Apple Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (Late 2004)

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Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001) compared with Power Mac G5 (Late 2004)

	ApplePower Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001)	ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2004)
Overview
Released
Released	July 2001	October 2004
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 1800 MHz (Power Mac Late 2004)
CPU cores
CPU cores	1 or 2	1
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (32 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce2 MX TwinView (64 MB)	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB)
Memory
Memory	128 MB, 256 MB or 1.5 GB	256 MB or 4 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	40 GB to 80 GB	80 GB
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.	One 1.8 GHz PowerPC G5 with 512 KB L2 cache and a 600 MHz front-side bus. This is the new single-processor model; the dual-processor models also listed on the retained sheet are June 2004 carryovers.
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 NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB DDR in AGP 8x Pro. Optional ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128 MB, Radeon 9800 XT 256 MB, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT DDL 256 MB or 6800 Ultra DDL 256 MB. The 9800 XT and 6800 cards also occupy 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 256 MB PC3200 DDR400 in matched pairs; four DIMM slots support up to 4 GB. Configuration rows keep the stock graphics and drive at base and maximum supported 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 7200 rpm Serial ATA drive. Two 3.5-inch bays, each with a 150 MB/s interface. Optional 160 or 250 GB drives, including two 250 GB drives. One optical bay with 8x DVD-R SuperDrive; Combo drive is optional.
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	Four full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots plus dedicated AGP 4x graphics slot.	Three open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots and occupied AGP 8x Pro graphics slot; no PCI-X on this single-processor model.
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 input/output and analogue audio line-in/out. Three chassis USB ports in total, plus two keyboard USB 1.1 ports. AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps and Bluetooth 1.1 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.	Stock ADC and DVI with included DVI-to-VGA adapter, supporting two displays. Optional 6800 GT/Ultra DDL cards have two dual-link DVI connectors and support two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays; a second ADC display on the stock card needs an adapter.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; optional Apple Pro Speakers connect to a dedicated speaker minijack.	Built-in speaker; optical and analogue connections for external audio.
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, modem cable and AirPort antenna.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	14.1 kg (better)	16.4 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.	Maker height 51.1 cm, width 20.6 cm, depth 47.5 cm. Published reference weight for the single 1.8 GHz model is 16.4 kg, distinct from the carryover dual-processor models; weight varies with configuration.
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium enclosure.
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.	The October 2004 release includes Mac OS X Panther and iLife ’04. Apple’s retained specification sheet later lists iLife ’05; that later software listing does not change the hardware’s October 2004 first sale.