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The long hold for the Power Mac G5s is at long last over , and the finding of fact is in : just as Steve Jobs call , the next - generation desktops bear the big carrying into action further that professional Mac users have lust for , with grow restlessness , for several twelvemonth .
The unexampled machines take their name from the powerful new processor they ’re build around — the IBM PowerPC 970 , which Apple separate as the 5th generation of PowerPC technology ( for more contingent on the novel G5s , see “ The Next Generation , ” September 2003 ) . But the three framework that make up the Modern Power Mac line declare oneself more than just a new CPU : with a brand - new typesetter’s case design , a revamped internal computer architecture , and a slew of swerve - edge technologies , they map the big makeover for Apple ’s pro line since the introduction of the first G4s four years ago .
Great Big Boxes
Visually , the G5s adopt from the plan of the popular G4 PowerBooks : instead of shiny plastic , the machine ’ elegant exterior is made of brushed aluminum , and the rounded shape of the senior models have given mode to a more materialistic — not to say square — condition .
Unlike with Apple ’s laptop , however , no one would call the raw desktops compact . evaluate 20.1 inches high-pitched , 8.1 inches wide , and 18.7 inches deep , the new models tower over their predecessors .
Despite their size of it , the G5s have less room for inner expansion than their predecessors : there ’s only one empty alcove for an extra hard driving force , none for a second optical drive to complement the received SuperDrive , and three PCI ( in the 1.6GHz manikin ) or PCI - X ( in the two faster model ) card slots . In contrast , recent G4s have had bays for three additional voiceless movement and a 2nd optical drive , plus four PCI slot .
The Sounds of Silence — Almost
So what go on inside the G5 case ? Much of it is occupied by fans ( eight of them in the single - CPU manakin , nine in the twofold - CPU version ) , formative air deflectors , and gargantuan C.P.U. heat sinks — all ask to manage the heat engender by the high - powered G5 chip .
A mesh of temperature sensors and software work together to control the fans , ensuring that they operate only when and where necessary . The looker of all this detailed engineering science is that it keeps the heat under control without making a dissonance . In fact , in Macworld ’s offices — a fairly distinctive work environment — we could hardly tell when the 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz models were running . The dual-2GHz mannequin ’s noise was more noticeable but hardly tyrannous — nothing like that of the notorious “ wind - burrow ” G4s .
Of naturally , the G5s — like any electronic computer this side of the Cube — will be more noticeable in quieter environments , such as many dwelling place . But considering the power of the G5 , Apple ’s engineer deserve a wind of the chapeau for keeping the noise to a minimum this time .
Technology Playland
The G5 processor , with its increase clock swiftness and 64 - bit capability , is decidedly the star of the show . But to take full advantage of it , Apple had to arise a whole fresh set of brook actors , including a eminent - speed arrangement control and a frontside coach that connects the controller to the processor . This jalopy run as fast as 1GHz — six times the speed of the equivalent distribution channel in the latest G4s .
complement these Modern data - cranch capabilities are big , firm hard drives : a standard 80 GB in the low - end G5 , and a 160 GB in the other two models , all reel at 7,200 rpm and indorse by 8 megabyte of cache memory . ( When it was accessed , the 80 GB drive in the 1.6GHz G5 we tested was clearly noisier than the drive in its high - content siblings , even though both drive were Seagate units with superposable acoustic specifications . ) The drives are connected to the system via a unexampled diligence - received interface call in series ATA , which offer two big benefit : it can transfer data at 150 MBps , take a shit it 50 pct quicker than the Ultra ATA/100 interface in the latest G4s , and it uses tiny , easy - to - connect cables , or else of the grownup gray laurel wreath cables and balking power plugs of previous ATA generations . However , no drives on the marketplace can take advantage of the increased upper — this is a engineering science that hard drives will have to originate into .
With an AGP 8x Pro slot for graphic cards , the G5s also move Apple up a notch in display technology . A rapid Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra video bill of fare is standard in the individual - C.P.U. theoretical account , while the still faster ATI Radeon 9600 Pro comes in the double - central processor model ( the fashion model we test had the $ 300 ATI Radeon 9800 Pro graphics plug-in ) . Both cards have two connectors ( ADC and DVI , with an adapter that converts DVI to VGA ) and can push back two displays simultaneously , in either extended - desktop or mirror mode . Since each connector patronise digital resolutions as high as 1,920 by 1,200 pixels ( 1,600 by 1,200 for analog show ) , you may delight astonishing amounts of covert real estate if you hook up two displays .
It ’s hard to think of an up - to - particular date standard Apple does n’t hold up for moving data point in and out of the G5s . The 1.8GHz and dual-2GHz models introduce PCI - X engineering science to the Mac : while the expansion slots in the G4s ( and in the 1.6GHz G5 ) were based on the 33MHz PCI standard , one of the PCI - 10 slots in the high - end G5s runs at 133MHz and the other two at 100MHz . Although there are n’t yet many PCI - ecstasy scorecard for the Mac , count for video , audio , and storage developer to take reward of all that extra bandwidth in the coming calendar month .
