Apple Power Mac G5 (Early 2005) vs Apple Power Macintosh 6100/66 DOS Compatible

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Power Mac G5 (Early 2005) compared with Power Macintosh 6100/66 DOS Compatible

	ApplePower Mac G5 (Early 2005)	ApplePower Macintosh 6100/66 DOS Compatible
Overview
Released
Released	April 2005	1995
Performance
Processor
Processor	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)	PowerPC 601 66 MHz (Power Macintosh 6100/66)
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	1
Graphics
Graphics	ATI Radeon 9600 (128 MB) or ATI Radeon 9650 (256 MB)	–
Memory
Memory	512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB (better)	16 MB
Storage
Storage	160 GB to 250 GB (better)	500 MB
CPU
CPU	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.	Macintosh side uses a 66 MHz PowerPC 601 with integrated FPU and PMMU, 32 KB L1 cache, 256 KB L2 cache and a 64-bit data path at 33 MHz. The separate Intel 80486DX2-66 on the DOS Compatibility Card runs at 66 MHz with a 33 MHz bus and 8 KB internal cache; it runs PC applications independently, rather than adding a second PowerPC core. The main processor comparison describes the Macintosh processor only.
GPU
GPU	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.	Macintosh HDI-45 video uses system DRAM. The DOS card has separate 512 KB video RAM and a VGA controller; Sound Blaster-compatible 16-bit stereo playback is mixed with Macintosh and CD audio. PC sound hardware provides output only, while Macintosh audio has input and output.
Memory type
Memory type	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.	8 MB on the Macintosh logic board and two 72-pin SIMM slots installed in pairs; maximum supported Macintosh RAM 72 MB. The DOS card can share selected Macintosh memory or use its own single 72-pin SIMM up to 32 MB; PC-local memory is not additional Macintosh RAM. AppleFacts also lists 8 MB system memory, but the shown 16 MB/500 MB factory configuration is explicitly ordered as M3972LL/A in Apple's TIL 16756.
Storage type
Storage type	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.	M3972LL/A has a 500 MB internal hard drive, plus built-in 1.44 MB Apple SuperDrive floppy; optional double-speed CD-ROM reads Macintosh and DOS discs. Exact current support gives a broader 350–500 MB range; the initial January newsletter anticipated 16 MB/350 MB before final availability, so that prospective configuration is not added. DOS drive files reside on the Macintosh hard drive.
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	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.	The sole processor-direct expansion position is occupied by the DOS Compatibility Card and its adapter; AV and NuBus expansion cannot coexist in that position. The PC processor card has a local-memory SIMM socket and sound expansion card.
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet	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 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.	ADB, HDI-45 Macintosh display output, DB-25 external SCSI, two GeoPort serial ports, AAUI Ethernet, microphone input and speaker output. The DOS card's 26-pin connection uses a monitor adapter cable with display and PC joystick connectors. Macintosh serial and printer interfaces can emulate PC connections, with compatibility limits in the developer guide.
External displays
External displays	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.	One shared display or two separate simultaneous Macintosh and PC displays; only one environment receives keyboard and mouse input at a time. Macintosh video supports 512 × 384 and 640 × 480 at 16-bit colour, or 832 × 624 at 8-bit. DOS card supports VGA/SVGA displays; the developer note lists shared VGA 640 × 480 and SVGA 800 × 600 monitors. Depth and supported modes depend on environment and driver.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; analogue and optical audio connections.	–
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable and DVI-to-VGA adapter.	Apple's DOS-card specification lists the compatibility card, MS-DOS 6.22 manual and disks, Windows 3.1, Macintosh PC Exchange User's Guide and monitor cable. Gallery monitor, keyboard and mouse illustrate the original maker setup and do not establish a universal factory bundle.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Compact
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	–	414 × 396 × 86 mm
Weight
Weight	20.2 kg	–
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	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.	Original AppleFacts gives 86 × 414 × 396 mm (height × width × depth), used here. Exact support gives 3.4 × 16.3 × 15.6 inches and 14 lb; shared service manual gives 85 × 415 × 399 mm and 6.4 kg depending on installed devices. AppleFacts prints inconsistent 16.2 lb and 3.3 kg; headline weight omitted rather than resolving that conflict by guessing.
Power supply
Power supply	450 W on dual 2/2.3 GHz; 600 W on dual 2.7 GHz, as stated by the maker.	Exact support lists 210 W maximum and automatically configured 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz. Shared-family Service Source separately gives 132 W maximum continuous AC input, 201 W peak input excluding monitor power, and 86 W continuous DC output; these ratings retain their different conditions.
Materials
Materials	Aluminium enclosure.	–
In the box
In the box	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.	Original System 7.5 with PowerPC Enabler 1.1.1, MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1. Apple support records introduction on 3 January 1995; January Apple Directions only promises first-quarter shipments. April 1995 AppleFacts lists the current product and the contemporary June TidBITS review describes a purchased unit, establishing sale in 1995 without proving the first-sale month. Apple explicitly calls the earlier Quadra 610 DOS Compatible its predecessor.