Apple Power Mac G5 (Early 2005) vs Apple Power Macintosh 9600/200MP

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Power Mac G5 (Early 2005) compared with Power Macintosh 9600/200MP

	ApplePower Mac G5 (Early 2005)	ApplePower Macintosh 9600/200MP
Overview
Released
Released	April 2005	1997
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)	2 × PowerPC 604e 200 MHz (Power Macintosh 9600/200)
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	2
Graphics
Graphics	ATI Radeon 9600 (128 MB) or ATI Radeon 9650 (256 MB)	PCI graphics accelerator (4 MB VRAM)
Memory
Memory	512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB (better)	32 MB
Storage
Storage	160 GB to 250 GB (better)	4 GB
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.	Two physical PowerPC 604e processors at 200 MHz on one removable processor card; each has 32 KB instruction and 32 KB data caches. 50 MHz processor bus and 512 KB level-two cache soldered to the logic board. Under classic Mac OS the primary CPU runs the system and interrupts, while MP-aware applications schedule tasks on the second CPU; this is not two cores inside one chip
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.	Bundled PCI graphics accelerator with 4 MB non-expandable VRAM. Exact Japanese specifications and developer note give 16-bit colour at 1280 × 1024 and 1600 × 1200, and 24-bit colour through 1152 × 870. The catalogue’s 24-bit 1280 × 1024 claim conflicts with those tables and is not transferred. Exact card identity is not inferred from a sibling
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.	32 MB standard, twelve 168-pin 64-bit 70 ns-or-faster DRAM DIMM sockets, up to 768 MB officially supported; matching modules in corresponding sockets permit interleaving. English support says 128 MB DIMMs may work but were not tested; these are not treated as an approved expansion configuration. 4 MB ROM
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.	4 GB internal Fast SCSI hard disk, manual-inject Apple SuperDrive floppy and 12× internal CD-ROM. Shared service manual names AppleCD 1800i, while developer note names AppleCD 1600i; exact mechanism name remains unresolved, so the published speed is retained. No standard Zip drive on the original 200MP; later 9600 variants differ
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.	Six PCI 2.0 expansion slots, five free with the supplied graphics card. Additional internal storage bays and removable processor card; no NuBus slots. Side-panel release permits access to memory, PCI cards and processor
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s (better)	0.01 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 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.	One ADB connector, two GeoPort/LocalTalk-compatible serial connectors, external SCSI, AAUI-15 and 10BASE-T Ethernet connectors, 16-bit stereo sound input and output. DB-15 monitor connector belongs to the supplied PCI card. Both Ethernet connectors share one interface; with both connected, the service manual says 10BASE-T takes priority
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 external monitor via the supplied graphics card, up to 1600 × 1200 with compatible display and cables; developer note says the card does not support sync-on-green monitors
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; analogue and optical audio connections.	Built-in speaker and 16-bit stereo audio input/output
Microphones
Microphones	–	External Apple PlainTalk microphone supplied in the Japanese bundle; no built-in microphone
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, USB extension cable and DVI-to-VGA adapter.	Japanese configuration includes ADB Mouse II, PlainTalk microphone, power cable, KanjiTalk 7.5.5 CD-ROM, Internet Starter Kit, sample CDs, manuals and warranty. Keyboard and display are sold separately
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	20.2 kg	15.9 kg (better)
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	–	246 × 440 × 439 mm
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.	Exact Japanese maker specifications: 439 mm high, 246 mm wide and 440 mm deep, 15.9 kg, varying with installed devices. Worldwide catalogue rounds height to 440 mm. Shared 8600/9600 service physical table gives a conflicting 224 mm width; the exact 9600/200MP specification takes precedence
Power supply
Power supply	450 W on dual 2/2.3 GHz; 600 W on dual 2.7 GHz, as stated by the maker.	100–240 V AC automatically configured, single phase, 50/60 Hz. Shared Service Source distinguishes 390 W maximum DC supply output from AC input consumption
Power use
Power use	–	560 W maximum continuous AC input and 700 W peak input, excluding monitor; exact Japanese specification and shared service manual agree. English support’s 390 W matches the service manual’s DC output rating, so it is not treated as AC consumption
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 software 7.5.5 with MP-specific support; Japanese bundle uses KanjiTalk 7.5.5. Apple announced the 9600 family on 17 February 1997 and planned Canadian availability from March; August maker catalogue lists the exact 200MP offering, supporting release year 1997. Exact actual first-sale month/day remains unconfirmed. Developer note explicitly identifies 9500/180MP as predecessor