Apple Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002) vs Apple Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

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Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002) compared with Power Mac G5 (Late 2005)

	ApplePower Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002)	ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005)
Overview
Released
Released	January 2002	October 2005
Performance
Processor
Processor	PowerPC G4 800 MHz (Power Mac QuickSilver 2002), PowerPC G4 933 MHz (Power Mac QuickSilver 2002) or 2 × PowerPC G4 1000 MHz (Power Mac QuickSilver 2002)	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 cores
CPU cores	1 or 2	2 or 4
Graphics
Graphics	ATI Radeon 7500 (32 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce4 MX (64 MB)	NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (128 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)
Memory
Memory	256 MB, 512 MB or 1.5 GB	512 MB or 16 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	40 GB to 80 GB	160 GB to 250 GB (better)
CPU
CPU	Single 800/933 MHz or dual 1 GHz PowerPC G4. Each processor has 256 KB on-chip L2 cache; 800 MHz has no L3, while 933 MHz and dual 1 GHz have 2 MB DDR L3 per processor. 133 MHz system bus. Supplier omitted from generic per-processor records.	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.
GPU
GPU	800 MHz: ATI Radeon 7500 32 MB DDR; 933 MHz and dual 1 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 64 MB DDR. Retained maker options include GeForce4 Ti 128 MB with ADC/DVI; that later option is not launch stock or an unproven configuration cross-product.	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 type
Memory type	256 MB PC133 SDRAM on single-processor models, 512 MB on dual 1 GHz. Three DIMM slots support up to 1.5 GB; configurations retain stock processor/storage/graphics ties at base and maximum memory.	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 type
Storage type	800 MHz: 40 GB; 933 MHz: 60 GB; dual 1 GHz: 80 GB, all 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/66. Entry model has CD-RW (24x/10x/32x in current maker sheet), higher models SuperDrive (DVD-R 2x, CD-R 8x). Optional Combo drive, Zip 250 and 36/72 GB SCSI choices remain detailed rather than unproven CPU combinations. Three hard-drive bays, supporting two ATA or three SCSI drives.	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 slots
Expansion slots	Four open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots plus dedicated 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
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	4 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 2	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; the maker’s four-port total includes two on the keyboard. Two FireWire 400, Gigabit Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem, headphone/line-out minijack and Apple Pro Speakers minijack. Optional 11 Mbps AirPort 802.11b card, no built-in wireless or analog audio-input jack.	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 displays
External displays	Extended desktop or mirroring on two displays. Standard Radeon 7500/GeForce4 MX cards provide ADC and VGA; optional GeForce4 Ti provides ADC and DVI. A second ADC display requires a separately sold adapter. Supported resolutions depend on the card.	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.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; optional Apple Pro Speakers.	Built-in speaker and optical/analogue external audio connections.
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Pro Keyboard, optical Apple Pro Mouse and modem cable.	Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension and DVI-to-VGA adapter.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	13.6 kg	–
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	226 × 467 × 432 mm	–
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium enclosure.
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker reference weight 13.6 kg varies with configuration and manufacturing process; height 43.2, width 22.6, depth 46.7 cm.	–
Power supply
Power supply	Maximum continuous power 360 W.	–
In the box
In the box	Mac OS X 10.1 as default startup system, with Mac OS 9.2; iTunes 2, iMovie 2 and iDVD 2 for SuperDrive. Apple confirms all three stock configurations immediately available on 28 January 2002.	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.