Apple Launches Faster Power Mac G5 Computer

[dArKeR]

By Duncan Martell

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. rolled out its fastest-ever desktop computer on Wednesday with processors that run as fast as 2.5 gigahertz, but the company fell short of its earlier goal to offer a 3.0 gigahertz chip-based system by this month.

Apple has been counting on its chip supplier, IBM, to shrink the size of components to permit higher speeds for its microprocessors, the brains that run a computer. As more transistors are fit onto smaller circuits, the speed at which a processor can run increases.

The PowerPC 970FX processor made by International Business Machines Corp. has components that are as little as 90 nanometers across, down from the previous generation of 130 nanometer manufacturing technology. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=NAKAC4GV54IIMCRBAEOCFEY?type=technologyNews&storyID=5385913


The creative class needs superior tools to produce designs, music, high-definition video or the next scientific breakthrough. The new Power Mac G5 line spans as far as you require. Its dual 64-bit G5 processors — with speeds of up to 2.5GHz — room for up to 8GB of main memory, 8X SuperDrive and ultrahigh-bandwidth system architecture will give you more results than systems costing twice as much. Models start at $1999.

Supersonic Twin Engine Speed

Mac OS X really shines when it divvies up tasks between two CPUs, and now the Power Mac G5 offers dual processor models across the board at 1.8GHz, 2GHz and 2.5GHz, for a substantial speed boost at the top of the line. The 2.5GHz model packs so much power into tight quarters that Apple designed a liquid cooling system, resulting in a cool tower that runs Photoshop nearly two times faster than a Pentium 4-based system. In fact, for most creative endeavors, the Power Mac G5 simply has no competition in its class.
http://www.apple.com/powermac/

[TexasMexican]

1. AMD Opteron > Macs

[minkyboodle]

2. can't wait to see the benchmarks

wonder what old compiler Apple will dig up to run its Intel comparisons against.... ughh I know I'm gonna regret this post...

[Wonk]

3. How about the latest version of Photoshop doing 45 different filters?

or, how about genome sequencing matching, as an example of processor intensive scientific analysis?



(snip)

Your unfair advantages start with the PowerPC G5, the first 64-bit desktop processor, running at clock speeds of up to 2.5GHz. Combine that with a 1.25GHz frontside bus, an advanced system controller, ultrafast 400MHz 128-bit memory and industry-leading expansion, and you begin to understand why the Power Mac G5 is the kind of machine a PC wouldn't want to compete for a job against.

more...
http://www.apple.com/powermac/
http://www.apple.com/powermac/performance/

I think one of those dual 2.5GHzs with a new (rumored) 30" LCD would be SWEEEET... if I had 6 grand to throw at a new computer setup, that is. I'll probably have to wait a bit :-(

[Nomad559]

4. G5 audio problems

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20040608081920816

-Snip-
We continue to receive reports of audio problems under Mac OS X 10.3.4, particularly with PowerMac G5s.

MacFIxIt reader Christian writes "Since updating to 10.3.4 on my Dual 2GHz G5 when the volume is low the sound only comes out of the right speaker, when the volume is increased the balance levels out. In addition, no balance control shows up in the prefs pane and I get no sound at all in Unreal Tournament 2004.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Whereas we all know that

Windows computers never have any bugs or malfunctions, right?

[priller]

6. I was hoping they would be faster

They came out at 2.0 GHz a year ago. Disappointing that 2.5 is all IBM can muster.

Still, I have my dual 1.8 and I'm thrilled, so what am I griping about?