Apple Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (Late 2004)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| ApplePower Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) | ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2004) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | July 2000 | October 2004 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | PowerPC G4 400 MHz (Power Mac Gigabit Ethernet), 2 × PowerPC G4 450 MHz (Power Mac Gigabit Ethernet) or 2 × PowerPC G4 500 MHz (Power Mac Gigabit Ethernet) | PowerPC G5 1800 MHz (Power Mac Late 2004) |
| CPU cores | 1 or 2 | 1 |
| Graphics | ATI RAGE 128 Pro (16 MB) | NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB) |
| Memory | 64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB or 1.5 GB | 256 MB or 4 GB (better) |
| Storage | 20 GB to 40 GB | 80 GB (better) |
| CPU | 400 MHz single processor; 450 and 500 MHz dual PowerPC G4 processors. Each physical processor has 1 MB backside L2 cache; 100 MHz system bus. Supplier unspecified in these generic clock-only records. | One 1.8 GHz PowerPC G5 with 512 KB L2 cache and a 600 MHz front-side bus. This is the new single-processor model; the dual-processor models also listed on the retained sheet are June 2004 carryovers. |
| GPU | ATI RAGE 128 Pro with 16 MB SDRAM in an AGP 2x slot; ADC and VGA outputs. | Stock NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB DDR in AGP 8x Pro. Optional ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128 MB, Radeon 9800 XT 256 MB, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT DDL 256 MB or 6800 Ultra DDL 256 MB. The 9800 XT and 6800 cards also occupy the adjacent PCI slot. |
| Memory type | 400 MHz: 64 MB, dual 450: 128 MB, dual 500: 256 MB PC100 SDRAM. Four DIMM slots support up to 1.5 GB; Mac OS 9 maximum per application 999 MB. | Stock 256 MB PC3200 DDR400 in matched pairs; four DIMM slots support up to 4 GB. Configuration rows keep the stock graphics and drive at base and maximum supported memory. |
| Storage type | Stock 400: 20 GB 5400 rpm/DVD-ROM; dual 450: 30 GB 7200 rpm/DVD-ROM; dual 500: 40 GB 7200 rpm/DVD-RAM. The retained storage prose says 20 GB 7200 rpm where its configuration matrix and launch release specify 30 GB; matrix retained. Ultra ATA/66, three drive bays supporting two ATA or three SCSI drives. Optional SCSI 36/72 GB, Zip and optical options are not expanded into unproven cross-combinations. | Stock 80 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA drive. Two 3.5-inch bays, each with a 150 MB/s interface. Optional 160 or 250 GB drives, including two 250 GB drives. One optical bay with 8x DVD-R SuperDrive; Combo drive is optional. |
| Expansion slots | Three open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots and one AGP 2x graphics slot. | Three open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots and occupied AGP 8x Pro graphics slot; no PCI-X on this single-processor model. |
| Display | ||
| Screen | None built in | None built in |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × USB-A, Ethernet | 3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack |
| Ethernet | 1 Gb/s | 1 Gb/s |
| External displays | – | Up to 2 |
| Front ports | – | USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack. |
| Back ports | Two external FireWire 400 ports and two USB ports at 12 Mbps each; Gigabit Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem and analog audio input/output. Optional 11 Mbps AirPort card. Keyboard USB ports excluded. | 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 two keyboard USB 1.1 ports. AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps and Bluetooth 1.1 are optional. |
| External displays | ADC carries video, USB and display power; VGA also available, with graphics resolutions up to 1920 × 1200. | Stock ADC and DVI with included DVI-to-VGA adapter, supporting two displays. Optional 6800 GT/Ultra DDL cards have two dual-link DVI connectors and support two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays; a second ADC display on the stock card needs an adapter. |
| Speakers | Built-in speaker and analog audio input/output. | Built-in speaker; optical and analogue connections for external audio. |
| Keyboard and mouse | Apple Pro Keyboard and optical Apple Pro Mouse. | Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable, DVI-to-VGA adapter, modem cable and AirPort antenna. |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | Tower | Tower |
| Weight | 13.6 kg (better) | 16.4 kg |
| Width × depth × height | 226 × 467 × 432 mm | 206 × 475 × 511 mm |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Size and weight detail | 43.2 cm height, 22.6 cm width, 46.7 cm depth and 13.6 kg reference weight; weight varies with configuration. | Maker height 51.1 cm, width 20.6 cm, depth 47.5 cm. Published reference weight for the single 1.8 GHz model is 16.4 kg, distinct from the carryover dual-processor models; weight varies with configuration. |
| Materials | – | Aluminium enclosure. |
| Power supply | Maximum continuous power 220 W. | – |
| In the box | Mac OS 9, QuickTime and iMovie 2. Apple confirms all three factory configurations immediately available on 19 July 2000. Later review software updates are not launch firmware. | The October 2004 release includes Mac OS X Panther and iLife ’04. Apple’s retained specification sheet later lists iLife ’05; that later software listing does not change the hardware’s October 2004 first sale. |
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