Dual 2GHz Power Mac G5

Apple’s launch of the new G5 Power Macintosh ushers in a new era of supercomputing, putting raw power in the hands of everyday users and promising to significantly boost the performance of Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and 3D packages.

However, just for a moment, try to forget that this is probably the world’s fastest desktop computer. Attempt to turn a blind eye to the fact that the G5 contains the first 64-bit chip to harness Apple’s solid UNIX-based operating system, because, no matter what you’re expecting, nothing can possibly prepare you for the beauty of this machine.

Wrought from a single piece of thick aluminium plate, the G5 is built to an incredibly high standard. The attention to detail, both inside and out, is breathtaking. Cables are hidden and components slot in place without so much as a screw or a bolt. The interior is cooled by nine computer-controlled fans that tick over very slowly, providing superbly quiet operation that enables you to get on with designing without that constant thrub of fans and motors.

By employing a new 64-bit chip from IBM and giving each of the two processors a full 1GHz of frontside bus, Apple has made the G5 run applications like Photoshop at a real lick… and then some. Everything is snappier, even when using OS X 10.2.6. However, load up with Panther and the G5 flies like no other Mac. It’s not just a little bit faster; it’s way faster. The G5 positively rips its way through Photoshop filters and leaves the old G4 eating dust.

Just about everything you could want is included. The G5’s 64-bit architecture means you can install up to 8GB of RAM, which makes it ideal for complex 3D rendering. Apple has adopted many new standards such as the fast serial ATA hard drive interface. Adding a second drive is easy; you don’t even need a screwdriver. When it comes to graphics, there’s ATI’s new Radeon 9800 Pro card with both Dvi and ADV outputs. The fact that Apple has finally reached 8x AGP opens up the possibility of fitting even more advanced graphics cards in the future. Other extras include FireWire 800 ports for digital video, built-in Bluetooth and high-speed wireless. USB 2.0 ports are also standard.

It’s fair to say that with the G5 Apple has leapfrogged the competition. The new G5 processor will carry on increasing in speed – by the middle of next year we could see a 3GHz chip, and there are plans to take the speeds even higher.

ON TEST

We ran a battery of tests on the Power Macintosh Dual 2GHz G5, all of which show that the two processors can beat the next G5 model down into a veritable pulp. Remember that the current version of Photoshop is not optimised for the G5 chip and neither is the operating system. Even Panther (the next OS from Apple) isn’t 64-bit. However, as software catches up with the technology, we should see serious speed gains and the full power of the G5 being harnessed. It’s likely that an optimised version of Photoshop and a 64-bit OS will be developed in the future, and that this will provide as effective an upgrade path as any potential hardware upgrades. When you consider that the G5 is such a solidly built computer, it looks like being a very good long-term investment that will speed up your workflow and reduce those tiresome Photoshop progress bars.