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Apple Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2003) 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 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2003)ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005)
Overview
ReleasedJune 2003October 2005
Performance
ProcessorPowerPC G4 1250 MHz (Power Mac MDD 2003) or 2 × PowerPC G4 1250 MHz (Power Mac MDD 2003)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 cores1 or 22 or 4
GraphicsATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64 MB)NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (128 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)
Memory256 MB or 2 GB512 MB or 16 GB
Storage80 GB160 GB to 250 GB
CPUStock single 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 with 256 KB L2 cache and 1 MB L3 cache. Contemporary Macworld reporting of Apple Store configurations also documents dual 1.25 GHz processors, each with 2 MB L3; this custom build is labelled in configuration details rather than presented as a second stock base.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.
GPUStock ATI Radeon 9000 Pro with 64 MB DDR in an AGP 4x slot. Macworld also documents a custom dual-processor build with NVIDIA GeForce4 Titanium; that build has other upgrades and is not treated as a freely interchangeable stock configuration.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 typeStock 256 MB PC2700 DDR333; four DIMM slots, maximum 2 GB. The single-processor configurations retain the stock drive and graphics at base and maximum memory. The documented dual-processor custom base has 256 MB.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 typeStock 80 GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 hard drive; up to four internal drives. Tray-loading Combo drive reads DVD at 8x and CD at 32x, writes CD-R at 16x and CD-RW at 10x. Macworld documents a dual 1.25 GHz custom base with 80 GB, Combo drive and Radeon 9000 Pro, and a separate upgraded build with 2 GB RAM, two 160 GB drives, SuperDrive and GeForce4 Titanium. The two-drive build is described here without flattening its drives into a single capacity.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 slotsFour PCI slots and an occupied 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
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack4 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet1 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displays–Up to 2
Front portsHeadphone connection and built-in mono speaker.USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack.
Back portsTwo USB 1.1, two FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet with Auto-MDIX, ADC and DVI display connectors, audio line-in/out and Apple Pro Speakers connection. The maker lists a V.92 modem. Optional original AirPort; the contemporary Apple-spokesman report confirms no AirPort Extreme, internal Bluetooth or FireWire 800.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 displaysADC and DVI connectors with included DVI-to-VGA adapter. Digital resolution up to 1920 × 1200; analogue up to 1600 × 1200. The exact sheet does not publish a simultaneous display count.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 mono speaker and connection for Apple Pro Speakers; no built-in microphone.Built-in speaker and optical/analogue external audio connections.
Keyboard and mouseBlack Apple Pro input devices and DVI-to-VGA adapter.Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension and DVI-to-VGA adapter.
Design and power
TypeTowerTower
Weight19.1 kg–
Width × depth × height226 × 467 × 432 mm–
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Materials–Aluminium enclosure.
Size and weight detailMaker dimensions: height 43.2 cm, width 22.6 cm, depth 46.7 cm; weight 19.1 kg. These published metric values differ slightly from the FW800 sheet.–
In the boxMac OS X 10.2.4 and bootable Mac OS 9.2.2, install/restore DVD and Apple Hardware Test. First sale uses the 23 June 2003 Macworld report that these models were for sale at Apple’s online store; a 29 June report quotes an Apple spokesman confirming manufacture and sale. The first day is contemporary Apple Store reporting rather than a retained maker launch notice.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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