Power Mac G5 1.8GHz review

Apple's announcement of a single processor 1.8GHz Power Mac in October was something of a surprise.

After all, it had long been established that its professional line-up consisted of three machines: a slightly crippled, but reasonably priced low-end Mac, a mid-range, powerful but good value machine, and an all-singing powerhouse that burned through every task thrown at it, but had a price to match.

So what was this interloper doing arriving late on the scene? Did Apple come to the conclusion that having a starting price of £1449 for its professional range was hurting sales? Did it anticipate sluggish demand for the new iMac and need some insurance, or, on the flipside, perhaps it needed a machine to distract potential iMac customers while it brought production up to speed?

Whatever the reason, the Power Mac 1.8GHz single processor shipped just in time to be thrown into the Christmas shopping melting pot and we took a look at one of the first units to arrive in the UK.

The 1.8GHz single processor has the potential to suit two types of customer: those who want a Power Mac but for whom £1449 is a bit steep, and those who were thinking about an iMac but who'd like more expandibility than the all-in-one can offer. It scores on both counts - it's £400 cheaper than the next cheapest Power Mac and has the PCI slots and extra drive bays that are missing on the iMac.

However, a closer inspection and a session on the MacUser test bench reveal it to be not quite so attractive. An examination of the specifications reveal that unlike the rest of the Power Mac range, which has a frontside bus running at half the speed of the processor, this machine's bus runs at one-third the speed of the processor. This is important because it determines the speed of throughput of data to and from the processor, which is often a bottleneck in performance.

The rest of the specification list closely resembles the 1.8GHz iMac G5; a miserly 256MB RAM, 80GB hard drive, 8x SuperDrive, and 64MB Nvidia GeForce 5200 Ultra graphics card. Of course the iMac also comes with a high-quality LCD screen, and in the case of the 17in model, costs £50 less than the Power Mac. Suddenly it's not looking so attractive.

However, there are some subtle, but potentially important differences. The Power Mac has a RAM ceiling of 4GB, twice that of the iMac. It has gigabit Ethernet rather than 10/100 Base-T, FireWire 800, digital audio, and, of course, three PCI slots. The FireWire 800 port, in particular, is important as it will allow you to connect to one of the many FireWire 800 drives on the market. These drives offer a significant performance increase over their FireWire 400 equivalents. If you need these features, or are the kind of user who likes to tinker, the Power Mac may be the more attractive option.

Test results also favour the Power Mac, albeit only marginally. In our suite of benchmark and real world tests using Photoshop, Cinema 4D, and Filemaker Pro, the 1.8GHz Power Mac showed itself to be around 10% faster than the equivalent iMac. On paper this looks good, however in day to day use it's a difference you're unlikely to notice. In fact the speeds are close enough to rule out performance as a differentiator in your decision about whether to buy a Power Mac or iMac.

We can see the merit in a £1000 Power Mac, and despite the fact that it's significantly slower than the rest of the range, it's still a powerful Mac, capable of carrying out all but the most demanding tasks with ease. If you like the look of the iMac G5 and need a new display, there's little here to tempt you away. However, if you have a limited budget and want the flexibility offered by a Power Mac, or if you have a display you're happy with, then this 1.8GHz G5 could be exactly what you're looking for. Just make sure you budget for extra RAM.