GB160 GB to 250 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.Dual models have one physical dual-core PowerPC G5 at 2 or 2.3 GHz. Quad has two physical dual-core processors at 2.5 GHz, four cores in total. Each core has 1 MB L2 cache. Front-side bus per physical processor is 1, 1.15 or 1.25 GHz respectively. Macworld’s exact Quad review describes its liquid cooling.
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.Stock dual-core 2 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE with 128 MB GDDR SDRAM. Dual-core 2.3 GHz and Quad: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 with 256 MB GDDR SDRAM. Optional NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT 256 MB and Quadro FX 4500 512 MB; the Quadro occupies the graphics slot and adjacent x4 slot.
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 GBStock 512 MB PC2-4200 DDR2 at 533 MHz, installed in matched pairs. Up to 16 GB supported; ECC configurations available from 1 GB. Rows retain the stock drive and graphics at base and maximum supported 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.Stock 160 GB on dual-core 2 GHz and 250 GB on dual-core 2.3 GHz and Quad. 7200 rpm Serial ATA drives; two internal bays. Optional one or two 500 GB drives. One optical bay with 16x SuperDrive supporting dual-layer DVD+R recording.
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.PCI Express: occupied x16 graphics slot, two open x4 slots and one open x8 slot. Older PCI and PCI-X expansion cards cannot be reused in these slots.
Display
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack4 × USB-A, 2 × 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 outputUSB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack.
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.Three USB 2.0, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, optical Toslink input/output and analogue audio line-in/out. Four chassis USB 2.0 ports in total, plus two keyboard USB 1.1 ports. AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR are optional, with integrated antennas; built-in support does not mean modules are included.
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.Stock GeForce 6600 LE/6600 and optional 7800 GT have one single-link and one dual-link DVI port, supporting one 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display alongside a second display. Optional Quadro FX 4500 has two dual-link DVI outputs for two 30-inch displays and a stereo 3D connector. DVI-to-VGA adapter included.
SpeakersFront-panel speakerBuilt-in speaker and optical/analogue external audio connections.
Keyboard and mouseApple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse; display sold separatelyApple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension and DVI-to-VGA adapter.
Design and power
TypeTowerTower
Width × depth × height206 × 475 × 511 mm–
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Materials–Aluminium enclosure.
Size and weight detailMaker standard-configuration weight 19.2 kg; actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process, so shared scalar weight omitted–
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 range–
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 Tiger and iLife ’05. Apple confirmed the dual-core 2 and 2.3 GHz models available on 19 October 2005, with Quad expected in early November. Macs Only reports its Quad shipped on 10 November and arrived on 11 November; these later Quad dates do not change the generation’s first sale. The exact specification sheet does not publish weight or dimensions.

More comparisons