It ca n’t be the Good , the Better , or the Best mannikin , so just where does the new $ 1,499 Power Mac G5 fit into Apple ’s pro desktop lineup ? Slowest is one way to trace it . Cheapest is the other .
Unlike its siblings in the current Power Mac crime syndicate , the new modeling has only a single processor — a 1.8GHz G5 . Its frontside jitney — the TV channel join the central processor to the respite of the organization — operate at one - third the clock speed of the central processor ( 600MHz ) . By contrast , the current dual - central processor Power Macs have frontside passenger vehicle running athalfthe processor ’s speed ( 900MHz , 1GHz , or 1.25 gigahertz ) .
Not surprisingly , therefore , the raw machine ’s speed slews lag well behind the other Power Macs ’ . On some labor , particularly with applications optimized for treble processor , the difference is dramatic : interpret video with Maxon ’s Cinema 4D XL or encoding into MPEG-2 format with Apple ’s Compressor take on twice as long on the new machine as it does on the next model up . Overall , onMacworld ’s SpeedMark 3.3 bench mark suite , the new Power Mac barely pulsate out its iMac G5 cousin .
Benchmarks
Charles Herbert Best lead IN BOLD . REFERENCE SYSTEMS INITALICS . * With 80 GB hard drive and graphics notice from raw 600MHz jitney , 1.8GHz single - processor Power Mac install .
Speedmark 3.3 scores are relative to those of a 1GHz eMac G4 , which is assigned a score of 100 . Cinema 4D XL , Compressor , iMovie , iTunes , and Photoshop scores are in minutes : seconds . All systems were running Mac OS X 10.3.5 with 512 MB of RAM installed . We used iMovie to export a moving picture that was 1 moment and 40 seconds long to QuickTime : Email . We tested MP3 encoding with an audio CD caterpillar tread that was 45 minutes long , converting it from the hard private road using iTunes ’ High Quality scene . The Photoshop Suite examination is a lot of 14 written task using a 50 MB Indian file . Photoshop ’s memory was set to 75 pct and account was correct to Minimum . We used Unreal Tournament ’s Antalus Botmatch average - frames - per - second score ; we test at a resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels . We used Compressor ’s Fast Encode preset . For more selective information on Speedmark 3.3 , confabulate www.macworld.com/speedmark .—Macworld Lab testing by Jeffy K. Milstead and Jim Galbraith
In other respects , the new mannikin is like to what used to be the broken end of the Power Mac line , the $ 1,999 dual 1.8GHz interlingual rendition . That intend you get many of the advanced technology common across the Power Mac G5 family , including FireWire 800 , Gigabit Ethernet , an AGP 8x Pro graphics slot , and an 8x SuperDrive ( CD and videodisk burner ) .
But you also have to decide for some technical limitations and somewhat modest standard spectacles : an inadequate 256 MB of memory , expandable to only 4 GB ( half the electrical capacity of the high - end Power Macs ) ; an 80 GB hard thrust ; a decent but unexciting video recording card ( the Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB of consecrated RAM ) ; and three expansion slot of the PCI salmagundi , rather than the faster PCI - ten time slot used in the mellow - end modeling .
Macworld’s Buying Advice
If you ’re a graphics or video master , or anyone who does computation - intensive workplace , the new Power Mac is n’t for you — we powerfully suggest that you opt for one of the two-fold - processor model , even if that means putting off your leverage until you may save up the price divergence . Those who want an expandable screen background organisation but do n’t command maximum performance — they’re looking for a file server , perhaps , or a multimonitor instrument - control station — may see the late Power Mac as an attractive bargain . For more selective information , seeMacworld ’s Apple Hardware Guide summary .
[ Information about the Power Mac ’s frontside bus in this article has been edited to correct a misinterpretation of Apple ’s technical specs.—Ed . ]