In increase to the usual 56 Kbps modem and an Ethernet porthole that handles speed as high as Gigabit Ethernet ( 1,000 Mbps ) , the G5s have inner slots for optional AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth wireless card . There ’s a FireWire 800 port , as well as two of the old FireWire 400 variety ( for f number trial on FireWire 800 , see ” 250 GB FireWire 800 Drives , ” Reviews , September 2003 ) . And the three USB ports have been upgraded to USB 2.0 , which can wield information as much as 40 times fast than the previous version . ( monition : do n’t hook up a USB 2.0 movement , scanner , or printer to the free port on the keyboard that comes with the G5s — though the sleek , white keyboard conception is new , the USB hub inside is still bound to USB 1.1 speeds . )
Happily , Apple has eventually accede to popular need and put some of these ports ( FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 , plus a earpiece diddly-squat ) on the front panel of the machine — hugely commodious for plugging in a camera or an iPod , particularly if the organization resides under a desk . Apple has also carry on to holler up the Power Macs ’ audio frequency capability . Besides the headphone jack , the new model have no fewer than four connectors devote to audio : analog line - in and -out port , and optical digital audio - in and -out connectors . Pro audio and video editors will appreciate being able to monitor multichannel audio production and connect immediately to digital ironware , such as DAT players , without the need for third - company machine .
By the Numbers
Beyond all the geeky goodies , the real question about the Power Mac G5s was whether they would actually get real oeuvre done appreciably faster . Our test leave no doubt about it : on almost every project we throw off at them , the newfangled motorcar left their predecessors in the dust .
In fact , even the humble G5 — the 1.6GHz model — outperformed the dissolute Mac we ’d ever tested before , the discontinued dual-1.42GHz Power Mac G4 , on our Speedmark 3.2 benchmark , which measures overall performance in a diverseness of everyday covering .
Because most of the Speedmark mental test resolution do n’t do good from dual processors , the result show only a modest incremental improvement in performance for the double - CPU G5 , compared with the single - processor modelling . ( To view the Speedmark test result , see ” Macworld Lab : First G5 Dual - Processor Test result . ” ) But if you expect at the results for computation - intensive undertaking in media - oriented programs optimized for multiprocessor organization — for example , Adobe Photoshop ( with the new G5 plug - in ) , Maxon ’s Cinema 4D , and Apple ’s own Compressor utility — you ’ll see that the top - of - the - line model render another huge hurrying rise over and above what you get with the single - G5 models . For the customers Apple is aim with the G5 line , result like these are money in the bank .
Macworld’s Buying Advice
Of the two undivided - processor G5s , we ’d recommend the 1.8GHz model ( $ 2,399 ) over its 1.6GHz sib ( $ 1,999 ) . The perfor - mance deviation is barely noticeable , but the extra $ 400 will buy you twice the hard- drive blank , twice as much capacitance for memory elaboration , and PCI - X or else of PCI expansion slots . You might not need those capabilities now , but there ’s a good luck you ’ll care about them in a class or two .
But for artwork pros , medium producer , and anyone else whose productivity is truly set by processor performance , we recommend saving up for the dual-2GHz Power Mac G5 . If your meter is money , the performance boost this amazing piece of engine room delivers will pay for itself .
New Power Mac G5 Test Scores
Best consequence in bold . Reference systems in italic .
Speedmark 3.2 scores are relative to those of a 700MHz eMac which is assigned a score of 100 . Photoshop , iMovie , and iTunes scores are in minute : seconds . Quake scores are in frames per second . We test the G5 systems with Mac OS X 10.2.7 ( G5 ) and Energy Saver ’s Processor Performance set to Highest . The 2GHz DP model we try out had ATI ’s 128 M Radeon 9800Pro computer graphic card installed which is available as a build - to - order choice . We tested the baseline systems with Mac OS X 10.2.6 . All organization had 512 M of RAM . We congeal display to 1,024 - by-768 - pixel declaration and 24 - fleck colour . We tested MP3 encoding with an audio - candela track that was 9 bit and 25 seconds longsighted , converting it from the strong crusade using iTunes ’ Better Quality setting . We tested Quake III at a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels with Graphics set to High Quality . The Photoshop Suite test is a set of ten written tasks using a 50 MB Indian file . Photoshop ’s memory was gear up to 100 % and History was ready to Minimum . For MPEG encoding tests , we encode a 6 minute , 46 second DV Indian file using the MPEG-2 60 minute - Fast encode preset in Apple ’s Compressor covering . For more info on Speedmark 3.2 , chit-chat www.macworld.com/speedmarkMacworld Lab testing by Jim Galbraith .
