Page Retired 9/3/05 ... Current Page

Ask Johnny Appleseed - - Comparison Data Between A Dual G4/1 GHz Power Mac And Dual G5/2.0 GHz Power Mac

1/19/05

"I’m in the market for a new Mac and I’ve got a friend who is willing to sell me his old Dual G4 1Ghz Mac with 1G RAM for $800 (Canadian). Could you do a performance comparison between that machine and the Dual G5 2Ghz with 1 Gig RAM please?" ........ Alex

====================================================

Comparison data between

Dual G4/1 GHz Power Mac - M8689LL/A
Dual G5/2.0 GHz Power Mac - M9455LL/A

Major Technological Differences

Processor Speed ... Advantage 2.0 GHz
Cache Speed/Size/Type ... Advantage 2.0 GHz
Current Price Difference: $770 ... Advantage iMac
Bus Speed ... Advantage 2.0 GHz
Memory Amount/Maximum ... Advantage 2.0 GHz
Graphics Card ... Advantage 2.0 GHz
Expansion Options (PCI, Drive Bays etc.) ... Neutral
Hard Drive Size ... Advantage 2.0 GHz
SuperDrive Speed ... Advantage 2.0 GHz
Wireless Options ... Advantage 2.0 GHz
FireWire/USB Speed/Number ... Advantage 2.0 GHz
Audio Input/Output Options ... Advantage 2.0 GHz

For more details see the following:
http://www.macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/specs/powermac-cube/jan-03.shtml
http://www.macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/specs/powermac-cube/

Performance Differences

Processor General.......... G4/1GHz – 95 points .... G5/2GHz – 288 points ..... 203% Faster
Processor Multitasking .... G4/1GHz – 172 points .... G5/2GHz – 499 points ..... 190% Faster
Graphics (Card)............ G4/1GHz – 174 points ..... G5/2GHz – 965 points ..... 455% Faster
Graphics (Processor)....... G4/1GHz – 119 points ..... G5/2GHz – 278 points ..... 134% Faster
Graphics Gaming (Card)..... G4/1GHz – 20 FPS ....... G5/2GHz – 30 FPS ........ 50% Faster
Hard Drive Multi-Files..... G4/1GHz – 179.81 Seconds .... G5/2GHz – 128.64 Seconds .... 40% Faster
Hard Drive Large File ..... G4/1GHz – 94.61 Seconds .... G5/2GHz – 56.54 Seconds .... 67% Faster
CD-R Burn Speed ........... G4/1GHz – 112.09 Seconds .... G5/2GHz – 80.75 Seconds .... 39% Faster

About the tests:

Processor test, Graphics tests are based on CineBench 2003 which you can download and run on your own machine
http://www.maxon.net/pages/download/cinebench.html

Graphics Gaming Based on the Game 4X4 EVOLUTION 2
http://www.aspyr.com/games.php/mac/4x4/

Hard Drive Multi-Files – Duplicate 900 MB Folder of thousands of files

Hard Drive Large File – Duplicate Single 1.2 GB File

CD-R Burn Speed – 4 Music tracks burned onto CD

Additional Resources

Power Mac InfoZone
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/central/powermacs/gigahertz.shtml
Power Mac Performance
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hardware/machine/comparison/desktop/power_mac/index.shtml
Power Mac Performance vs Others
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hardware/machine/comparison/all/index.html
Power Mac Buyer's Guide
http://macreviewzone.com/html/reviews/guides/hardware/powermac.html
PowerBook Closeout Buyer's Guide
http://macreviewzone.com/html/reviews/guides/archive/refurb/03/powermacs.shtml
Apple's Power Mac Page
http://www.apple.com/powermac/
Power Mac Specs & Features
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/specs/powermac-cube

Also search at MacReviewZone/MacSpeedZone on the following part numbers M8689LL or M9455LL which should turn up additional information
http://macreviewzone.com
http://macspeedzone.

Ask Johnny your Macintosh Computer, Performance or Features question. Or request a full blown Comparison Guide between any two machines

Ask Johnny Appleseed - - Comparison Data Between A 20 Inch G5/1.8 GHz iMac And Dual G5/1.8 GHz Power Mac?

