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Apple Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics) 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

ApplePower Mac G4 (AGP Graphics)ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005)
Overview
Released1999October 2005
Performance
ProcessorPowerPC G4 350 MHz (Power Mac AGP Graphics), PowerPC G4 400 MHz (Power Mac AGP Graphics), PowerPC G4 450 MHz (Power Mac AGP Graphics) or PowerPC G4 500 MHz (Power Mac AGP Graphics)PowerPC 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 cores12 or 4
GraphicsATI RAGE 128 Pro (16 MB) or ATI RAGE 128 (16 MB)NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (128 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)
Memory64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB or 1.5 GB512 MB or 16 GB
Storage10 GB to 27 GB160 GB to 250 GB
CPUSingle 350, 400, 450 or 500 MHz PowerPC G4 with 1 MB backside L2 cache at half processor speed and 100 MHz system bus. Unknown silicon supplier omitted. Original 500 MHz announcement never shipped; only the actual February 2000 option is represented.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.
GPU16 MB ATI RAGE 128 AGP 2x originally, changed to RAGE 128 Pro in December 1999 (EveryMac). Pro adds DVI and supports up to 1920 × 1200, versus original VGA up to 1600 × 1200.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 typeFour PC100 DIMM slots, maker-supported maximum 1.5 GB. Base memory varies with dated factory configuration; higher unofficial capacities are excluded.Stock 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 typeDated stock changes (EveryMac): original 450 MHz 128 MB/20 GB/DVD-ROM; October 400 MHz 128 MB/20 GB/DVD-ROM and 450 MHz 256 MB/27 GB/DVD-RAM. December adds 350 MHz 64 MB/10 GB/DVD-ROM and replaces graphics with Pro. February 2000 maker confirms 400 MHz 64 MB/10 GB/DVD-ROM, 450 MHz 128 MB/20 GB/DVD-ROM and 500 MHz 256 MB/27 GB/DVD-RAM. Zip included on original 450, October 400/450, and February 450/500; identical optical-only variants are kept in details. No unproven SCSI/drive cross-combinations.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 slotsThree open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots and one AGP 2x slot used by graphics.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
Ports2 × USB-A, Ethernet4 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet0.1 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displays–Up to 2
Front ports–USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack.
Back portsTwo independent 12 Mbps USB ports; two external FireWire 400 ports and one internal connector; VGA, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, analog audio input/output and optional 11 Mbps AirPort card. 56K modem is standard except the top February 500 MHz configuration where it is optional. Keyboard USB excluded.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 displays–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.
SpeakersBuilt-in speaker; analog audio input and output.Built-in speaker and optical/analogue external audio connections.
Keyboard and mouseApple USB Keyboard and Apple USB Mouse.Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension and DVI-to-VGA adapter.
Design and power
TypeTowerTower
Weight13.6 kg–
Width × depth × height226 × 467 × 432 mm–
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Materials–Aluminium enclosure.
Size and weight detailExact Japanese maker sheet publishes 43.2 cm height, 22.6 cm width, 46.7 cm depth and 13.6 kg weight; configuration-dependent.–
Power supplyMaximum continuous power 200 W.–
In the boxMac OS 8.6 originally. September 1999 introduction and a few original 450 MHz channel shipments are documented by Apple-History, but the first shipping month is not established; release stays at year precision. February 2000 maker release confirms immediate availability of the revised range.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.

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