Unofficial Power Mac G5 MWSF Spec Thread

majormatt

Where is all the good old-fashioned spec guessing? It aint the time of the year without it. I'll start out:



Low end - $1999



Dual 2.0 GHz PowerPC G5

1000MHz frontside bus/processor

512K L2 cache/processor

256MB DDR400 SDRAM

Expandable to 4GB SDRAM

100GB Serial ATA

8x SuperDrive

Three PCI Slots

ATI Radeon 9600 XT

128MB DDR video memory

56K internal modem



Mid end - $2499



Dual 2.4 GHz PowerPC G5

1200MHz frontside bus/processor

512K L2 cache/processor

512MB DDR400 SDRAM

Expandable to 4GB SDRAM

140GB Serial ATA

8x SuperDrive

Three PCI Slots

ATI Radeon 9600 XT

128MB DDR video memory

56K internal modem





High End - $2999



Dual 2.66 GHz PowerPC G5

1333MHz frontside bus/processor

512K L2 cache/processor

1024 MB DDR400 SDRAM

Expandable to 4GB SDRAM

200 GB Serial ATA

16x SuperDrive

Three PCI Slots

Nvidia 6800

256 MB DDR video memory

56K internal modem

krzysiek

I hope in all configuration max RAM be 8GB and PCI-X slots and 4 internal hard drive bays.

But is only hope

powerdoc

I don't think that we will see any speed bump in the powermac line until IBM makes some refinements on his 90 nm fab process.



I don't currently know any rumors, that said that IBM is going to apply this refinements soon.

alex london

That low end model would be fine by me, I need the PCI slots for my audio DSP card. I would order one immediately, even if it's only a modest speed bump because of the better video card and HD, 512mb should be the minimum though I feel.

onlooker

Quote:

Originally posted by krzysiek

I hope in all configuration max RAM be 8GB and PCI-X slots and 4 internal hard drive bays.

But is only hope

Would be nice, but I add 2x PXI-X

carson o'genic

Update to Appleworks/AppleOffice.

onlooker

Quote:

Topic: Unofficial Power Mac G5 MWSF Spec Thread

laurence13

I don't really think that there will be a PowerMac update in January, but soon after. They really only need three improvements to be almost perfect...



Four HD Bays on independent SATA channels

2 5.25 optical bays

PCI Express Video



Other than that I wouldn't care if the speeds/RAM/etc were identical to the current versions. I really hate having multiple firewire drives sitting all over my desk especially when I have an iPod & iSight sharing the firewire bandwidth. Even FW 800 won't be fast enough when I add a third external drive soon.



The Dual DVD Drives are necessary as more and more people are using things like DVD2One DVDXCopy, etc, and it really is much easier to backup large quantities of data with multiple drives.



I don't know if toast supports this or not, but it would also be nice to be able to simultaneously burn to multiple drives. I know Nero does this on the PC.



PCI Express is a given sooner or later, it might as well be sooner as Apple supplies such a small selection of video cards anyway, they could easily replace the two or three models with PCI-E versions.

slughead

Quote:

Originally posted by laurence13

I don't really think that there will be a PowerMac update in January, but soon after. They really only need three improvements to be almost perfect...



Four HD Bays on independent SATA channels

2 5.25 optical bays

PCI Express Video



Other than that I wouldn't care if the speeds/RAM/etc were identical to the current versions. I really hate having multiple firewire drives sitting all over my desk especially when I have an iPod & iSight sharing the firewire bandwidth. Even FW 800 won't be fast enough when I add a third external drive soon.

It'd be freakin amazing if Apple got a SLI compatible mobo before x86 did. Impossible, but amazing.



And btw, there's no freakin way they're going to add another optical drive.



The way it's layed out now, they'd have to swap the processor and RAM positioning and have the optical(s) on the bottom.. it'd be OK for hard drives, but not opticals.



you have no idea how annoying it is to have your PC friends point out that my G5 only holds 2 hard drives.



I always just point to the gigabit 500gig Raid-0 network drive, but still.. annoying.



I mean, the computer costs MORE THAN MY CAR IS WORTH.. and it only holds TWO hard drives??



That's not engineering, that's idiocy.





edit: and btw, I bet the bottom of the line G5 will still have a 5200

onlooker

Quote:

Originally posted by slughead

It'd be freakin amazing if Apple got a SLI compatible mobo before x86 did. Impossible, but amazing.

