Apple Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) vs Apple Power Macintosh 7300/166
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005) | ApplePower Macintosh 7300/166 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | October 2005 | 1997 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | 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) | PowerPC 604e 166 MHz (Power Macintosh 7300/166) |
| CPU cores | 2 or 4 | 1 |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (128 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB) | – |
| Memory | 512 MB or 16 GB (better) | 16 MB |
| Storage | 160 GB to 250 GB (better) | 2 GB |
| CPU | 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. | One 166 MHz PowerPC 604e with integrated floating-point unit, 64 KB level-one cache, 50 MHz processor bus and 256 KB level-two cache; processor is on a removable card |
| GPU | 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. | Built-in video with 2 MB VRAM, expandable to 4 MB. Exact support table gives 24-bit colour through 832 × 624, 16-bit at 1024 × 768 and 1152 × 870, and 8-bit at 1280 × 1024 with standard VRAM; 4 MB permits 24-bit through 1152 × 870 and 16-bit at 1280 × 1024 |
| Memory type | 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. | 16 MB standard and 512 MB supported maximum using eight 168-pin 64-bit 5 V DIMM sockets, 70 ns or faster. EDO modules are treated as fast-page memory by the controller; matching DIMMs in corresponding sockets enable interleaving. Apple says 128 MB DIMMs can be used but were not tested. 4 MB ROM. Shared Service Source specifies 60 ns or faster EDO DIMMs for the 7300 series, while the exact Japanese page and English support specify 70 ns or faster; this difference remains explicit. |
| Storage type | 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. | 2 GB internal Fast SCSI hard disk, manual-inject 1.44 MB Apple SuperDrive floppy and AppleCD 1800i 12× CD-ROM. One additional internal 3.5-inch storage bay; internal SCSI transfers up to 10 MB/s |
| Expansion slots | 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. | Three PCI 2.0 slots; processor on a replaceable card. The 7300 does not include the analogue AV module supplied with the 7500 and 7600 |
| Display | ||
| Screen | None built in | None built in |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 4 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack | Ethernet, headphone jack |
| Ethernet | 1 Gb/s (better) | 0.01 Gb/s |
| External displays | Up to 2 | – |
| Front ports | USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and headphone minijack. | – |
| Back ports | 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. | DB-15 display output, one ADB connector, external DB-25 SCSI, two GeoPort/LocalTalk-compatible serial connectors, AAUI and 10BASE-T Ethernet, 16-bit stereo sound input and output. Both Ethernet connectors share one interface; 10BASE-T takes priority if both are connected |
| External displays | 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. | One external display through built-in video, up to 1280 × 1024; colour depth depends on installed VRAM and compatible monitor |
| Speakers | Built-in speaker and optical/analogue external audio connections. | Built-in speaker and 16-bit stereo sound input/output |
| Microphones | – | Supports an external Apple PlainTalk microphone |
| Keyboard and mouse | Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension and DVI-to-VGA adapter. | Original KanjiTalk 7.5 version 7.5.5 in Japan, ADB Mouse II, PlainTalk microphone, power cable, system CD, Internet Starter Kit and manuals. Keyboard and monitor sold separately. Optional PC Compatibility Card is separate from this Macintosh configuration. |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | Tower | Compact |
| Weight | – | 10 kg |
| Width × depth × height | – | 365 × 430 × 156 mm |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Size and weight detail | – | Apple’s exact Japanese specification gives 156 mm high, 365 mm wide and 430 mm deep, 10 kg; weight varies with installed devices. Shared Service Source gives the corresponding 22 lb (9.97 kg). |
| Power supply | – | Exact Japanese maker page specifies 100–130/220–270 V AC, single phase, manually switched, 50–60 Hz, and claims 298 W continuous/453 W peak excluding monitor. Shared Service Source instead specifies automatically configured 100–240 V AC and 150 W maximum, while English support lists 150 W and 100–130/200–270 V. These unresolved differences are retained without an unqualified consumption figure. |
| Materials | Aluminium enclosure. | – |
| In the box | 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. | Exact Apple support lists 13 February 1997 as introduction and says this model was not sold in the US. Contemporary PC Watch retail rankings report Japanese sales beginning March 1997; first worldwide sale month/day remains unconfirmed, so release is kept at 1997 year precision. |
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