This is a very quick look at the performance of the new G5/1.8 GHz Tower which we just received this morning. We have a lot more results which we will be posting in coming days, but we wanted to get something up for you as quickly as possible. Below we compare the new Towers performance with our base machine (The dual G4/1 GHz of January 2002), and to the last top of the line machine, the dual processor G4/1.42 GHz Tower. You will find a score for each of the main performance areas of the machine; hard drive work, on-screen graphics, processing activity and graphics card/gaming performance.
Again we will get further performance data to you as quickly as possible, but we need some time to digest what we have before we post it. Bear in mind, when you are pondering these results, that we are pitting the G5 machine against two dual processor Macs, and all the tests below, with the exception of the drive test, take advantage of dual processors. However the G5 machine's performance here, makes us think that things are going get fun when the dual processor G5 lands on our doorstep.
Also none of of the applications used for testing below, have been optimized for the G5 processor. We hope to bring you that perspective shortly.
Difference and similarities of each machine
Power Mac G4/1GHz
Dual Processor
(1/02 )
Power Mac G4/1.42 GHz
Dual Processor (#M8841LL/A )
Power Mac G5/1.8 GHz
Single Processor (#M9031LL/A )
Processors
2 x G4/1.0 GHz
2 x G4/1.42 GHz
1 x G5/1.8 GHz
L2 Cache
256K L2 @ 1GHz per processor
256K L2 @ 1.42 GHz
512K L2 @ 1.8 GHz
L3 Cache
2MB per processor with 4GBps throughput
2MB per processor
None
Bus Speed
133 MHz
167 MHz
900 MHZ Frontside bus
Memory
1 GB PC133 SDRAM
(1.5GB Max)
1 GB PC2700
333MHz DDR SDRAM
2 GB max
512MB PC3200
400MHz DDR SDRAM
8 GB max
Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX
64MB of DDR SDRAM
4x AGP slot
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro
64MB of DDR SDRAM
4x AGP slot
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
64MB DDR SDRAM
AGP 8X Pro graphics slot
Drive
80GB Ultra ATA (7200 rpm)
120 GB Ultra ATA/100
7200 rpm
160GB Serial ATA
7200 rpm
CD Drive
Super Drive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
Writes DVD-R at 2x
Reads DVDs at 6x
Writes CD-R at 8x
Writes CD-RW at 4x
Reads CDs at 24x
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW);
writes DVD-R discs at 4x
reads DVDs at 8x
writes CD-R discs at 16x
writes CD-RW discs at 8x
reads CDs at 32x speed
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
Writes DVD-R at 4x
Reads DVDs at 8x
Writes CD-R at 16x
Writes CD-RW at 10x
Reads CDs at 32x
Operating System
10.2.4
10.2.3
10.2.7
Price
$2,999
$2,699
$2,399
"Real World" Tests
Copy 900MB Folder
Machine
Power Mac Dual G4/1GHz
Power Mac G5/1.8 GHz
Absolute Scores - seconds
181.70
145.51
The copy folder test not only stresses drive
performance but also takes advantage of faster processing
capability & caching schemes.
Let 1000 Windows Bloom
Machine
Power Mac Dual G4/1GHz
Power Mac Dual G4/1.42GHz
Power Mac G5/1.8 GHz
Absolute Scores - seconds
33.77
24.49
24.93
Let 1K Windows Bloom is a simple carbon application that opens and closes 1,000 windows. This gauges how fast screen redraws are taking place. Keep in mind that the program is dual processor savvy which probably evens out the score somewhat with the 1.42 G4.
iMovie - Effect Render
Machine
Power Mac Dual G4/1GHz
Power Mac Dual G4/1.42GHz
Power Mac G5/1.8 GHz
Absolute Scores - seconds
125.99
91.01 (estimate)
86.74
An Aged Effect Render is run on an movie using iMovie 3.0.3. This test also takes advantage of dual processors. ( 80% of the processing power of the 1.42 machine was used ... 100% of the G5 processor was saturated). The score for the G4/1.42 was tested with a previous version of iMovie and is based on what we know of relative performances. We feel that it is fairly accurate.
This test a stresses the processor function. Only one processor is used ... even if their are dual processors. This allows you to see the advantage of higher clock speeds more clearly. A 1 GHz Pentium 4 receives a score of 100 in this test.
The same test as above except that if two processors are present they are both utilized. Since the G5 only has one processor, its score is that of the single processor test. A dual 1 GHz Pentium 4 machine would receive as score of roughly 185.
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