Apple has introduced a new range of Power Mac G5 desktop models. The flagship Power Mac G5 Quad has two 2.5 GHz dual-core PowerPC G5 processors, providing a total of four processing cores. Every Power Mac G5 now has dual-core processors, a new PCI Express architecture, and more powerful graphics options, including the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 for workstation applications.
“The Power Mac G5 Quad delivers the workstation performance our customers need for their creative and scientific applications,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With four processing cores, a new PCI Express architecture and NVIDIA’s fastest workstation card, the new Power Mac G5 is the most powerful system we have ever built.”
With two 2.5 GHz dual-core processors, each carrying 1 MB of L2 cache, Apple says the Power Mac G5 Quad delivers a substantial performance gain over previous models. Final Cut Pro 5 is said to encode SD video up to 60 percent faster on the new Quad than on the 2.7 GHz dual-processor G5. The company claims that selected operations in Photoshop, After Effects and LightWave run around 50 to 70 percent faster.
The PCI Express architecture in the new G5 systems provides four expansion slots for video and audio cards or additional graphics cards, enabling support for up to eight displays. The Power Mac G5 can be expanded to 16 GB of 533 MHz DDR2 SDRAM and now has two Gigabit Ethernet ports. Every Power Mac G5 also includes one FireWire 800 port, two FireWire 400 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and optical and digital audio input and output. It supports AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.
The new Power Mac G5 is fitted as standard with either an NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE with 128 MB of video memory or a GeForce 6600 with 256 MB, both supporting two displays. The NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT with 256 MB of video memory and the Quadro FX 4500 with 512 MB are available as options. The Quadro FX 4500 can drive two 30-inch Cinema HD Displays and includes a stereo 3D port for connecting compatible glasses.
The 2.0 GHz and 2.3 GHz versions of the Power Mac G5 Dual are available immediately, while the Power Mac G5 Quad is due to become available in November from the Apple Store and Apple resellers. The systems cost €1,999 and €2,499 respectively, while the flagship has a recommended retail price of €3,299 including VAT.
