Power Mac G5

Introduced: June 2003
Terminated: June 2004

Description

The Power Mac G5 was housed in a new and innovative aluminum casing.  There were three different configurations in the initial release.  The low-end configuration ran at 1.6Ghz, had an 80Gb hard drive and 256Mb of RAM.  Midrange configuration ran at 1.8Ghz, had a 160Gb hard drive and 512Mb of RAM.  The high-end configuration ran dual 2.0Ghz, had a 160Gb hard drive and 512Mb of RAM.  The Power Mac G5 had PCI-X slots and 8X AGP slot.  It also had a Serial-ATA bus and a front-side bus speed.  All configurations had a SuperDrive.

History

Launched as the fastest personal computer ever built, the Power Mac G5 represented a major leap forward.  Now working with IBM for the processor instead of Motorola, the fifth generation of the PowerPC based computers was far more advanced and had a number of enhancements to the motherboard.  The new aluminum case was stylish and well designed.

Apple’s newest professional level desktop was $1,999 for the low-end configuration, $2,399 for the midrange and $2,999 for the high-end dual processor configuration.

Some early versions with the dual processor were noted for having annoying noise problems. 

Photos

Power Mac G5

Specifications

Processor: PowerPC 970 v2.2 (G5)
Number of Cores: 1
Processor Speed: 1.6, 1.8, dual 1.8, or dual 2.0 GHz
Benchmarks: 1.6 GHz: 988, 1.8 GHz: 1127, dual 1.8 GHz: 1592, dual 2.0 GHz: 1671
Cache: 64 KB (instruction), 32 KB (data) L1, 512 KB L2
System Bus: 800, 900, dual 900 MHz, or dual 1.0 GHz
Hard Drive: 80, 160, or 250 GB 7200-rpm
Media: 4x/8x/16x/8x/32x DVD-R/CD-RW (4x SuperDrive)
Peripherals: Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse
Weight and Dimensions (US): 39.2 lbs., 20.1” H x 8.1” W x 18.7” D
Weight and Dimensions (Metric): 17.8 kg, 51.1 cm H x 20.6 cm W x 47.5 cm D
Original Mac OS: Mac OS X 10.2.7 (G5) (6S80) or 10.3 (dual 1.8 GHz)
Later Mac OS: Mac OS X 10.3
Maximum Mac OS: Latest release of Mac OS X
Hardware Test: AHT (Power Mac) 2.1, 2.2.5, 2.5, 2.5.2
Firmware: Open Firmware
Firmware Update: Power Mac G5 Firmware Update 5.1.4
Firmware Update URL: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/powermacg5firmwareupdate.html
Logicboard RAM: None
Maximum RAM: 4.0 GB (1.6 GHz) or 8.0 GB (1.8 GHz+)
Type of RAM Slots: 4 - PC2700 (1.6 GHz), or 8 - PC3200 (1.8 GHz+) 2.5v, unbuffered, 8-byte, nonparity 184-pin DDR SDRAM (matched pairs)
Minimum RAM Speed:—
Interleaving Support: Yes
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra, GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL, ATI Radeon 9600 Pro, or Radeon 9800 Pro
ATI Card Model: ATY,RV350 (9600 Pro), ATY,R350 (9800 Pro)
Graphics Memory: 64 (GeForceFX or Radeon 9600 Pro) or 128 MB (Radeon 9800 Pro) or 256 MB (6800)
Built-in Display: None
Display Modes: Dual display extended and video mirroring
Display Connection: 1 - ADC, 1 - DVI (5200, 9600, 9800) or 2 - dual-link DVI (6800)
Expansion Slots: 3 - PCI (1.6 GHz) 3 - PCI-X (1.8 GHz+), 1 - 8x AGP Pro
Expansion Bays: 2 - Internal 3.5” Serial ATA drive bays, 1 - optical drive bay
Hard Drive Bus: 2 - 1.5 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA) controllers
Large Drive Support: Yes (128 GB or larger per drive)
Optical Drive Bus: Ultra ATA/100
Backup Battery: 3.6 V 850 mAh Lithium (922-4028)
Max Watts: 420 W (1.6), 430 W (1.8), 604 W (Dual 1.8/2.0 GHz)
Line Voltage: 100–125V AC or 200–240V AC
Liquid Cooling: None
AirPort: Optional AirPort Extreme card (802.11b/g) (external antenna)
Bluetooth: Optional Bluetooth 1.1
Ethernet: 10/100/1000BASE-T (RJ-45)
Modem: 56k v92
ADB: None
Serial: None
SCSI: None
USB: 3 - 480Mbps
FireWire: 2 - 400 MBit/s, 1 - 800 MBit/s (15W total power)
Audio In: 1 - 3.5-mm analog input jack, 1 - optical S/PDIF (Toslink) input (24-bit 44.1 kHz sample rate)
Audio Out: 2 - 3.5-mm analog output jacks, 1 - optical S/PDIF (Toslink) output, 1 - Built-in speaker (24-bit 44.1 kHz sample rate)

Timeline

Introduced in June 2003, the original Power Mac G5 was discontinued in June 2004 when newer models were released.

Videos

Comments

  • The Power Mac G5 is Apple’s marketing name for models of the Power Macintosh that contains the IBM PowerPC G5 CPU. The professional-grade computer was the most powerful in Apple’s lineup when it was introduced, widely hailed as the first 64-bit PC, and was touted by Apple as the fastest personal computer ever built. Though, same with other versions Power Mac G5 has its own problems which on this case it has electronic audio interference problems. GAR Labs

    chesterfoster had this to say on Aug 21, 2011 Posts: 27
  • It was nice to remind me about this version, it is already forgotten and I don’t know if many people still have one like this on their homes. Masini de inchiriat

    selena had this to say on Oct 27, 2011 Posts: 35
  • Alpina had this to say on Nov 21, 2011 Posts: 154
  • Apple’s product is too expensive yet in good quality which I prefer most. Apple is a known company and knowing more about the history of their developments with their products sounds so interesting to me. Virility EX

    alexandergbrown had this to say on Nov 22, 2011 Posts: 1
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