Apple Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) vs Apple Power Macintosh 8100/100
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005) | ApplePower Macintosh 8100/100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | October 2005 | 1995 |
| 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 601 100 MHz (Power Macintosh 8100/100) |
| 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) | 700 MB |
| 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. | 100 MHz PowerPC 601 with integrated floating-point unit, 32 KB L1 cache, 256 KB L2 cache and 33.3 MHz system bus; 4 MB ROM |
| 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. | Power Macintosh video card with 2 MB VRAM, expandable to 4 MB using four 512 KB SIMMs; separate built-in DRAM video uses system memory. This is the non-AV model, without the AV card's S-video connections. |
| 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. | Apple's Japanese bundle has 16 MB including 8 MB soldered to the logic board; eight 72-pin noncomposite 80 ns SIMM sockets accept matched pairs, up to 264 MB total. Apple Service Source also lists an 8 MB configuration. |
| 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. | Japanese bundle has a 700 MB internal SCSI hard drive, 1.44 MB floppy and internal 2× AppleCD 300i Plus CD-ROM. The exact-model service table also lists a 1 GB hard-drive option; CD-ROM inclusion varies by configuration. |
| 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 NuBus slots and one processor-direct slot occupied by the video card; fitting an optional AV card replaces that video card rather than adding another card alongside it |
| Display | ||
| Screen | None built in | None built in |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 4 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack | Ethernet |
| Ethernet | 1 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. | ADB, external DB-25 SCSI, two LocalTalk/GeoPort serial ports, AAUI-15 Ethernet requiring a transceiver, HDI-45 and DB-15 monitor ports, and 16-bit stereo audio input and output |
| 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. | DRAM HDI-45 and VRAM DB-15 video outputs; 2 MB VRAM supports 24-bit colour at 640 × 480 and 832 × 624, or 16-bit colour at 1024 × 768 and 1152 × 870. Expanding VRAM to 4 MB supports 24-bit colour at the latter resolutions. |
| Speakers | Built-in speaker and optical/analogue external audio connections. | – |
| Keyboard and mouse | Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension and DVI-to-VGA adapter. | Japanese bundle includes Apple Desktop Bus Mouse II; keyboard and monitor are separate. The catalogue photograph shows a shared 8100/100 and 8100/110 setup with external monitor, keyboard and mouse. |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | Tower | Tower |
| Weight | – | 11.3 kg |
| Width × depth × height | – | 196 × 396 × 360 mm |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Size and weight detail | – | Japanese exact-model page publishes 360 × 196 × 396 mm and 11.3 kg, with weight varying by installed drives. The English support sheet lists 14 × 7.7 × 15.75 inches and 25.3 lb; Service Source lists the same metric dimensions but 11.5 kg. The April 1995 catalogue lists 361 × 226 × 406 mm and 11.4 kg; those conflicting catalogue measurements are not used for the headline dimensions. |
| Power supply | – | Automatically configured 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz; Service Source distinguishes 298 W maximum continuous and 453 W peak input, excluding the monitor, from 200 W continuous DC output. Apple's support sheet labels 200 W as maximum watts. |
| 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. | Japanese bundle includes power cable, KanjiTalk 7.5 CD-ROM and documentation. Apple lists introduction on 3 January 1995; the April 1995 maker catalogue establishes a current offering that year, without resolving the first-sale month. |
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