Power Mac Quad G5 high end, high priced, highly desirable
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jan 10, 2006 at 2:11am
It took a looong time to get my hands on a demo unit of Apple’s Power Mac G5 Quad. But I finally did (not from Apple, by the way) and can report that this is a monster workstation that will thrill those who need the very best computing power—or some serious bragging rights. For most of us, it’s overkill (and, at US$3,299, unaffordable). I don’t need a Power Mac G5 Quad, but if there’s someone out there that wants to make me an offer I can’t refuse, let’s talk.
Offering four 64-bit 2.5 GHz processors (in a—pay attention now—dual dual-core configuration), this behemoth is probably the last of the PowerPC-equipped Power Macs. It boasts a plethora of under-the-skin improvements (the pro line’s appearance remains basically unchanged) in architecture and components, such as dual independent gigabit Ethernet interfaces, PCI Express and support for the workstation-class Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 512 MB graphics card.
So, budget considerations aside, should you consider this super-computer with Intel-based Macs (“Mactel” systems) coming down the pike? If you’re a creative pro in video, animation, graphic design, audio, etc., you should. The Power Mac line will probably be the last to “go Intel,” so don’t expect a major upgrade to the pro systems until late 2006 or early 2007 (my prediction, not any official timeline from Apple).
For specs, check out those at Bare Feats and Macworld. When I review a system, I prefer to go with a gut-level feel as to how fast it is. After all, if I can’t feel any speed boosts, then what’s the point?
That said, if you’re using a dual 2.0GHz G5 or slower, you’ll certainly feel the performance improvements. That’s due not only to the dual dual-core processor, but to the addition of DDR2 memory and PCIe card slots. Also, you can play Doom 3 at a sweet 61 frames per second at 1024×768 resolution.
What’s more, you can configure the system with two 500GB hard drives, bringing the total storage up to 1TB (alas, the hard drives aren’t configured in a RAID array). As for RAM, you can pack in an incredible 16GB (although it’ll cost you—oh man, will it cost you). Something worth considering: PCIe cards and DDR2 memory modules should be transferrable to Intel Power Macs whenever they arrive, so any investment in these areas can be considered long-term.
And although, as mentioned, the case design remains pretty much the same, there are some minor tweaks. There’s now a red glow from the front grille on startup. The chime sounds through the built-in speaker even with headphones attached to the front jack. And the T-type AirPort antenna has been changed to a strip. All of these are good. What’s not good? As with the latest iMac, the Power Macs lose the built-in modem (an external one will cost you $49) since Apple assumes everyone has broadband. And the pro systems, even the $3,300 top-of-the-line models, still lack built-in AirPort and Bluetooth. C’mon, Apple, give pro users the same niceties that the consumer systems and laptops now sport as standard.
I’ll stick with my assertion that the latest iMac G5 is the best all-around computer Apple’s ever made—even for many creative pros. (see my review). However, if you need the most oomph possible, oodles of expandability and screen real estate possibilities larger than most houses, the Power Mac G5 Quad won’t disappoint.
Every Power Mac G5 includes one FireWire 800 port, two FireWire 400 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 1.1 ports, optical and digital audio input and output, and built-in support for AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. The new Power Mac G5 line also includes Apple’s next generation mouse, Mighty Mouse, featuring up to four programmable buttons and a Scroll Ball that lets users scroll in any direction. The quad-er comes with NVIDIA GeForce 6660 with 256MB of video memory, three open PCI Express expansion slots and a 16x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW). Build-to-order options include up to 16GB of NECC or ECC DDR2 SDRAM, up to two 500 GB Serial ATA hard drives running at 7200 rpm, NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 graphics card with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth module, Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Wireless Mouse, Xserve RAID and Apple Fibre Channel PCI Express Card.
Macsimum rating: 8 out of 10.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
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