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

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

	ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005)	ApplePower Macintosh 9600/200MP
Overview
Released
Released	October 2005	1997
Performance
Processor
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)	2 × PowerPC 604e 200 MHz (Power Macintosh 9600/200)
CPU cores
CPU cores	2 or 4	2
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (128 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)	PCI graphics accelerator (4 MB VRAM)
Memory
Memory	512 MB or 16 GB (better)	32 MB
Storage
Storage	160 GB to 250 GB (better)	4 GB
CPU
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.	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	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.	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 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.	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-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.	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	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.	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	4 × USB-A, 2 × 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	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.	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	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 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 and optical/analogue external 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, Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension 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	–	15.9 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	–	246 × 440 × 439 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	–	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	–	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 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.	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