I would say that impossible is the correct term here because SLI configurations have been for sale, and shipping from Alienware for almost 3 months.

drboar

keeping the top end at 2.5 GHz but with 1024 K L2 (as in the IBM blade server) and a faster graphical card like the nvidia 6600 replacing the ATI 9600 will give a speed boost with parts that are aviable now.

onlooker

Quote:

Originally posted by DrBoar

keeping the top end at 2.5 GHz but with 1024 K L2 (as in the IBM blade server) and a faster graphical card like the nvidia 6600 replacing the ATI 9600 will give a speed boost with parts that are aviable now.

If the graphics drivers, and cards actually work. The 6800's that are available now perform at less than half of their PC twins. a 6600 is a slower card I believe, and it wont help if they cant get them to perform anyway.

tht

There will not be any Power Mac G5 revisions at MWSF05. Power Mac G5 revisions will come in late March 05 at the earliest. When they do appear, my prediction is:



Same Power Mac form factor with 1 5.25 bay and 2 hard drive bays. Airport and Bluetooth standard.



$1499: 2.0 GHz 970gx w/1MB L2, 667 MHz FSB, 64 MB AGP video card (GeForce 5700 or Radeon 9600), 256 MB PC3200, 120 GB SATA, 3 PCI slots



$1999: 2x2.0 GHz 970gx w/1MB L2, 1 GHz FSB, 64 MB PCIe video card (GeForce 6200 or Radeon X600), 512 MB PC4000, 120 GB SATA, 3 PCI-X slots



$2499: 2x2.4 GHz 970gx w/1MB L2, 1.2 GHz FSB, 128 MB PCIe video card (GeForce 6600 or Radeon X700), 512 MB PC4000, 160 GB SATA, 3 PCI-X slots



$2999: 2x2.8 GHz 970gx w/1MB L2, 1.4 GHz FSB, 128 MB PCIe video card (GeForce 6600 or Radeon X700), 512 MB PC4000, 250 GB SATA, 3 PCI-X slots



What they should have though is:



Slightly different case with 2 5.25 bays and 4 hard drive bays. The main PCIe x16 slot is double-wide in width to accommodate graphics cards with large cooling systems. Airport, Bluetooth standard.



$1499: 2.0 GHz 970gx w/1MB L2, 1.0 GHz FSB, 64 MB AGP video card (GeForce 5700 or Radeon 9600), 512 MB PC3200, 120 GB SATA, 3 PCI/PCI-X slots



$1999: 2x2.0 GHz 970gx w/1MB L2, 1 GHz FSB, 128 MB PCIe video card (GeForce 6200 or Radeon X600), 512 MB PC2-5300, 160 GB SATA w/hardware RAID option, 1 PCIe x16 slot, 2 PCI/PCI-X slots



$2499: 2x2.4 GHz 970gx w/1MB L2, 1.2 GHz FSB, 128 MB PCIe video card (GeForce 6600 or Radeon X700), 512 MB PC2-5300, 250 GB SATA w/hardware RAID option, 1 PCIe x16 slot, 2 PCI/PCI-X slots



$2999: 2x2.8 GHz 970gx w/1MB L2, 1.8 GHz FSB, 128 MB PCIe video card (GeForce 6600 or Radeon X700), 512 MB PC2-5300, 2x250 GB SATA RAID, 1 PCIe x16 slot, 2 PCI/PCI-X slots

zapchud

Spec-fest!

I second THT's opinion that the revision will not appear until March 2005, at the earliest.



