Power Mac G5/Dual 2GHz

Apple adds a dual-core processor -- two processing units on a single chip -- to its Power Mac line. The new desktops also add PCI Express, a high-performance interface that's particularly appealing to video pros. (To that end, the Power Mac line offers several video card build-to-order options above the Nvidia GeForce 6600 LE that comes standard on this model.) Also new: a double-layer SuperDrive, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and faster DDR2 RAM.

Reviewed Full Review

Compared with their predecessors, the Power Mac G5 Dual models offer an array of new workstation-class capabilities, including impressive improvements in graphics, advanced networking, enormous memory capacity, and state-of-the-art expansion slots. Between the two models, the 2GHz machine, even with video card and hard drive upgrades, is a slightly better bargain.

Pros: Solid performance; huge memory capacity; PCI Express slots.

Cons: No improvement in performance compared with dual-processor model; no backward compatibility with PCI or PCI-X cards.

Basics

Reviewed Price: $1,999

Processor: Dual-core 2GHz PowerPC G5

Information about this system on Apple's website

Lab Tests

Speedmark 4.5 Score227
Cinema 4D XL 9.5.211:07
iMovie 6.0.10:40
iTunes 6.0.30:57
Photoshop CS21:03
Compressor
Unreal Tournament 200443.7fps
Tested ConfigurationMac OS X 10.4.5, 1GB of RAM

Latest on Mac

Macworld Resource Centers