Apple Power Mac G5 (June 2004) vs Apple Power Macintosh 8500/120

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

Power Mac G5 (June 2004) compared with Power Macintosh 8500/120

	ApplePower Mac G5 (June 2004)	ApplePower Macintosh 8500/120
Overview
Released
Released	June 2004	1995
Performance
Processor
Processor	2 × PowerPC G5 1800 MHz (Power Mac June 2004), 2 × PowerPC G5 2000 MHz (Power Mac June 2004) or 2 × PowerPC G5 2500 MHz (Power Mac June 2004)	PowerPC 604 120 MHz (Power Macintosh 8500/120)
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	1
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB) or ATI Radeon 9600 XT (128 MB)	–
Memory
Memory	256 MB, 512 MB, 4 GB or 8 GB (better)	16 MB
Storage
Storage	80 GB to 160 GB (better)	1 GB to 2 GB
CPU
CPU	Two physical PowerPC G5 processors at 1.8, 2 or 2.5 GHz, each with 512 KB L2 cache. Per-processor front-side bus is 900 MHz, 1 GHz or 1.25 GHz respectively. Only the dual 2.5 GHz uses the maker’s liquid-cooling system.	120 MHz PowerPC 604 with integrated floating-point unit, 32 KB L1 cache, 256 KB L2 cache and 64-bit data path at 40 MHz
GPU
GPU	Dual 1.8 and 2 GHz: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB DDR. Dual 2.5 GHz: ATI Radeon 9600 XT with 128 MB DDR. Optional ATI Radeon 9800 XT with 256 MB occupies the adjacent PCI slot as well as AGP.	Built-in video with 2 MB VRAM supports 24-bit colour through 832 × 624; 4 MB VRAM raises 1152 × 870 to 24-bit colour and is required for video mirroring
Memory type
Memory type	DDR400 PC3200 in matched pairs. Dual 1.8 GHz starts with 256 MB and has four DIMM slots with a 4 GB maximum. Dual 2 and 2.5 GHz start with 512 MB and have eight slots with an 8 GB maximum. Base and maximum memory rows retain each model’s stock storage and graphics.	Eight 168-pin DIMM slots; Apple supports 16–512 MB total with 70 ns memory
Storage type
Storage type	Stock 80 GB on dual 1.8 GHz and 160 GB on dual 2/2.5 GHz; 7200 rpm Serial ATA. Two bays with 150 MB/s interfaces; optional 80, 160 or 250 GB drives, up to two 250 GB drives. One optical bay with 8x DVD-R SuperDrive; Combo drive is optional.	Internal 1.44 MB floppy drive, 1 or 2 GB SCSI hard drive and 4× CD-ROM drive; Apple's Japanese configuration sheet lists the 2 GB version
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	AGP 8x Pro graphics slot. Dual 1.8 GHz has three 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots. Dual 2 and 2.5 GHz have PCI-X: two 100 MHz and one 133 MHz slots.	Three PCI slots; optional PC Compatibility 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	–
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, V.92 modem, optical Toslink input/output and analogue audio line-in/out. Three chassis USB ports in total, plus keyboard USB 1.1 ports. Optional 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 1.1.	Apple Desktop Bus, DB-15 video, DB-25 SCSI, two GeoPort serial connections, AAUI and 10BASE-T Ethernet, S-video and RCA video input and output, RCA audio input and output, microphone input and speaker output
External displays
External displays	ADC and DVI with included DVI-to-VGA adapter; two displays in extended or mirrored modes. A second ADC display requires a separate adapter.	Built-in video supports up to 1280 × 1024 pixels; available colour depth depends on VRAM
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; analogue and optical connections for external audio.	–
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and 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	20.2 kg	11.34 kg (better)
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	206 × 475 × 511 mm	196 × 400 × 356 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker height 51.1 cm, width 20.6 cm, depth 47.5 cm; reference weight 20.2 kg varies with configuration.	Apple's 14 × 7.7 × 15.75 inch and 25 lb reference dimensions; metric fields are rounded conversions
Power supply
Power supply	–	Maximum 225 W; 100–125 or 200–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz; 3.6 V lithium clock battery
Materials
Materials	Aluminium enclosure with separate cooling zones.	–
In the box
In the box	Mac OS X Panther and iLife. The 1.8 and 2 GHz models were available on 9 June 2004. Apple initially stated July availability for the 2.5 GHz model, later than the generation’s first sale.	Original System Software 7.5.2. Apple lists 8 August 1995 as introduction; a separate first-sale month was not established.