The Power Mac G5 features the personal computer industry's first 64-bit processor and 1 GHz front-side bus. Powered by the PowerPC G5 processor designed by IBM and Apple, the Power Mac G5 is the first personal computer to utilize 64-bit processing technology for unprecedented memory expansion (up to 8GB) and advanced 64-bit computation, while running existing 32-bit applications natively.

Delivering the industry's highest system bandwidth, the Power Mac G5 line offers dual 2.0 GHz PowerPC G5 processors, each with an independent 1 GHz front-side bus, for 16 GBps of bandwidth. The line also features the industry’s highest bandwidth memory (400 MHz 128-bit DDR SDRAM with throughput up to 6.4 GBps); the industry’s fastest PCI interface available on a desktop (133 MHz PCI-X); and AGP 8X Pro graphics capabilities.



The new aluminum enclosure is built around four independently controlled thermal zones for advanced airflow management, with fans in each zone that are individually controlled based on a sophisticated combination of thermal and power monitoring, resulting in the Power Mac G5 running two times quieter than the previous Power Mac G4. The G5 enclosure also features an easy-to-open access panel allowing quick access to internal components for tool-less installation of memory, hard drives, optical drives or an AirPort Extreme card. Front and rear handles allow professionals to rapidly and safely move Power Mac G5s when and where they need them, and front-mounted FireWire, USB2, and headphone ports provide convenient access for popular peripherals.




The PowerPC G5 processor is a result of the strategic relationship between Apple and IBM. At frequencies up to 2 GHz, the PowerPC G5 introduces 64-bit processing technology to desktop computing, while also running 32-bit applications natively. The PowerPC G5 processor architecture is based on a new execution core that features massively parallel computation for an unprecedented 215 in-flight instructions, full symmetric multi-processing, two double precision floating point units and an optimized Velocity Engine.



"The new Power Mac G5 is the fastest personal computer based on SPEC® CPU 2000 benchmark results and leading professional application performance tests when compared against 3.0GHz Pentium 4-based systems and 3.06GHz Dual Xeon-based systems."



Dual processor tests results, which determine the fastest personal computer since dual processor systems are faster than single processor systems, are a "clean sweep" with the Power Mac G5 beating the 3.06 GHz Dual Xeon workstations by 41 percent on SPECfp_rate_base2000, which measures the total floating point throughput of the system, and edging out the same system by three percent on SPECint_rate_base2000, which measures total integer computation throughput.



The Power Mac G5 delivers industry-leading connectivity and high-performance I/O for creative professionals with Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire® 800, two FireWire 400 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, dual display support, optical digital audio input and output, analog audio input and output and a headphone jack. The system also supports 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme wireless networking and is Bluetooth ready for wireless connections to a host of Bluetooth-enabled peripherals.




The Power Mac G5, with a suggested retail price of $3,000, includes:




Dual 2.0 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5;
Dual Independent 1 GHz front-side buses;
512MB 400 MHz Dual Channel (128-bit) DDR;
8 DIMMs, 8GB maximum memory;
160GB Serial ATA hard drive;
AGP 8X Pro graphics slot;
RADEON 9600 Pro-64MB DDR;
3 PCI-X slots (one 64-bit 133 MHz, two 64-bit 100 MHz); and
4x SuperDrive.






The Power Mac G5, with a suggested retail price of $2,400, includes:




1.8 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5;
900 MHz front-side bus;
512MB 400 MHz Dual Channel (128-bit) DDR;
8 DIMMs, 8GB maximum memory;
160GB Serial ATA hard drive;
AGP 8X Pro graphics slot;
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra-64MB DDR;
3 PCI-X slots (one 64-bit, 133 MHz, two 64-bit 100 MHz); and
4x SuperDrive.






The Power Mac G5, with a suggested retail price of $2000, includes:



1.6 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5;
800 MHz front-side bus;
256MB 333 MHz Dual Channel (128-bit) DDR;
4 DIMMs, 4GB maximum memory;
80GB Serial ATA hard drive;
AGP 8X Pro graphics slot;
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra-64MB DDR;
3 PCI slots (64-bit, 33 MHz); and
4x SuperDrive.



The Power Mac G5 line will be available in August.



Apple will continue to offer its Power Mac G4 computers until August. The G4 towers, available in limited pre-built configurations, are now priced $1,300 for the 1.25GHz machine (with Mac OS 9 boot capability), while other configurations are available as build-to-order.