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Apple Power Mac G4 Cube vs Apple Power Mac G5 (June 2004)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

ApplePower Mac G4 CubeApplePower Mac G5 (June 2004)
Overview
ReleasedAugust 2000June 2004
Performance
ProcessorPowerPC G4 450 MHz (Power Mac G4 Cube)2 × PowerPC G5 1800 MHz (Power Mac June 2004), 2 × PowerPC G5 2000 MHz (Power Mac June 2004) or 2 × PowerPC G5 2500 MHz (Power Mac June 2004)
CPU cores12
GraphicsATI RAGE 128 Pro (16 MB)NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB) or ATI Radeon 9600 XT (128 MB)
Memory64 MB, 128 MB or 1.5 GB256 MB, 512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB
Storage20 GB80 GB to 160 GB
CPU450 MHz PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine, 100 MHz system bus and 1 MB backside L2 cache running at 225 MHz. Apple offered a 500 MHz processor option; its complete launch memory/storage configuration is not established by the pages used, so it is described here rather than assigned an assumed configuration.Two physical PowerPC G5 processors at 1.8, 2 or 2.5 GHz, each with 512 KB L2 cache. Per-processor front-side bus is 900 MHz, 1 GHz or 1.25 GHz respectively. Only the dual 2.5 GHz uses the maker’s liquid-cooling system.
GPUATI RAGE 128 Pro with 16 MB SDRAM in a dedicated AGP 2x slot. The retained maker sheet also lists optional NVIDIA GeForce2 MX with 32 MB SDRAM and ATI Radeon with 32 MB DDR; these later options are not presented as launch stock.Dual 1.8 and 2 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB DDR. Dual 2.5 GHz: ATI Radeon 9600 XT with 128 MB DDR. Optional ATI Radeon 9800 XT with 256 MB occupies the adjacent PCI slot as well as AGP.
Memory typeOriginal launch base: 64 MB PC100 SDRAM. February 2001 CD-RW base: 128 MB. Three DIMM slots support up to 1.5 GB, using low-profile DIMMs up to 1.38 inches (35 mm). Retained maker options: 128, 256, 384, 512 and 768 MB, 1 GB and 1.5 GB.DDR400 PC3200 in matched pairs. Dual 1.8 GHz starts with 256 MB and has four DIMM slots with a 4 GB maximum. Dual 2 and 2.5 GHz start with 512 MB and have eight slots with an 8 GB maximum. Base and maximum memory rows retain each model’s stock storage and graphics.
Storage typeOriginal 20 GB Ultra ATA/66 hard drive and top slot-loading DVD-ROM. The 22 February 2001 available-now base has 20 GB and CD-RW. Retained options include 20/40 GB at 5400 rpm or 60 GB at 7200 rpm, CD-RW or DVD-ROM; independent processor/drive/GPU options are not expanded into unsupported combinations. One internal hard drive; external USB and FireWire storage supported.Stock 80 GB on dual 1.8 GHz and 160 GB on dual 2/2.5 GHz; 7200 rpm Serial ATA. Two bays with 150 MB/s interfaces; optional 80, 160 or 250 GB drives, up to two 250 GB drives. One optical bay with 8x DVD-R SuperDrive; Combo drive is optional.
Expansion slotsDedicated AGP 2x graphics slot; no PCI slots. Lift-out electronics core provides access to DIMMs and optional AirPort card.AGP 8x Pro graphics slot. Dual 1.8 GHz has three 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots. Dual 2 and 2.5 GHz have PCI-X: two 100 MHz and one 133 MHz slots.
Display
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports2 × USB-A, Ethernet3 × USB-A, 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 portsUnderside: two 12 Mbps USB ports, two 400 Mbps FireWire ports (12 W total), 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem, ADC and VGA. Optional 11 Mbps IEEE 802.11b AirPort card; no standard wireless networking. The headphone minijack is on the separate USB amplifier, not on the Cube chassis.Two USB 2.0, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet, V.92 modem, optical Toslink input/output and analogue audio line-in/out. Three chassis USB ports in total, plus keyboard USB 1.1 ports. Optional 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 1.1.
External displaysADC carries video, USB and power; 15-pin VGA output. Maker graphics support reaches 1920 × 1200 at millions of colours. A display is sold separately; the source does not establish simultaneous dual-display operation.ADC and DVI with included DVI-to-VGA adapter; two displays in extended or mirrored modes. A second ADC display requires a separate adapter.
SpeakersBundled digital USB amplifier and Harman Kardon speakers: total 20 W, stated 80 Hz–20 kHz response. One USB cable carries power and audio; amplifier includes headphone minijack.Built-in speaker; analogue and optical connections for external audio.
Keyboard and mouseApple Pro Keyboard with two additional USB ports, optical Apple Pro Mouse, USB digital amplifier and speakers.Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable, DVI-to-VGA adapter, modem cable and AirPort antenna.
Design and power
TypeCompactTower
Weight6.4 kg20.2 kg
Width × depth × height195 × 195 × 248 mm206 × 475 × 511 mm
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Size and weight detailMaker reference weight approximately 6.4 kg varies by configuration and manufacturing process. Published height 24.8 cm, width/depth 19.5 cm. Separate external power adapter.Maker height 51.1 cm, width 20.6 cm, depth 47.5 cm; reference weight 20.2 kg varies with configuration.
Materials–Aluminium enclosure with separate cooling zones.
Power supplyExternal power supply; maker maximum continuous power 205 W. 115 V AC (90–132 V) or 230 V AC (180–264 V), 47–63 Hz.–
NoiseFanless vertical cooling channel; no fan added to this original factory specification.–
In the boxOriginal launch includes iMovie 2. Maker July 2000 announcement promised early August availability; Macworld’s later history confirms shipping a month after the July launch, so first sale uses August 2000 with no claimed first day. February 2001 CD-RW configuration is labelled in the storage and memory details.Mac OS X Panther and iLife. The 1.8 and 2 GHz models were available on 9 June 2004. Apple initially stated July availability for the 2.5 GHz model, later than the generation’s first sale.

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