Apple Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower vs Apple Power Mac G5 (Early 2005)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| ApplePower Macintosh G3 Mini Tower | ApplePower Mac G5 (Early 2005) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | November 1997 | April 2005 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | PowerPC G3 233 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower), PowerPC G3 266 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower), PowerPC G3 300 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) or PowerPC G3 333 MHz (Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower) | 2 × 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 cores | 1 | 2 |
| Graphics | ATI 3D RAGE II+ (2 MB), ATI 3D RAGE II+ (6 MB) and IX Micro 2D/3D PCI card (8 MB), Built-in graphics (6 MB SGRAM; factory revision varies), Built-in graphics (6 MB SGRAM) and IX Micro 2D/3D PCI card (8 MB) or ATI RAGE Pro Turbo (6 MB) | ATI Radeon 9600 (128 MB) or ATI Radeon 9650 (256 MB) |
| Memory | 32 MB, 64 MB or 128 MB | 512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB (better) |
| Storage | 4 GB to 9 GB | 160 GB to 250 GB (better) |
| CPU | 233 and 266 MHz PowerPC G 3 with 512 KB backside L 2 cache; later 300 and 333 MHz with 1 MB. Apple’s exact Mini Tower Service Source confirms all four clocks and the 66 MHz system architecture. The factory processor supplier is not identified per machine. | 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. |
| GPU | Built-in 2D/3D accelerator with 2 MB SGRAM, expandable to 6 MB. Original maker sheet specifies ATI RAGE II+; later logic boards changed the accelerator. Optional IX Micro 128-bit PCI graphics card has 8 MB EDO VRAM. EveryMac identifies RAGE Pro Turbo in the later 333 MHz configuration. | 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 type | Three 168-pin 64-bit JEDEC-standard 3.3 V unbuffered SDRAM DIMM slots; maker-supported maximum 384 MB. Stock memory of 32, 64 or 128 MB is tied to the factory ordering table. Unofficial 768 MB upgrades are excluded. | Stock 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 type | May 1998 Apple factory pairs: 233 MHz/32 MB/4 GB IDE (M6431LL/A); 266 MHz/32 MB/6 GB IDE/Zip/audio-video (M6142LL/A); 266 MHz/128 MB/4 GB Ultra Wide SCSI/additional 8 MB PCI graphics (M6459LL/A); 300 MHz/64 MB/4 GB Ultra Wide SCSI (M6572LL/A); 300 MHz/128 MB/two 4 GB Ultra Wide SCSI drives/additional 8 MB PCI graphics (M6494LL/A). All have 24x CD-ROM. Later 333 MHz/128 MB/9 GB/Zip is from EveryMac’s exact record. Optional drive/RAM cross-products are omitted. Internal 1.44 MB floppy and optional 2x DVD-ROM. | 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 slots | Three PCI slots accept three 12-inch cards; PERCH I/O card connector and modem slot. Optional SCSI, Ethernet and graphics cards consume PCI slots. Free internal storage bays vary by configuration. | 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 | ||
| Screen | None built in | None built in |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | Ethernet, 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 | One ADB, one DB-15 monitor, one DB-25 SCSI, two GeoPort-compatible serial ports, 10BASE-T Ethernet and stereo audio input/output. Optional 10/100BASE-T and FireWire cards are excluded from the standard 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 displays | Built-in video supports up to 1600 × 1200, with colour depth depending on SGRAM. Optional PCI graphics card connects a second monitor. | 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. |
| Speakers | – | Built-in speaker; analogue and optical audio connections. |
| Keyboard and mouse | – | Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable and DVI-to-VGA adapter. |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | Tower | Tower |
| Weight | 15.015 kg (better) | 20.2 kg |
| Width × depth × height | 243.84 × 452.12 × 386.08 mm | – |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Size and weight detail | Maker gives 33.1 lb and 15.2 × 9.6 × 17.8 inches height × width × depth. Main fields are direct conversions using 25.4 mm/inch and 0.45359237 kg/lb; actual weight depends on fitted devices. | The 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 supply | 240 W maximum; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz (current Apple Mini Tower support table). | 450 W on dual 2/2.3 GHz; 600 W on dual 2.7 GHz, as stated by the maker. |
| Materials | – | Aluminium enclosure. |
| In the box | Mac OS 8.0 originally; revised stock includes Mac OS 8.1. November 1997 month is supported by Apple’s opened Store selling the new Desktop/Mini Tower, with stock deliveries in two working days and BTO about two weeks; no exact first delivery day is proven. Server G3 shares the chassis but its bundled server configurations are excluded. | Mac 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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