1/17/05

Hi, [What are the performance and feature differences] between the 20 Inch G5/1.8 GHz iMac and the Dual G5/1.8 GHz Power Mac?

====================================================

Comparison data between
20 Inch G5/1.8 GHz iMac - M9250LL/A
Dual G4/1.8 GHz Power Mac - M9454LL/A

Major Technological Differences

Processor Number ... Advantage PM
Current Price Difference: $100 ... Advantage iMac
Bus Speed ... Advantage PM
Memory Maximum ... Advantage PM
Video Output/Support Options ... Advantage PM
Expansion Options (PCI, Drive Bays etc.) ... Advantage PM
Hard Drive Size ... Advantage iMac
SuperDrive Speed ... Advantage PM
Faster Ethernet ... Advantage PM
FireWire Speed/Number ... Advantage PM
Screen Resolution ... Advantage PM
Built-in Display ... Advantage iMac
Weight ... Advantage iMac

For more details see the following:
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/specs/imac/imac.shtml
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/specs/powermac-cube/

Performance Differences

Processor General.......... iMac – 184 points .... Power Mac – 197 points ..... 7% Faster
Processor Multitasking .... iMac – 184 points .... Power Mac – 352 points ..... 91% Faster
Graphics (Card)............ iMac – 640 points ..... Power Mac – 942 points ..... 47% Faster
Graphics (Processor)....... iMac – 220 points ..... Power Mac – 242 points ..... 10% Faster
Graphics Gaming (Card)..... iMac – 20 FPS ....... Power Mac – 30 FPS ........ 50% Faster
Hard Drive Multi-Files..... iMac – 147.91 Seconds .... Power Mac – 134.85 Seconds .... 10% Faster
Hard Drive Large File ..... iMac – 77.81 Seconds .... Power Mac – 58.57 Seconds .... 33% Faster
CD-R Burn Speed ........... iMac – 109.63 Seconds .... Power Mac – 79.81 Seconds .... 37% Faster

About the tests:

Processor test, Graphics tests are based on CineBench 2003 which you can download and run on your own machine
http://www.maxon.net/pages/download/cinebench.htm
l
Graphics Gaming Based on the Game 4X4 EVOLUTION 2
http://www.aspyr.com/games.php/mac/4x4/

Hard Drive Multi-Files – Duplicate 900 MB Folder of thousands of files

Hard Drive Large File – Duplicate Single 1.2 GB File

CD-R Burn Speed – 4 Music tracks burned onto CD

Additional Resources

Power Mac InfoZone
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/central/powermacs/gigahertz.shtml
Power Mac Performance
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hardware/machine/comparison/desktop/power_mac/index.shtml
Power Mac Performance vs Others
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hardware/machine/comparison/all/index.html
Power Mac Buyer's Guide
http://macreviewzone.com/html/reviews/guides/hardware/powermac.html
PowerBook Closeout Buyer's Guide
http://macreviewzone.com/html/reviews/guides/archive/refurb/03/powermacs.shtml
Apple's Power Mac Page
http://www.apple.com/powermac/
Power Mac Specs & Features
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/specs/powermac-cube/

iMac InfoZone
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/central/imacs/iMac.shtml
iMac Performance
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hardware/machine/comparison/desktop/imac/index.shtml
iMac Performance vs Others
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hardware/machine/comparison/all/index.html
iMac Buyer's Guide
http://macreviewzone.com/html/reviews/guides/hardware/imac.html
iMac Closeout Buyer's Guide
http://macreviewzone.com/html/reviews/guides/archive/refurb/03/imac.shtml
Apple's iMac Page
http://www.apple.com/imac/
iMac Specs & Features
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/specs/imac/imac.shtml

Also search at MacReviewZone/MacSpeedZone on the following part numbers M9250LL or M9454LL which should turn up additional information
http://macreviewzone.com
http://macspeedzone.com

Ask Johnny your Macintosh Computer, Performance or Features question. Or request a full blown Comparison Guide between any two machines

Comparison data between 14 Inch iBook G4/1.2 GHz and 14 Inch iBook G4/1.33 GHz

12/7/04

I'm sure you've gotten a bunch of requests for this comparison
already, but I thought I would drop you a line and throw my bid in. I
bought an early 2004 model about 2 weeks ago and logged onto the apple
website yesterday to find (to my horror) a new 1.33 Gz model
available. Please let me know if this is something you're working
on/can work on. Thank You!

