Apple Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One vs Apple Power Mac G5 (2003)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| ApplePower Macintosh G3 All-In-One | ApplePower Mac G5 (2003) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | – | August 2003 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | PowerPC G3 233 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Desktop) or PowerPC G3 266 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Desktop) | PowerPC G5 1600 MHz (Power Mac 2003), PowerPC G5 1800 MHz (Power Mac 2003), 2 × PowerPC G5 2000 MHz (Power Mac 2003) or 2 × PowerPC G5 1800 MHz (Power Mac 2003) |
| CPU cores | 1 | 1 or 2 |
| Graphics | Built-in graphics accelerator (2 MB SGRAM; revision unpublished) | NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB) or ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (64 MB) |
| Memory | 32 MB | 256 MB, 512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB (better) |
| Storage | 4 GB | 80 GB to 160 GB (better) |
| CPU | 233 or 266 MHz PowerPC G3 with 512 KB backside L2 cache at 117 or 133 MHz, a 66 MHz system bus and 64 KB L1 cache split equally between data and instructions. Supplier is not assigned without exact maker evidence. | Single 1.6 or 1.8 GHz, or dual 2 GHz PowerPC G5 processors; Apple identifies IBM fabrication. Each physical processor has 512 KB L2 cache. Front-side bus per processor is 800 MHz, 900 MHz or 1 GHz respectively. A dual 1.8 GHz configuration was added on 18 November 2003, available immediately; it remains part of this generation. |
| GPU | Built-in 2D/3D graphics accelerator with 2 MB SGRAM, expandable to 6 MB using the maker-supported 4 MB SGRAM module. Exact graphics-chip revision is unpublished in the read maker datasheet, so later RAGE Pro revisions are not assumed for every unit. | Stock 1.6 and 1.8 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB DDR. Stock dual 2 GHz: ATI Radeon 9600 Pro with 64 MB DDR. November dual 1.8 GHz: GeForce FX 5200 Ultra 64 MB. Optional ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB. |
| Memory type | 32 MB SDRAM standard, up to 384 MB across three 168-pin DIMM slots. Apple Service Source specifies 3.3 V, 64-bit, 10 ns unbuffered SDRAM. Its prose about 64 MB DIMMs conflicts with its 384 MB/three 128 MB DIMM maximum; the explicit published maximum is retained. Factory BTO memory options included 64 or 96 MB. | Single 1.6 GHz: 256 MB DDR333, four DIMM slots, maximum 4 GB. Single 1.8 GHz and dual 2 GHz: 512 MB DDR400, eight slots, maximum 8 GB. November dual 1.8 GHz also has 512 MB DDR400 and an 8 GB maximum. DIMMs are installed in matched pairs. Each configuration retains its stock drive and graphics at base and maximum memory. |
| Storage type | Both published 233 and 266 MHz base configurations have a 4 GB IDE disk, 24× maximum CD-ROM and 1.44 MB floppy drive. A 6 GB disk and 100 MB SCSI Zip drive were optional. Service Source also mentions a 2 GB disk in one table, unlike the exact base configuration datasheet; that unsupported base pairing is not assumed. | Stock 80 GB on the single 1.6 GHz; 160 GB on the single 1.8 GHz, dual 2 GHz and November dual 1.8 GHz. 7200 rpm Serial ATA drives; two internal bays with 150 MB/s interfaces. One optical bay with 4x DVD-R SuperDrive; optional Combo drive and 80, 160 or 250 GB drives. |
| Expansion slots | Three 7-inch PCI 2.1 slots with Macintosh drivers required; three memory slots and a PERCH I/O-card slot. Optional modem fits the I/O card. The chassis has a slide-out logic-board tray. PCI card power restrictions are three 15 W cards, two 25 W cards, or one 15 W and one 25 W card. | AGP 8x Pro graphics slot. Single 1.6 GHz has three 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots; faster original models and the November dual 1.8 GHz have PCI-X slots, two at 100 MHz and one at 133 MHz. |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 15″ | None built in |
| Resolution | 1024 × 768 | – |
| Panel | CRT | – |
