PowerMac G5 2.5GHz

The new Apple G5 2.5GHz is quick. Forget the figures, benchmarks, test results, claims and counterclaims – just try it out in a real-world environment and you’ll find that the system response is so lightning fast that you’ll get work done in less time than you ever thought possible.

Six months ago, a dual 1.8GHz G5 felt pretty nippy. But time marches on and that machine was blitzed by the new G5 in every video, imaging and 3D test we carried out. No surprises there. After all, it’s officially 1.4GHz faster, but in reality it feels nearly twice as fast.

3D animation renders, which would have been impossibly slow on an iMac, and overnighters on an early G5, were finished in a couple of hours on the new model. For apps such as Photoshop, speed isn’t an issue; everything you do happens in moments, and most of it happens instantly. 3D, as always, takes time, but considerably less time. Apps that support real-time previews, or RAM previews, such as Photoshop and Final Cut Pro, soar on the G5.

One disappointment is Apple’s Motion, which, despite claims of PowerMac G5 2.5GH z real-time previews, lagged when we applied more than one or two effects at once. Generally, however, you can expect everything to move faster than the figures would suggest, and faster than you’ve experienced before.

A machine with this much power is bound to create a lot of heat, and Apple has turned to water-cooling to keep the processor chilled. Although this system works efficiently enough, no matter how many fans, watercooling systems or airflow zones you put into a computer, the heat can only ever be moved from the box into the room. This G5 produces so much heat, you’ll certainly notice temperatures rising in your immediate work environment.

Following an overnight render of a complex 3D animation in Vue 4.0 Professional, the processor was working fine, and there were no issues with the computer itself, but a cold room had been turned into a sauna. This might not be an issue if you’re only running one computer, but if you’re setting up a render farm, or working in a hot climate, you’ll need good air-conditioning.

Mac users have come to expect rock-solid stability from OS X, and the G5’s apps perform happily under pressure. It’s quite plausible to render out from two 3D applications, while working in a third and running iTunes, Mail and Safari with no hint of instability in the system.

If you want to use the new 30-inch screen, you’ll need to cough up an extra £449 for the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics card. It’s worth the money, though, as you’ll also get state-of-the-art graphics processing with 256MB of the world’s fastest DDR memory. The downside? Due to the sheer bulk of this card, you lose access to one of your PCI slots.

If you do have a bit of spare cash and want to expand your G5, it’s easy to access the various slots. Flip open the side and you fi nd the legendary clean interior, with more air than machine. There’s not a stray wire in sight, and loading PCI cards, extra RAM or even hard drives is simplicity itself. With up to 500GB of internal ATA hard drive storage, even video professionals can get away without using an external drive.

A minimum system plus a 20- inch flat panel display will set you back £3,198, but a fully bumped-up model with all the RAM, the best graphics card and a 30-inch screen will cost around £8,500. Given that many users will also need a second screen, the price can easily get out of hand. If RAM were cheaper, the machine would be more appealing.

OS X software is no longer diffi cult to fi nd, with all the major third-party applications optimised for the G5 dual processor. All Macs come with a host of software including iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, Mail, Safari, AppleWorks and more, so that if you’ve no cash left, you’ll still be able to use your machine.

The 8x SuperDrive is bundled, and burning DVDs and CDs is effortless. USB, FireWire and headphone jacks are available at the front, but all the other connectors are hidden at the back. There you’ll fi nd Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 400 and 800, USB 2.0 and optical digital and analog audio. It’s also worth noting that you can reduce desktop wiring issues by using the USB ports in the back of the screen to connect your keyboard.

The G5 isn’t over-large, but looks unremarkable. There are many converts to the G5’s style, but this may be more to do with Apple hype rather than a genuine fondness for its appearance. It’s a grey box with mesh holes, and not a patch on the design of the G4. But you shouldn’t spend this sort of money for the sake of looks. If you want the fastest, most elegant desktop supercomputer, with a stunning OS, forget the looks and enjoy the power.

If money’s no object, there’s no better machine – and, given the time it’ll save you, it will quickly pay for itself in a pro environment. For video editing, post-production, visual effects and 3D, you couldn’t ask for a better place to work.