=====================================================================
Comparison data between 14 Inch iBook G4/1.2 GHz and 14 Inch iBook G4/1.33 GHz

Major Technological Differences

Processor Speed
Current Price Difference: $50

Performance Differences

Processor General.......... 1.2 GHz – 108 points .......... 1.33 GHz – 120 points ..... 11% Faster
Processor Multitasking ....1.2 GHz – 294.81 Seconds ..1.33 GHz – 274 Seconds ...8% Faster
Graphics (Card)................1.2 GHz – 306 points ..... .....1.33 GHz – 326 points ...... 7% Faster
Graphics (Processor)........1.2 GHz – 127 points .......... 1.33 GHz – 138 points ...... 9% Faster
Graphics Gaming (Card)...1.2 GHz – 10.8 FPS ............ 1.33 GHz – 14.5 FPS .........34% Faster
Hard Drive Multi-Files....... 1.2 GHz – 204.77 Seconds ..1.33 GHz – 212 Seconds ....4% Slower
Hard Drive Large File ...... 1.2 GHz – 126.89 Seconds ..1.33 GHz – 157.07 Seconds..24% Slower
CD-R Burn Speed ........... 1.2 GHz – 127.01 Seconds ..1.33 GHz – 103.75 Seconds ..23% Faster

About the tests:

Processor test, Graphics tests are based on CineBench 2003 which you can download and run on your own machine
http://www.maxon.net/pages/download/cinebench.html

Graphics Gaming
Based on the Game 4X4 EVOLUTION 2
http://www.aspyr.com/games.php/mac/4x4/

Hard Drive Multi-Files – 900 MB Folder of thousands of files

Hard Drive Large File – Single 1.2 GB File

CD-R Burn Speed – 4 Music tracks burned onto CD

Additional Resources
iBook Info Zone
http://www.macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/central/ibooks/ibook.shtml
iBook Performance
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hardware/machine/comparison/portable/powerbook/index.shtml
iBook Performance vs Others
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hardware/machine/comparison/all/index.html
iBook Buyer's Guide
http://macreviewzone.com/html/reviews/guides/hardware/ibook.html
iBook Closeout Buyer's Guide
http://macreviewzone.com/html/reviews/guides/archive/refurb/03/ibook.shtml
Apple's iBook Web Pages
http://www.apple.com/ibook/
iBook Specs & Features
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hubs/specs/ibook/ibook.shtml
Apple's Online Store
http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-691165-10480544

Also search at MacReviewZone/MacSpeedZone on the following part numbers M9419LL or M9627LL which should turn up additional information
http://macreviewzone.com
http://macspeedzone.com

Ask Johnny Appleseed - - How Fast Are The New Towers Running Photoshop?

9/28/04

Q: I can not seem to find any speed tests ( mostly looking for Photoshop performance) between the g4 450 dual to a newer 1.8 dual or 2.0 dual.Trying to justify buying another new machine.

A: Any data we would have on the Dual 450 would be pretty out of date for the scores you are interested in. However I can give you scores for the Dual G5/2.0 and Dual G5/1.8 for a Photoshop test you can run easily on your machine

You will need to download the BareFeats Photoshop action file from our web site, drop it on the Photoshop icon and then run the script from your action pallet. ... Using a stop watch to keep track of the time.

The timed score for the Dual 1.8 GHz machine when running the BareFeats test was 27.64 seconds .... For the Dual 2.0 GHz it was 25.04 seconds Our estimate is that the G5s will be two to three times faster than the Dual G4/450 in processor intensive Photoshop work (probably closer to two times faster in the BareFeats test).

One thing to keep in mind is that many parts of Photoshop are not yet able to take full advantage of high-powered dual processors. For example, in our BareFeats test of the Dual G5/1,8, only 50% of the processing power of the machine was being used at any one time. That means that 50% was sitting there with nothing to do.

To fully utilize the current crop of Dual processor Towers, you need a strategy for saturating the processors with data to crunch. In many cases this means running several intensive processes at once.

