The Apple Power Macintosh G5/1.8,is the first of the Mac series to use the 64-bit PowerPC 970 (G5) processor, and is arguably the first “desktop” computer to use 64-
Apple Powermac G5 1.8gHz Single Processor
bit processors. In addition to higher clock speeds, the PowerPC 970 (G5) has a “new execution core that features massively parallel computation for an unprecedented 215 in-flight instructions”, and the Power Macintosh G5 series uses a new high speed system architecture as well. This combination results in major speed gains compared to earlier Apple systems.
The Power Macintosh G5/1.8 features a 1.8 GHz PowerPC 970 (G5) processor with an optimized AltiVec “Velocity Engine” vector processing unit, and 512k level 2 on-chip cache, and shipped configured with 256 MB of PC2700 DDR SDRAM, an 80.0 GB (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard drive, a 4X/8X/16X/10X/32X SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW), and a NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (AGP 8X Pro) video card with 64 MB of DDR SDRAM. In addition to the standard compliment of ports, including FireWire “800″, ADC, DVI, and support for AirPort Extreme (802.11g) and Bluetooth 1.1, the Power Macintosh G5 series is the first Mac line to provide support for USB 2.0, Optical digital audio in/out (SPIDF), and PCI-X slots for additional expansion options (on the PM G5/1.8 and PM G5 2.0 DP, but not this model). On first glance, the case looks similar to the case introduced with the second Power Macintosh G3 series crossed with a postmodern cheese grater, but it is actually a completely different design. This model has “three open full-length 33 MHz, 64-bit PCI slots”, an 8X AGP Pro slot that “supports up to 2-GBps data throughput” and is occupied by the graphics card, as well as expansion slots for AirPort Extreme (802.11g) and Bluetooth 1.1.
The Single Processor Mac G5
Connectivity includes USB 2.0, FireWire “400″ and “800″, ADC, DVI (single link), optical digital audio in/out, and support for AirPort Extreme (802.11g) and Bluetooth 1.1. This model does not support PCI-X.
Like the earlier models, the Power Macintosh G5/1.8 (PCI) uses the same “anodized aluminum alloy” case divided into four different thermal zones with nine computer-controlled fans for optimum cooling, and features a removable side panel for easy access to internal components. Custom configurations also were available.
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The Power Mac G5 has three USB 2.0 ports on the system (one on the front panel and two on the back), two Firewire “400″ ports (one on the front and one on the back), and one Firewire “800″ port on the back. Apple also advertised “two USB 1.1 ports on included keyboard”.