Apple Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (Early 2005)

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Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001) compared with Power Mac G5 (Early 2005)

	ApplePower Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001)	ApplePower Mac G5 (Early 2005)
Overview
Released
Released	July 2001	April 2005
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)	2 × PowerPC G5 2000 MHz (Power Mac Early 2005), 2 × PowerPC G5 2300 MHz (Power Mac Early 2005) or 2 × PowerPC G5 2700 MHz (Power Mac Early 2005)
CPU cores
CPU cores	1 or 2	2
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (32 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce2 MX TwinView (64 MB)	ATI Radeon 9600 (128 MB) or ATI Radeon 9650 (256 MB)
Memory
Memory	128 MB, 256 MB or 1.5 GB	512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	40 GB to 80 GB	160 GB to 250 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.	Two physical PowerPC G5 processors at 2, 2.3 or 2.7 GHz, each with 512 KB L2 cache and no L3 cache. Front-side bus per processor is 1, 1.15 or 1.35 GHz. The dual 2.7 GHz model uses liquid cooling.
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.	Dual 2 and 2.3 GHz: ATI Radeon 9600 with 128 MB DDR and two single-link DVI outputs. Dual 2.7 GHz: ATI Radeon 9650 with 256 MB GDDR3, one single-link and one dual-link DVI output. Optional NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL with 256 MB has two dual-link DVI outputs and occupies the adjacent PCI slot.
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.	Stock 512 MB PC3200 DDR400, installed in matched pairs. Dual 2 GHz has four DIMM slots and a 4 GB maximum. Dual 2.3 and 2.7 GHz have eight slots and an 8 GB maximum. Configuration rows keep the stock drives 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 160 GB on dual 2 GHz and 250 GB on dual 2.3/2.7 GHz, all 7200 rpm Serial ATA. Two internal drive bays; optional 250 or 400 GB drives, including two 400 GB drives. One optical bay with 16x SuperDrive supporting DVD±R and up to 4x dual-layer DVD+R recording.
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	Four full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots plus dedicated AGP 4x graphics slot.	AGP 8x Pro graphics slot. Dual 2 GHz has three 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots. Dual 2.3 and 2.7 GHz have PCI-X: two 100 MHz slots and one 133 MHz slot.
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, optical S/PDIF input/output and analogue audio line-in/out. Three chassis USB ports in total, plus keyboard USB 1.1 ports. AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and a V.92 modem are optional.
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.	Two displays in extended desktop or mirrored modes. Radeon 9600 supports two displays up to 1920 × 1200; Radeon 9650 supports one 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display via dual-link DVI. Optional 6800 Ultra DDL supports two 30-inch displays. DVI-to-VGA adapter included.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; optional Apple Pro Speakers connect to a dedicated speaker minijack.	Built-in speaker; analogue and optical audio connections.
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Pro Keyboard and optical Apple Pro Mouse.	Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable and DVI-to-VGA adapter.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	14.1 kg (better)	20.2 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	226 × 467 × 432 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.	The exact maker sheet labels height as 47.5 cm, width 20.6 cm and depth 51.1 cm. Earlier G5 sheets label height/depth in the opposite order; main dimensions are omitted because those published axes conflict. Maker reference weight is 20.2 kg and varies with configuration.
Power supply
Power supply	Maximum continuous power 360 W.	450 W on dual 2/2.3 GHz; 600 W on dual 2.7 GHz, as stated by the maker.
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium enclosure.
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.	Mac OS X Tiger and iLife ’05. Apple’s 27 April 2005 launch says these models are available “this week”; first sale is kept at April precision rather than treating the announcement as a confirmed delivery day. The older single 1.8 GHz model retained in the launch range is represented separately as Late 2004.