Additional resources

Power Mac InfoZone
Power Mac Performance
Power Mac Buyer's Guide
Apple's Power Mac Page

See Also

MacComparisonZone: 17 Inch G4/1.5 GHz PowerBook vs Dual G5/1.8 GHz Power Mac vs Dual G5/2.0 GHz Power Mac
Power Mac Closeout DealZone

Think Johnny's advice is fresh squeezed ... or sour cider? - Shout out here.

Ask Johnny your Macintosh Computer, Performance or Features question. Or request a full blown Comparison Guide between any two machines

Q: Just a quick question as your recommendation for someone ‘joining the dark side’ or coming into the light – either way you want to see it, Im interested in buying a Mac laptop.

I do a lot of recording of music, but want something small and portable – the 12” iBooks look quite nice. Are they suitable for this? You don’t list audio-in port in your site. I live in Japan right now, so any information you can provide in English would be helpful. Just like any other country, the salespeople at denki stores don’t seem to really know whats going on, they just reread the pamphlet to you.

Thanks,
Robert

A:

Hi Robert,

The iBooks do not have an audio input port. However you can record audio into them by using the USB port or FireWire port, and third party products (see links below)

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerwave/
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/usbaudio_hub/
http://www.macmusic.org/home/?lang=EN
http://macmidimusic.com/level.itml/icOid/57
http://www.macmusic.org/agora/forums/?act=ST&f=6&t=14801&lang=EN&

To give you an idea of performance comparisons of the 12” G4/1.0 GHz iBook, to a 12” G4/1.33 GHz PowerBook (the slowest model that Apple sells ... Which is your other option for ultra portability)

The PowerBook would be about 22% faster in raw processing power, 28% faster in hard drive performance, 68% faster in graphics rendering, and about the same in burning CDs. The PowerBook also has an Audio line in port.

As to whether the iBook will be fast enough for your needs, it probably depends on how much the type of Audio work you are doing, taxes the System resources. I suggest that you check out the MacMusic site, and the forums there, where you will probably find people doing the same type of work you are planning to do.

Additional Resources:

iBook InfoZone
iBook Performance
All Macintosh Performance
iBook Reviews
iBook Buyer's Guide
iBook Closeout Buyers Guide s
iBook Discussion Forum
Apple's iBook Page

PowerBook InfoZone
PowerBook Performance
PowerBook Buyer's Guides
Closeout PowerBook Buyer's Guide
Apple's PowerBook Page

Also search MacReviewZone & MacSpeedZone on the following part numbers M9426LL or M9183LL or M9184LL or M9422LL for more information relating to these machines

Think Johnny's advice is fresh squeezed ... or sour cider? - Shout out here.

Ask Johnny your Macintosh Computer, Performance or Features question. Or request a full blown Comparison Guide between any two machines.

9/16/04

Q: I am currently applying for funding to upgrade my mac kit and need to show in my business plan how much better a G5 Dual 2.5GHz desktop would be compared to my current setup, a G4 Titanium Powerbook 15" 867MHz. It doesn't have to be exact, but I'd like to compare the speeds for general OS usage, Photoshop (2D) and Cinema4D (3D) and present it in a simple percentage comparison which can then be translated into how much extra work I could do and therefore how much extra cash I could earn :) I really don't know how to go about this as I obviously don't have a dual 2.5GHz yet, so any help or advice you could give me would be most gratefully received!!

Thank you
Sav

A: Hi Sav - We haven’t had a chance to performance test the Dual G5/2.5GHz Power Mac yet. We hope to in the next 3 weeks or so. However I can give you a fairly close idea of what some aspects of its performance would be in comparison to the PowerBook G4/867 ... using data we have from other G5 machines.

