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Apple Mac Pro (Early 2008) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (Early 2005)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMac Pro (Early 2008)ApplePower Mac G5 (Early 2005)
Overview
ReleasedJanuary 2008April 2005
Performance
ProcessorIntel Xeon E5462, 2 × Intel Xeon E5462, 2 × Intel Xeon E5472 or 2 × Intel Xeon X54822 × PowerPC G5 2000 MHz (Power Mac Early 2005), 2 × PowerPC G5 2300 MHz (Power Mac Early 2005) or 2 × PowerPC G5 2700 MHz (Power Mac Early 2005)
CPU cores4 or 82
GraphicsATI Radeon HD 2600 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600ATI Radeon 9600 (128 MB) or ATI Radeon 9650 (256 MB)
Memory2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB
Storage300 GB to 1 TB160 GB to 250 GB
CPUOne 2.8 GHz quad-core Xeon or two 2.8, 3.0 or 3.2 GHz quad-core Xeons; four or eight total cores. Each processor has 12 MB L2 cache (6 MB shared by each pair of cores), SSE4 and 1600 MHz independent frontside bus. EveryMac identifies E5462, E5472 and X5482 respectively.Two physical PowerPC G5 processors at 2, 2.3 or 2.7 GHz, each with 512 KB L2 cache and no L3 cache. Front-side bus per processor is 1, 1.15 or 1.35 GHz. The dual 2.7 GHz model uses liquid cooling.
GPURadeon HD 2600 XT has 256 MB GDDR3, GeForce 8800 GT has 512 MB GDDR3 and Quadro FX 5600 has 1.5 GB GDDR3; each has two dual-link DVI ports. Quadro adds stereo 3D. Maker also confirms two, three or four Radeon HD 2600 XT cards; no unconfirmed mixed-card configurations expanded.Dual 2 and 2.3 GHz: ATI Radeon 9600 with 128 MB DDR and two single-link DVI outputs. Dual 2.7 GHz: ATI Radeon 9650 with 256 MB GDDR3, one single-link and one dual-link DVI output. Optional NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL with 256 MB has two dual-link DVI outputs and occupies the adjacent PCI slot.
Memory type800 MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMMs; eight slots on two removable risers, up to 32 GB; factory options 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 GBStock 512 MB PC3200 DDR400, installed in matched pairs. Dual 2 GHz has four DIMM slots and a 4 GB maximum. Dual 2.3 and 2.7 GHz have eight slots and an 8 GB maximum. Configuration rows keep the stock drives and graphics at base and maximum memory.
Storage typeFour independent SATA 3 Gb/s bays and up to 4 TB. Primary SATA drive options 320/500/750 GB or 1 TB at 7200 rpm; 300 GB 15,000 rpm SAS requires optional Mac Pro RAID Card. Configurations show one primary drive; additional independent drives, RAID arrangements and one or two 16x double-layer SuperDrives are separate options.Stock 160 GB on dual 2 GHz and 250 GB on dual 2.3/2.7 GHz, all 7200 rpm Serial ATA. Two internal drive bays; optional 250 or 400 GB drives, including two 400 GB drives. One optical bay with 16x SuperDrive supporting DVD±R and up to 4x dual-layer DVD+R recording.
Expansion slotsFour full-length PCI Express slots including two PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (one double-wide) and two x4 slots; mechanical support for x16 cards, 300 W combined maximum. PCI/PCI-X incompatible.AGP 8x Pro graphics slot. Dual 2 GHz has three 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots. Dual 2.3 and 2.7 GHz have PCI-X: two 100 MHz slots and one 133 MHz slot.
Display
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet1 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displaysUp to 8Up to 2
Wi-FiOptional 802.11n–
Bluetooth2.0 + 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. DVI outputs depend on graphics configuration; included keyboard ports excluded from chassis count.Two USB 2.0, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet, optical S/PDIF input/output and analogue audio line-in/out. Three chassis USB ports in total, plus keyboard USB 1.1 ports. AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and a V.92 modem are optional.
External displaysUp to eight 30-inch displays requires four Radeon HD 2600 XT cards. Digital resolutions up to 2560 × 1600, analogue up to 2048 × 1536 using included DVI-to-VGA adapter.Two displays in extended desktop or mirrored modes. Radeon 9600 supports two displays up to 1920 × 1200; Radeon 9650 supports one 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display via dual-link DVI. Optional 6800 Ultra DDL supports two 30-inch displays. DVI-to-VGA adapter included.
SpeakersFront-panel speakerBuilt-in speaker; analogue and optical audio connections.
Keyboard and mouseApple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse; display sold separatelyApple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable and DVI-to-VGA adapter.
Design and power
TypeTowerTower
Weight–20.2 kg
Width × depth × height206 × 475 × 511 mm–
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Size and weight detailStandard-configuration weight 19.2 kg; actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process, so shared scalar weight omittedThe exact maker sheet labels height as 47.5 cm, width 20.6 cm and depth 51.1 cm. Earlier G5 sheets label height/depth in the opposite order; main dimensions are omitted because those published axes conflict. Maker reference weight is 20.2 kg and varies with configuration.
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 range450 W on dual 2/2.3 GHz; 600 W on dual 2.7 GHz, as stated by the maker.
Materials–Aluminium enclosure.
In the boxMac Pro, keyboard and mouse, DVI-to-VGA adapter, USB keyboard extension cable, install/restore DVDs and documentation; Mac OS X Leopard and iLife '08Mac OS X Tiger and iLife ’05. Apple’s 27 April 2005 launch says these models are available “this week”; first sale is kept at April precision rather than treating the announcement as a confirmed delivery day. The older single 1.8 GHz model retained in the launch range is represented separately as Late 2004.

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