Apple releases new Dual G5 2.5 GHz Power Mac

[Eug]

:camera: or :camera:

EDIT: Now up at Apple - http://www.apple.com/powermac

 

[Sunner]

Nice, let's see how long before it shows up on Apple's site.

 

[James3shin]

i sweat those G5 cases...:thumbsup:

 

[mikecel79]

It's up now.

Doesn't Apple usually announce new products at the Mac shows they have? Any word on a new iPod?

 

[Eug]

http://www.apple.com/home/images/2004/06/powermactop06082004.jpg

$2,999.00
Dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 - shipping July
1.25GHz frontside bus/processor
512K L2 cache/processor
512MB DDR400 SDRAM
Expandable to 8GB SDRAM
160GB Serial ATA
8x SuperDrive
Three PCI-X Slots
ATI Radeon 9600 XT
128MB DDR video memory
56K internal modem

$2,499.00
Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5 - shipping 1-3 days
1GHz frontside bus/processor
512K L2 cache/processor
512MB DDR400 SDRAM
Expandable to 8GB SDRAM
160GB Serial ATA
8x SuperDrive
Three PCI-X Slots
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
64MB DDR video memory
56K internal modem

$1,999.00
Dual 1.8GHz PowerPC G5 - shipping 1-3 days
900MHz frontside bus/processor
512K L2 cache/processor
256MB DDR400 SDRAM
Expandable to 4GB SDRAM
80GB Serial ATA
8x SuperDrive
Three PCI Slots
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
64MB DDR video memory
56K internal modem

The video card is upgradable to a 9800 XT for $300. But where is the X800??? Oh, and it has both ADC and DVI connectors. No dual DVI. It will be interesting to see (if true) what the 30" 2560x1600 display update brings. I would have expected that to be dual DVI. (It can't function with just one DVI cable because the resolution is too high.)

 

[Sunner]

They really ough to up the RAM on those bad boys.
2 GB for the top-of-the-line, and 1 GB for the others.

 

[Lonyo]

$3000 for 512MB RAM is pittance, 256MB for a $2000 is rediculous.

 

[Viper0329]

Originally posted by: Sunner
They really ough to up the RAM on those bad boys.
2 GB for the top-of-the-line, and 1 GB for the others.

C'mon, with RAM as fast as this, you don't need more than 512mb. It can read and write data so fast that is just eliminates the need for any more. :roll:

 

[Eug]

The dual G5 2.5 has a liquid cooling system, controlled by Mac OS X. (This is gonna make running Linux on it harder I think, at least until somebody writes drivers or a controll app.)

See page 21 of this PDF: http://www.apple.com/powermac/pdf/PowerMacG5_TO_06092004.pdf

BTW, the RAM is dual channel DDR400. No ECC support. I wouldn't expect Apple to ship the dual 2.5 stock with 1 GB though - cost cutting. Mind you $3000 is a lot of money...

Liquid cooling pic

 

[jdogg707]

Another plus is that upgrading to 1GB on the top two models is only $150, which is reasonable when compared to other manufacturers like Dell. 1GB would be nice standard on these systems as my new Powerbook hated 512MB of RAM, at least it did when I was trying to run a couple of things at once!

 

[mikecel79]

I'm curious about this liquid cooling setup. I thought the G5s ran very cool. If so why would they need to move to a liquid based cooling system? Not putting down the idea, I think it's a great way to make a very quiet system but I always heard the G5s were known for running cool and quiet.

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: jdogg707
Another plus is that upgrading to 1GB on the top two models is only $150, which is reasonable when compared to other manufacturers like Dell. 1GB would be nice standard on these systems as my new Powerbook hated 512MB of RAM, at least it did when I was trying to run a couple of things at once!

Also, from what I can tell from the graphic on their website, the liquid cooling looks to be more like a heat exchanger, kind of like on the Thermalright SP94 and SP97, but a little bit more advanced.

 

[Shyatic]

What's a MAC?

hehe

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: mikecel79
I'm curious about this liquid cooling setup. I thought the G5s ran very cool. If so why would they need to move to a liquid based cooling system? Not putting down the idea, I think it's a great way to make a very quiet system but I always heard the G5s were known for running cool and quiet.

Well, while it's not absolutely necessary for the 970FX at 2.5 GHz, it will be nice to have for any faster parts. I suspect the 3.0 GHz G5 will be pushing 110-120 W or something.

However, Apple has said not to expect a 3.0 GHz G5 any time soon. Article

When Apple CEO took the stage at last year's Worldwide Developer's Conference, he wowed the attendees with the new Power Mac G5 dual 2GHz design and technology. Jobs further excited the crowd when he said that Apple would release a 3GHz model within a year -- with two weeks to go before that deadline, Boger said Apple will not meet the 3GHz promise.