AltiVec Fractal
In an application highly tuned to take full advantage of the processor(s), we estimate that the Power Mac would turn in 5.26 times the performance of the PowerBook

[This test is based on the AltiVec Fractal Demo which you can download and run on your own machine (set to a count of 65536 - estimated score of Dual 2.5GHz 11.59 seconds) ... http://www.daugerresearch.com/fractaldemos/altivecfractalcarbon.html]

Photoshop Workflow
We estimate that the Power Mac would turn in 2.82 times the performance of the PowerBook

[This test is based on the BareFeats Photoshop Action Script which you can download and run on your own machine if you have Photoshop - estimated score of Dual 2.5GHz 20.66 seconds ... http://macreviewzone.com/html/private/misc/barefeats.atn]

MultiTask Performance
We estimate that the Power Mac would turn in 3.99 times the performance of the PowerBook

CineBench 2003 Peformance - Based on CINEMA 4D (http://www.cinebench.com/)
1 CPU Performance: Estimated Performance Of Power Mac: 324 points
2 CPU Performance: Estimated Performance Of Power Mac: 561 points

The following scores are for the Dual G5/2.0GHz Power Mac (we do not feel confident enough to provide estimated numbers for the 2.5GHz Power Mac, for these tests)

4D Test: 278 points
GL SW Test: 715 points
GL HW Test: 965 points

Unfortunately we do not have CineBench 2003 scores for the PowerBook G4/867. However you can download the program from Maxon’s site to see how it would perform on your machine (see link above).

Note on all estimated scores, we discounted the higher speed machine by 10%. We do this to err on the side of conservatism. So it is a possibility that the Dual G5/2.5GHz Power Mac may perform slightly better than its estimated scores above indicate.

Additional resources
Power Mac InfoZone
Power Mac Performance
Tower Performance Compared To Others
Power Mac Buyer's Guide
Power Mac Closeout/Refurbished Buyer's Guide
Tower Specifications and Reviews Page
PowerMac Discussion Forum
Apple's Power Mac Page

PowerBook InfoZone
PowerBook Performance
Tower Performance Compared To Others
PowerBook Buyer's Guide
Closeout - Refurbished PowerBooks
PowerBook Specifications and Reviews Page
PowerBook Discussion Forum
Apple's PowerBook Page

Q - I would love to see a performance comparison of the Dual 1.8Gz powermac vs. the new 1.8Gz imac. I can't decide wich of the two to buy. I do some photoshop and final cut work (all for fun), and want a machine that will run fast, yet I don't want to pay more than I have to. Plus that new imac just looks so cool. Any help you could offer would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Devin

A - Hi Devin ... We haven’t had a chance to check out the new iMacs yet (sometime toward the end of the month or beginning of next). However I can give you a rough idea of what the performance difference would be between these two Macs, using our results for the single processor G5/1.8GHz Power Mac as a stand-in for the iMac G5/1.8GHz.

In iMovie rendering, the Dual processor machine was 35% Faster ... Than the G5 iMac Stand-in
In Photoshop rendering, the Dual processor machine was 69% Faster ... Than the G5 iMac Stand-in
In Multi-Task rendering, the Dual processor machine was 88% Faster ... Than the G5 iMac Stand-in

Also note that the system bus speed of the Dual processor Power Mac is 900MHz (or half the processor speed), whereas the bus speed on the iMac is 600MHz, (one third of the processor speed). The single processor 1.8GHz Power Mac also has a 900MHz bus speed. This difference in bus speed may make a modest impact on the performance numbers above (making the performance gap between the iMac and dual Power Mac greater). However we will have to actually test the new iMac before we can provide a definitive answer to that. We will also be able to provide you with more performance information, including hard drive and graphics performance comparisons, at that time.

The real advantage of the Power Mac is that it provides you with more flexibility if you are in a production type environment. If you are not in a production type environment, aren’t running processor hungry applications on a consistent basis, or are not in a place where running high-powered games is something you spend most of your time doing ... You are probably better off with one of Apple’s consumer models, such as the iMac.

[Would your advice be different than Johnny's? Shout out in the Appleseed Forum]

Additional resources
Power Mac InfoZone
Power Mac Performance
Tower Performance Compared To Others
Power Mac Buyer's Guide
Power Mac Closeout/Refurbished Buyer's Guide
Tower Specifications and Reviews Page
PowerMac Discussion Forum
Apple's Power Mac Page

Additional Resources:
iMac InfoZone
iMac Performance
iMac Performance vs Other Models
iMac Buyer's Guide
iMac Closeout/Refurbished Buyer's Guide
iMac Specs & Features
iMac Discussion Forum
Apple's iMac Page

Johnny ...

Ask Johnny your Macintosh Computer, Performance or Features question. Or request a full blown Comparison Guide between any two machines