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Apple Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2002) 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 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2002)ApplePower Mac G5 (June 2004)
Overview
ReleasedAugust 2002June 2004
Performance
Processor2 × PowerPC G4 867 MHz (Power Mac Mirrored Drive Doors 2002), 2 × PowerPC G4 1000 MHz (Power Mac Mirrored Drive Doors 2002) or 2 × PowerPC G4 1250 MHz (Power Mac Mirrored Drive Doors 2002)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 cores22
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce4 MX (32 MB) or ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64 MB)NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB) or ATI Radeon 9600 XT (128 MB)
Memory256 MB, 512 MB or 2 GB256 MB, 512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB
Storage60 GB to 120 GB80 GB to 160 GB
CPUDual 867 MHz, dual 1 GHz or dual 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processors; each physical processor has 256 KB on-chip L2 cache. 867 MHz and 1 GHz have 1 MB DDR SRAM L3 per processor; 1.25 GHz has 2 MB. System bus 133 MHz on dual 867, 167 MHz on dual 1/1.25 GHz. CPU count describes physical processors; supplier is not inferred.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.
GPUDual 867 MHz: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 32 MB DDR. Dual 1/1.25 GHz: ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 64 MB DDR. Optional NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 128 MB; independent CTO options are not expanded into unsupported stock combinations.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 typeDual 867 MHz: 256 MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM at 266 MHz. Dual 1 GHz: 256 MB PC2700 DDR at 333 MHz; dual 1.25 GHz: 512 MB PC2700. Four DIMM slots support up to 2 GB. Configurations preserve stock processor/drive/graphics ties at base and maximum memory.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 type60/80/120 GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 stock drives respectively. Dual 867 MHz has Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW (CD-R 16x); faster models SuperDrive (DVD-R 2x, CD-R 8x). Four hard-drive bays support two ATA/100 and two ATA/66 drives, or up to four SCSI drives with a separately sold PCI card. Two optical bays, one occupied; optional second Combo drive. Maker optional storage choices remain in details rather than assumed CPU cross-pairs.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 slotsFour open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots and dedicated AGP 4x graphics slot.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, Ethernet, headphone jack3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet1 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displaysUp to 2Up to 2
Front portsHeadphone jack and built-in speaker.USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack.
Back portsTwo FireWire 400, two USB chassis ports (maker four-port total includes two keyboard ports), Gigabit Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, ADC/DVI, stereo audio line-in/out and Apple Pro Speakers minijack. Optional 11 Mbps AirPort 802.11b card. Bluetooth is a separately listed adapter, not built-in. No FireWire 800 in this 2002 generation.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 displaysTwo displays in extended desktop or mirroring modes; ADC and DVI with included DVI-to-VGA adapter. Connecting two ADC displays requires a separately sold DVI-to-ADC adapter.ADC and DVI with included DVI-to-VGA adapter; two displays in extended or mirrored modes. A second ADC display requires a separate adapter.
SpeakersBuilt-in speaker; optional Apple Pro Speakers.Built-in speaker; analogue and optical connections for external audio.
Keyboard and mouseApple Pro Keyboard, optical Apple Pro Mouse, DVI-to-VGA adapter and modem cable.Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable, DVI-to-VGA adapter, modem cable and AirPort antenna.
Design and power
TypeTowerTower
Weight19.1 kg20.2 kg
Width × depth × height227 × 468 × 432 mm206 × 475 × 511 mm
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Size and weight detailExact maker reference weight 19.1 kg varies with configuration and manufacturing process; height 43.2, width 22.7, depth 46.8 cm. These published dimensions differ slightly from earlier G4 sheets and are retained.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 supply100–125 V AC or 200–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz. Maximum current 6.5 A at low voltage or 7.5 A at high voltage; maker publishes no maximum wattage here.–
In the boxMac OS X 10.2 Jaguar as default startup system, plus bootable Mac OS 9.2.2; iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes and iDVD for SuperDrive. Maker August 13 release says dual 867/1 GHz available that week, so first sale uses August month precision. Actual dual-1.25 GHz shipping confirmed 18 September. January 2003 FireWire 800 models and June 2003 reissue are separate generations.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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