"It's actually quite simple," said Boger. "When we made that prediction, we just didn't realize the challenges moving to 90 nanometer would present. It turned out to be a much bigger challenge than anyone expected."

"All-in-all, no we are not getting to 3GHz anytime soon, but what we are announcing today is a very significant upgrade in performance and its something that are customers will be very happy with."

Also, they said that we will not see a G5 PowerBook in 2004 either. Too bad, because that's what I really want.

 

[mooojojojo]

So we're done with the single processor G5s? Sounds cool.

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

Originally posted by: Eug
Also, they said that we will not see a G5 PowerBook in 2004 either

Boo-urns!

 

[sharkeeper]

BTW, the RAM is dual channel DDR400. No ECC support.

That's ridiculous. ECC is a requirement for a workstation.\

Also, it's not true liquid cooling. The system in the graphic is a heatpipe design. If you want to call this liquid cooling, most notebooks are already liquid cooled.

The correct terminology is heatpipe with forced air cooling. If the heatpipe transferred its load to a waterjacket, that would be a different story.

Cheers!

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam

BTW, the RAM is dual channel DDR400. No ECC support.

That's ridiculous. ECC is a requirement for a workstation.

??? ECC is a requirement for a server or a cluster, but definitely not for a workstation. An ECC option would be nice though.

 

[sharkeeper]

??? ECC is a requirement for a server or a cluster, but definitely not for a workstation. An ECC option would be nice though.

Every workstation I've used always had ECC memory. A PC is not a true workstation in this sense. The G5 platform is what I consider a higher end platform which means workstation. Not having ECC is bad! When you're talking higher amounts of physical memory (4GB and higher) ECC is very important.

Cheers!

 

[mikecel79]

Seems like Intel isn't the only one having an issue with moving to the 90nm process. So far it seems that every company that has moved to it is having a problem.

 

[dullard]

I was waiting for that full year to post that Apple was not meeting their near Moore's law goal (50% boost in 12 months). Guess I don't have to do that now.

The new computer looks ok, but a ~20%-30% speed boost in 1 year isn't enough to keep the benchmarks competitive.

Did I read the article correctly that Apple won't have any desktop computer under $1870 (by getting rid of the single processor G4s and G5s)? Apple has always had high priced computers, but when comparing to the $399 computers with Intel or AMD processors that is one steep step. I'm not sure that is the right thing to do.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: dullard
I was waiting for that full year to post that Apple was not meeting their near Moore's law goal (50% boost in 12 months). Guess I don't have to do that now.

The new computer looks ok, but a ~20%-30% speed boost in 1 year isn't enough to keep the benchmarks competitive.

Actually 2.5 GHz G5s are competitive. 3.0 GHz would have put them in the lead.

Did I read the article correctly that Apple won't have any desktop computer under $1870 (by getting rid of the single processor G4s and G5s)? Apple has always had high priced computers, but when comparing to the $399 computers with Intel or AMD processors that is one steep step. I'm not sure that is the right thing to do.

Updated consumer Macs are coming.

 

[mldeveloper]

Originally posted by: Eug
The dual G5 2.5 has a liquid cooling system, controlled by Mac OS X. (This is gonna make running Linux on it harder I think, at least until somebody writes drivers or a controll app.)

OSX actually turns down the speed of the fans and cooling system according to zone temperatures, but the hardware default for the fans and cooling system are set to fullspeed as a failsafe, so linux will run fine, albeit noisier

Originally posted by: mikecel79
I'm curious about this liquid cooling setup. I thought the G5s ran very cool. If so why would they need to move to a liquid based cooling system? Not putting down the idea, I think it's a great way to make a very quiet system but I always heard the G5s were known for running cool and quiet.

Since apple caters alot to audio professionals, there was some complaining about the buzzing noise generated by the fans, so this is their way to drop 3db from the overal noise.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: dullard
I was waiting for that full year to post that Apple was not meeting their near Moore's law goal (50% boost in 12 months). Guess I don't have to do that now.

The new computer looks ok, but a ~20%-30% speed boost in 1 year isn't enough to keep the benchmarks competitive.

20-30% isn't enough to keep competitive? Their competition(*cough*Intel*cough*) hasn't gone anywhere in the last year, so I don't really think this is hurting them. Now, it isn't enough to help them recover from situations they were behind in by major amounts with the 2ghz system, but it's still a sizable boost.

 

[imported_raybay]

Apple Macintosh is reportedly having a lot of trouble getting these new units out and available. Continuing problems with IBM's manufacturing continue to delay any real availability. IBM makes the CPU, and they are having some unusually long lasting production difficulties.