Single 2.0 GHz G5

667 MHz FSB

512 KB L2 cache (970FX)

120 GB SATA disk

128 MB 9600 XT

1 AGP 8X Pro slot

3 PCI slots

256 MB RAM

4 RAM slots for PC3200 DDR RAM

2 HD bays

1 optical drive bay

$1399

-------



Dual 2.0 GHz G5

1 GHz FSB

1024 KB L2 cache (970GX)

160 GB SATA disk

GeForce 6200 128 MB

1 PCIe 16x slot

1 PCI-X slot

2 PCIe 2x slots

256 MB RAM

8 RAM slots for PC4300 DDR-II RAM (533MHz)

2 HD bays

1 optical drive bay

$1999

-------



Dual 2.3 GHz G5

1,15 GHz FSB

1024 KB L2 cache (970GX)

200 GB SATA disk

GeForce 6200 128 MB

1 PCIe 16x slot

1 PCI-X slot

2 PCIe 2x slots

512 MB RAM

8 RAM slots for PC4300 DDR-II RAM (533MHz)

2 HD bays

1 optical drive bay

$2399

-------



Dual 2.7 GHz G5

1,35 GHz FSB

1024 KB L2 cache (970GX)

300 GB SATA disk

ATI X700 XT 256 MB

1 PCIe 16x slot

1 PCI-X slot

2 PCIe 2x slots

512 MB RAM

8 RAM slots for PC4300 DDR-II RAM (533MHz)

2 HD bays

1 optical drive bay

$2899

-------



New options for graphics cards would be:

ATI X700 XT 256 MB (100$ over the 6200)

GeForce 6800 GT 256 MB (200$ over the 6200)

ATI X800 XT 256 MB (300$ over the 6200)

GeForce 6800 Ultra (300$ over the 6200)

(Except for the single G5, where the current options will remain.)



And it'd be an average but decent upgrade to the line-up. There will be severe problems shipping both the dual 2.7 and the dual 2.3 because of constraints in the 970GX supply line. It will, however, not be as severe as with the two first revisions of the G5 PowerMac.



Personally, I would head for the dual 2.3 model.

mattyj

$3499



Dual 3Ghz G5

1MB L2 cache per processor

PCI Express mobo - SLI capable

Radeon X800 (so you have to buy two new cards for SLI feature )

512MB DDR 5300 (667Mhz)

250GB SATA HD

ipodandimac

Quote:

Originally posted by MajorMatt

Where is all the good old-fashioned spec guessing?

Because we're getting smarter, Apple is becoming more public, and personally, I'm positive that PMacs wont be bumped at MWSF. That's where all the guessing went.

slughead

Quote:

Originally posted by onlooker

I would say that impossible is the correct term here because SLI configurations have been for sale, and shipping from Alienware for almost 3 months.

actually I knew that, but who's gonna pay $5000 for a gaming computer?



SLI is meant to be good, cheap, and fast. (it's not cheap unless you look at it over time--what happens when you need to upgrade? buy the $100 card and you've doubled your power).



I meant readily available. Alienware has a special deal to sell $1500 computers for $5000, that alone does not make it readily available.

onlooker

Quote:

Originally posted by slughead

actually I knew that, but who's gonna pay $5000 for a gaming computer?



SLI is meant to be good, cheap, and fast. (it's not cheap unless you look at it over time--what happens when you need to upgrade? buy the $100 card and you've doubled your power).



I meant readily available. Alienware has a special deal to sell $1500 computers for $5000, that alone does not make it readily available.

a DCC workstation is not a gaming computer bud. Sure you can game on it, but it's purpose is much different than that of a gamer. It is available in the gaming configuration because it's available in both towers so having the option in the area 51 is not a problem for Alienware.

jellytussle

Just to throw some fuel on the fire, I set up one of the new single -processor 1.8 G5s today, and it had the revised smaller logic board inside - as seen a few months ago in those pics from the Service Source manuals. There is a good 4 inch gap from the front of the case to the edge of the board. It won't run less than 10.3.5, and it has an iMac G5 style SMU judging by the verbose mode messages. I wonder if this will make its way across the range, perhaps to support higher clock speeds?

slughead

Quote:

Originally posted by onlooker

a DCC workstation is not a gaming computer bud. Sure you can game on it, but it's purpose is much different than that of a gamer. It is available in the gaming configuration because it's available in both towers so having the option in the area 51 is not a problem for Alienware.

Regardless of semantics, it'd still be amazing if Apple got SLI compatibility before MOST PC manufacturers got it.

benroethig

My predictions:



PowerMac G5:

All Dual processor: 2.4, 2.6, 2.8

DDR-II

1x PCI Express x16

3x PCI-X

Radeon X700 or GeForc 6600 as standard

Ram doubled



What I'd like to see:

Number of USB ports doubled from 3-6.

Double-wide Video Card slot

Second Drive bay.



Consumer Tower:

Based on smaller version of G5 tower with the space for second processor removed and without zone dividers. Exterior iMac White.

Single processor running with bus running at 1/3rd processor Speed

Non-Dual Channel DDRII

1 PCI Expressx16

3 PCI

No Optical audio.

Matching 15" and 17" LCD Displays resembling iMac.