Apple Power Mac G4 (FW800) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

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Power Mac G4 (FW800) compared with Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

	ApplePower Mac G4 (FW800)	ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005)
Overview
Released
Released	January 2003	October 2005
Performance
Processor
Processor	PowerPC G4 1000 MHz (Power Mac FW800), 2 × PowerPC G4 1250 MHz (Power Mac FW800) or 2 × PowerPC G4 1420 MHz (Power Mac FW800)	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 cores
CPU cores	1 or 2	2 or 4
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce4 MX (64 MB) or ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64 MB)	NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (128 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)
Memory
Memory	256 MB, 512 MB or 2 GB	512 MB or 16 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	60 GB to 120 GB	160 GB to 250 GB (better)
CPU
CPU	Single 1 GHz, dual 1.25 GHz or dual 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4; each physical processor has 256 KB on-chip L2 cache. L3 cache is 1 MB on the single 1 GHz, 1 MB per processor on dual 1.25 GHz and 2 MB per processor on dual 1.42 GHz. Bus is 133 MHz on the single model, 167 MHz on dual models.	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.
GPU
GPU	Single 1 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX with 64 MB DDR. Dual 1.25/1.42 GHz: ATI Radeon 9000 Pro with 64 MB DDR. Optional NVIDIA GeForce4 Titanium and ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, each 128 MB DDR; independent CTO options stay in details.	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 type
Memory type	Single 1 GHz: 256 MB PC2100 DDR at 266 MHz; dual 1.25 GHz: 256 MB PC2700 DDR at 333 MHz; dual 1.42 GHz: 512 MB PC2700. Four DIMM slots support up to 2 GB. Configurations retain stock drives and GPUs at base and maximum supported memory.	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 type
Storage type	Stock 60/80/120 GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 drives on 1/1.25/1.42 GHz respectively. Lower models have Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW; top model has SuperDrive (DVD-R 4x, CD-R 16x). Four bays support two ATA/100 and two ATA/66 drives; two optical bays, one occupied. Optional 180 GB drive, SuperDrive on lower models and second Combo drive are not assumed in every configuration.	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 slots
Expansion slots	Four open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots and AGP 4x graphics slot.	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
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	4 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 2	Up to 2
Front ports
Front ports	Headphone minijack and built-in speaker.	USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack.
Back ports
Back ports	One FireWire 800 and two FireWire 400 (15 W total), two chassis USB 1.1, Gigabit Ethernet, V.92 modem, ADC/DVI, audio line-in/out and Apple Pro Speakers minijack. Maker four-port USB total includes two ports on the keyboard. Optional AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g card and Bluetooth 1.1 module.	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
External displays	Two displays in extended desktop or mirroring modes. ADC and DVI connectors with included DVI-to-VGA adapter; digital up to 1920 × 1200, analogue up to 1600 × 1200. A second ADC display needs a separately sold adapter.	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.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; optional Apple Pro Speakers.	Built-in speaker and optical/analogue external audio connections.
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Pro Keyboard, Apple Pro Mouse, USB keyboard extension, DVI-to-VGA adapter and modem cable.	Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension and DVI-to-VGA adapter.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	19.1 kg	–
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	227 × 468 × 432 mm	–
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium enclosure.
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker reference 19.1 kg varies with configuration and manufacturing. Height 43.2 cm, width 22.7 cm, depth 46.8 cm.	–
Power supply
Power supply	100–125 V or 200–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz; maximum current 6.5 A at low voltage or 7.5 A at high voltage. No wattage is supplied by this sheet.	–
In the box
In the box	Mac OS X with Classic environment rather than native Mac OS 9 boot; iLife and productivity software. Single 1 GHz and dual 1.25 GHz were available on 28 January 2003; dual 1.42 GHz was announced for the following month and subsequently reviewed. Its later availability does not change the generation’s first on-sale date.	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.