| Display type | 15-inch multiple-scan colour CRT with 13.8-inch viewable diagonal and 0.28 mm dot pitch; tilt and swivel. The supported 1024 × 768 mode is analogue, not a fixed pixel matrix. Maker advertises refresh up to 85 Hz without assigning that maximum to the highest resolution, so headline refresh is omitted. Service Source specifies 16-bit colour at 1024 × 768; the datasheet uses inconsistent colour-depth labels. | – |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | Ethernet, 3 × headphone jack | 3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack |
| Ethernet | 0.01 Gb/s | 1 Gb/s (better) |
| External displays | – | Up to 2 |
| Front ports | – | USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack. |
| Back ports | 10BASE-T Ethernet, one ADB, one external DB-25 SCSI, two GeoPort-compatible serial ports, rear stereo audio input/output and DB-15 monitor connector. Three headphone-compatible audio outputs total: two at the front and one at the rear. No built-in USB, FireWire or AirPort support. The optional Fast Ethernet PCI card does not change the standard network figure. | Two USB 2.0, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet, V.92 modem, optical Toslink audio input/output and analogue line-in/out. Optional 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 1.1 with external antennas. Three chassis USB ports in total; keyboard ports are separate. |
| External displays | DB-15 external monitor connector documented by the exact datasheet and rear service diagram; the current support summary instead labels video as none. Display mirroring is described by the contemporary Washington Apple Pi test, not an assumed extended desktop. | ADC and DVI connectors with DVI-to-VGA adapter; two displays in extended desktop or mirrored modes. A second ADC display needs an optional adapter. |
| Speakers | Built-in stereo speakers; 16-bit stereo audio input/output at 22.05 or 44.1 kHz | Built-in speaker; external audio can use analogue or optical connections. |
| Microphones | Built-in microphone | – |
| Keyboard and mouse | AppleDesign Keyboard and ADB Mouse II | Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable, DVI-to-VGA adapter and modem cable. |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | All-in-one | Tower |
| Weight | 26.8 kg | 17.8 kg (better) |
| Width × depth × height | 409 × 457 × 505 mm | 206 × 475 × 511 mm |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Size and weight detail | Headline dimensions and 26.8 kg weight follow the exact May 1998 maker datasheet. Apple Service Source gives 498 × 402 × 450 mm and 27 kg with inconsistent inch conversions; the current support summary gives 19.92 × 16.08 × 18 inches and 59.5 lb. Weight varies with installed devices. | Published height 51.1 cm, width 20.6 cm, depth 47.5 cm; 17.8 kg reference weight varies with configuration. |
| Materials | – | Aluminium enclosure with separate thermal zones. |
| Power supply | Automatically configured 90–264 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase | – |
| Power use | Maximum continuous electrical input 300 W; Service Source separately lists 200 W peak output, which is not acoustic output | – |
| In the box | Mac OS 8.1 in the contemporary datasheet and Service Source; the current archived support summary instead gives original system software 8.0. The model was offered for the education market. Apple support labels introduction as 3 April 1998; the dated May 1998 datasheet describes currently available configurations and BTO ordering from 6 May. An exact first retail delivery date is not established, so released is omitted rather than substituting introduction or BTO dates. The 266 MHz base variant adds audio/video I/O plus Avid Cinema and QuickTime 3 Pro; the 233 MHz base is audio I/O only. Optional AV hardware supports composite and S-video inputs/outputs with mode restrictions in Service Source. | Original models shipped with Mac OS X Jaguar; the November dual 1.8 GHz announcement includes Panther. Apple’s 18 August 2003 shipping release confirms immediate availability of the single-processor models; the original dual 2 GHz was due later that month. |
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