Apple Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) vs Apple Power Macintosh 9600/233

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Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) compared with Power Macintosh 9600/233

	ApplePower Mac G5 (Late 2005)	ApplePower Macintosh 9600/233
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)	PowerPC 604e 233 MHz (Power Macintosh 9600/233)
CPU cores
CPU cores	2 or 4	1
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE (128 MB) or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB)	IMS Twin Turbo-128 PCI graphics accelerator (4 MB VRAM; Japanese configuration)
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.	One 233 MHz PowerPC 604e on a removable processor card with integrated floating-point unit, 64 KB level-one cache and 512 KB level-two cache soldered to logic board. Exact Japanese maker page gives 46.6 MHz system bus; English support table instead gives 50 MHz, and this conflict remains explicit.
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.	Japanese maker product page names an Integrated Micro Solution Twin Turbo-128 accelerator with 4 MB fixed VRAM, 24-bit colour through 1280 × 1024 and 16-bit at 1600 × 1200. Original US brochure instead limits 24-bit colour to 1152 × 870. Both specify up to 1600 × 1200; regional colour-depth difference remains qualified, and no exact card board designation is inferred.
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 1.44 MB Apple SuperDrive floppy and AppleCD 1800i 12× CD-ROM in shared Service Source. No standard Zip drive on original 233 configuration; later 300 and 350 MHz models differ. Internal Fast SCSI up to 10 MB/s and external SCSI up to 5 MB/s.
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.	Original US M5883LL/A bundle includes AppleDesign keyboard, ADB Mouse II, PlainTalk microphone, System 7.5.5 or later, Internet software and documentation. Japanese bundle includes ADB Mouse II, PlainTalk microphone, power cable, KanjiTalk 7.5.5 CD-ROM, Internet Starter Kit and sample CDs, manuals and warranty; keyboard and monitor sold separately there.
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 9600/233 maker page gives 439 mm high, 246 mm wide and 440 mm deep, 15.9 kg varying installed devices. US brochure rounds height to 440 mm; shared Service Source gives conflicting 224 mm width, so the exact model 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.	Apple lists 17 February 1997 as introduction. Exact February 1997 US maker brochure includes current ordering information and directs buyers to resellers; MacUser August 1997 explicitly reports the exact 233 MHz model shipping in quantity. Release year 1997 retained; actual first-sale month/day remains unconfirmed. Single processor, distinct from 200MP and Workgroup Server 9650/233.