Apple Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (June 2004)

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

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics) compared with Power Mac G5 (June 2004)

	ApplePower Mac G4 (PCI Graphics)	ApplePower Mac G5 (June 2004)
Overview
Released
Released	August 1999	June 2004
Performance
Processor
Processor	PowerPC G4 350 MHz (Power Mac PCI Graphics) or PowerPC G4 400 MHz (Power Mac PCI Graphics)	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 cores
CPU cores	1	2
Graphics
Graphics	ATI RAGE 128 (16 MB)	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB) or ATI Radeon 9600 XT (128 MB)
Memory
Memory	64 MB or 1 GB	256 MB, 512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	10 GB	80 GB to 160 GB (better)
CPU
CPU	Single 350 or 400 MHz PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine; 100 MHz system bus. Exact EveryMac PCI sheets specify 1 MB backside L2 cache; the retained maker page lists 512 KB or 1 MB without exact ties. No silicon supplier is inferred from Apple/Motorola/IBM co-development.	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.
GPU
GPU	ATI RAGE 128 PCI graphics with 16 MB SDRAM. This is the PCI/Yikes board, distinct from the contemporary AGP model.	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 type
Memory type	64 MB PC100 SDRAM standard. Four DIMM slots support up to 1 GB. Configurations preserve 10 GB factory storage at base and maximum RAM.	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 type
Storage type	400 MHz launch configuration: 10 GB Ultra ATA/33 and 32x CD-ROM; October 1999 speed-reduced 350 MHz retains those factory specifications (EveryMac). Retained Apple sheet also lists 24x CD-ROM without precise configuration ties. Optional drives are not expanded into unsupported cross-combinations.	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 slots
Expansion slots	Three open 33 MHz PCI slots plus the 66 MHz PCI slot used by graphics.	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
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Ethernet	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	0.1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s (better)
External displays
External displays	–	Up to 2
Front ports
Front ports	–	USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack.
Back ports
Back ports	Two chassis USB ports at 12 Mbps, two external FireWire 400 ports, VGA, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K modem and analog audio input/output. The retained maker FireWire count of three is not supported by the exact PCI port specification (EveryMac). No AirPort slot; keyboard ports are not included.	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 displays
External displays	VGA output from the PCI graphics card.	ADC and DVI with included DVI-to-VGA adapter; two displays in extended or mirrored modes. A second ADC display requires a separate adapter.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker. Audio line-out is not counted as a dedicated headphone jack.	Built-in speaker; analogue and optical connections for external audio.
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple USB Keyboard and Apple USB Mouse.	Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable, DVI-to-VGA adapter, modem cable and AirPort antenna.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	–	20.2 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	–	206 × 475 × 511 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker publishes 17-inch height, 8.9-inch width, 18.4-inch depth and 30-pound weight. Metric main fields omitted; no unit conversion or sibling measurements.	Maker height 51.1 cm, width 20.6 cm, depth 47.5 cm; reference weight 20.2 kg varies with configuration.
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium enclosure with separate cooling zones.
Power supply
Power supply	Maximum continuous power 200 W.	–
In the box
In the box	Mac OS 8.6. Full contemporary AppleInsider report says Jobs confirmed the 400 MHz configuration shipping immediately on 31 August 1999; the Canadian maker release instead promises September. First-sale month uses the named US report without implying universal regional availability.	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.