Apple Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (2003)

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Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001) compared with Power Mac G5 (2003)

	ApplePower Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001)	ApplePower Mac G5 (2003)
Overview
Released
Released	July 2001	August 2003
Performance
Processor
Processor	PowerPC G4 733 MHz (Power Mac QuickSilver 2001), PowerPC G4 867 MHz (Power Mac QuickSilver 2001) or 2 × PowerPC G4 800 MHz (Power Mac QuickSilver 2001)	PowerPC G5 1600 MHz (Power Mac 2003), PowerPC G5 1800 MHz (Power Mac 2003), 2 × PowerPC G5 2000 MHz (Power Mac 2003) or 2 × PowerPC G5 1800 MHz (Power Mac 2003)
CPU cores
CPU cores	1 or 2	1 or 2
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (32 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce2 MX TwinView (64 MB)	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB) or ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (64 MB)
Memory
Memory	128 MB, 256 MB or 1.5 GB	256 MB, 512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	40 GB to 80 GB	80 GB to 160 GB (better)
CPU
CPU	Single 733/867 MHz or dual 800 MHz PowerPC G4. Each processor has 256 KB on-chip L2 cache; 733 MHz has no L3, while 867 MHz and dual 800 MHz have 2 MB L3 per processor running at one-quarter clock speed. 133 MHz system bus. Generic chip records omit unverified supplier.	Single 1.6 or 1.8 GHz, or dual 2 GHz PowerPC G5 processors; Apple identifies IBM fabrication. Each physical processor has 512 KB L2 cache. Front-side bus per processor is 800 MHz, 900 MHz or 1 GHz respectively. A dual 1.8 GHz configuration was added on 18 November 2003, available immediately; it remains part of this generation.
GPU
GPU	Single-processor models: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 32 MB. Dual 800 MHz: GeForce2 MX TwinView 64 MB with simultaneous ADC and VGA displays. Optional GeForce3 64 MB DDR listed separately, not expanded into unproven stock combinations.	Stock 1.6 and 1.8 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB DDR. Stock dual 2 GHz: ATI Radeon 9600 Pro with 64 MB DDR. November dual 1.8 GHz: GeForce FX 5200 Ultra 64 MB. Optional ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB.
Memory type
Memory type	128 MB PC133 SDRAM on 733/867 MHz, 256 MB on dual 800 MHz. Three DIMM slots support up to 1.5 GB; base and maximum rows retain each stock drive and graphics card.	Single 1.6 GHz: 256 MB DDR333, four DIMM slots, maximum 4 GB. Single 1.8 GHz and dual 2 GHz: 512 MB DDR400, eight slots, maximum 8 GB. November dual 1.8 GHz also has 512 MB DDR400 and an 8 GB maximum. DIMMs are installed in matched pairs. Each configuration retains its stock drive and graphics at base and maximum memory.
Storage type
Storage type	733 MHz: 40 GB 5400 rpm Ultra ATA/66 and 12x/10x/32x CD-RW. 867 MHz: 60 GB 7200 rpm; dual 800 MHz: 80 GB 7200 rpm, both with SuperDrive (DVD-R 2x, CD-R 8x). Optional Combo drive, Zip 250 and SCSI 36/72 GB choices remain in details. Three hard-drive bays support two ATA or three SCSI drives.	Stock 80 GB on the single 1.6 GHz; 160 GB on the single 1.8 GHz, dual 2 GHz and November dual 1.8 GHz. 7200 rpm Serial ATA drives; two internal bays with 150 MB/s interfaces. One optical bay with 4x DVD-R SuperDrive; optional Combo drive and 80, 160 or 250 GB drives.
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	Four full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots plus dedicated AGP 4x graphics slot.	AGP 8x Pro graphics slot. Single 1.6 GHz has three 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots; faster original models and the November dual 1.8 GHz have PCI-X slots, two at 100 MHz and one at 133 MHz.
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	–	Up to 2
Front ports
Front ports	–	USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack.
Back ports
Back ports	Two USB chassis ports at 12 Mbps each, two FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem, ADC and VGA. Optional 11 Mbps AirPort card. Headphone and Apple Pro Speakers minijacks; no analog audio input. Keyboard USB ports excluded.	Two USB 2.0, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet, V.92 modem, optical Toslink audio input/output and analogue line-in/out. Optional 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 1.1 with external antennas. Three chassis USB ports in total; keyboard ports are separate.
External displays
External displays	TwinView supports one ADC and one VGA display simultaneously on dual 800 MHz; no simultaneous-display assumption for the standard single-processor card.	ADC and DVI connectors with DVI-to-VGA adapter; two displays in extended desktop or mirrored modes. A second ADC display needs an optional adapter.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; optional Apple Pro Speakers connect to a dedicated speaker minijack.	Built-in speaker; external audio can use analogue or optical connections.
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Pro Keyboard and optical Apple Pro Mouse.	Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable, DVI-to-VGA adapter and modem cable.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	14.1 kg (better)	17.8 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	226 × 467 × 432 mm	206 × 475 × 511 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker reference weight 14.1 kg, configuration-dependent; height 43.2, width 22.6, depth 46.7 cm.	Published height 51.1 cm, width 20.6 cm, depth 47.5 cm; 17.8 kg reference weight varies with configuration.
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium enclosure with separate thermal zones.
Power supply
Power supply	Maximum continuous power 360 W.	–
In the box
In the box	Mac OS X and Mac OS 9.2 at launch; iTunes, iMovie 2 and iDVD for SuperDrive. Macworld’s reviewed shipment uses Mac OS X 10.0.4 and initially lacks CD/DVD burning; support arrives with 10.1. Maker confirms immediate 733/867 MHz availability on 18 July and actual dual-800 shipments on 20 August 2001.	Original models shipped with Mac OS X Jaguar; the November dual 1.8 GHz announcement includes Panther. Apple’s 18 August 2003 shipping release confirms immediate availability of the single-processor models; the original dual 2 GHz was due later that month.