We obtained an Apple Power Mac G4 (AU$6,995) outfitted as Apple's top-of-the-line system: two 500-MHz PowerPC G4 processors, 256MB of memory, a 40GB hard drive, a 16MB ATI Rage Pro 128 graphics card, a DVD-RAM drive, a 56K/V.90 modem, and a 10/100/1,000 Base-T Ethernet port.
The dual-processor Apple Power Mac G4 is an obvious extension of the company's Power Mac line. The case is the same contoured, translucent one with which you're familiar. Its easy-open side panel is still the best in the industry. Just pull a latch and the side drops down with the motherboard attached to that side. In this position, access to memory, the CPUs, and the cables is a cinch. The supplied hard drive and DVD drive, however, are locked in place with inaccessible screws. Adding swing-out or slide-out drives would make this case the ease-of-use model for all personal computers.
A couple of industry-leading additions to the Power Mac are the standard 10/100/1,000 Ethernet port and the DVD-RAM drive. The gigabit Ethernet port is great for companies that have the infrastructure in place or are moving to it soon. With a speed ten times faster than 100 megabits, you could move large files over the network with ease. The DVD-RAM drive combines the advantages of DVD with the ability to write to DVD-RAM disks. It can read both sides of the new 9.4GB DVD-RAM disks (4.7GB on each side). When writing to a DVD-RAM disk, however, you get the full capacity; the device can write to both sides of the disk.
Two annoyances that Mac users have complained about -- the small function keys on the keyboard and the little, round mouse -- have been rectified. In addition to full-size function keys, the new Apple Pro keyboard also has audio controls and a Media Eject key for making the DVD-RAM drive eject its disk. As in the past, the keyboard offers a USB port on both the left and right sides for attaching the mouse but still leaves an easily accessible port free. Noticeably gone from the keyboard is the power switch, which has now migrated to the monitor and can either shut the system off or put it to sleep.
The new, transparent gray Apple Pro mouse is now larger and oblong, with a better ergonomic feel. Now standard on all Apple's desktop lines, the mouse also employs optical technology. In our testing, the mouse tracked true and felt very responsive. If you currently own a Mac and find the mouse and keyboard a bit disconcerting, don't fret. In early 2001, Apple will offer the full-size keyboard to owners of USB-equipped Macs. (The keyboard requires OS 9 or later.)The Apple Pro Mouse Kit is available for AU$99.
Our Power Mac came with a Maxtor 40GB Ultra ATA/66 7,200-rpm hard drive. Though the drive is not a bad choice, you may want to consider one of the optional drives Apple offers if you're a serious workstation user. Apple also offers 36GB(AU$1,155) and 72GB(AU$2,833) Ultra 160 10,000-rpm SCSI drives.
Another core technology in which the Power Mac is lagging is its handling of memory and front-side and back-side bus speeds. The front-side bus, also called system bus, is the connection between the CPU and the main memory. On the dual-processor Power Mac, this bus uses 100-MHz of SDRAM. Top-performing PCs are currently using 133-MHz of SDRAM and recently released DDR memory with an effective throughput equal to 266 MHz of memory. Arguably, at 400 MHz, Rambus memory is faster, but its advantage is seen only with streaming memory applications such as audio and video stream processing and in manipulating large graphics files.
The Power Mac's back-side bus -- the connection between the CPU and L2 cache -- is set to half the CPU's speed, or 250 MHz. The unit's chip set is capable of handling a full-speed L2 cache, even though the cache is off the chip, but Apple has decided against implementing it. The full-speed cache would be more expensive, but in a system aimed at the workstation market, performance should not be overlooked. In a dual-processor design, a more efficient way of handling memory would be the use of a dual-bus design. A dual bus would effectively double the throughput rate of the memory, though contention for shared memory regions would still need to be handled. The Power Mac's memory bus remains a single-bus design. For a company noted for its graphics reputation, Apple clearly has dropped the ball with its graphics engine. The ATI Rage Pro 128 card in a 2X AGP slot is just not up to the level of PC workstations.
Faster graphics cards that have much higher fill rates and that do transform and lighting on the graphics card are currently available for PCs most notably the nVidia GeForce2. The Power Mac's 2X AGP transfers data at a maximum rate of 528 MBps. With currently available 4X AGP cards (for PCs only), Apple could double that rate to 1 GBps. As fast as that is, you can obtain much faster performance by moving as much of your graphics image data into the card's local frame buffer. This explains why 16MB of graphics memory is not enough. Having 32MB (or even 64MB) of local frame buffer gives you the opportunity for maximum performance; currently, you can't get that here.
The upside for Mac users is that, by mid October, the new ATI Radeon card for the Power Mac should be shipping. Though the card is still 2X AGP, it offers 32MB of double-data rate (DDR) memory; integrated transform, clipping, and lighting; OpenGL; QuickDraw 3D; and QuickTime support -- all of which should help bridge the gap.
Apple sent the dual-processor Power Mac with its stunning Apple Cinema Display. The 22-inch digital flat panel has the same translucent design as the Power Mac's case and produces a superb picture in a wide format (16:9 aspect ratio). Add to that its two-port self-powered USB hub and the display becomes another easy-to-use accessory for hooking up USB peripherals. Although a very expensive option at AU$7,995, the wonderfully crisp screen is easy to look at, with its large 1,600 x 1,280 native resolution.
Apple Power Mac G4 Dual 500MHz PowerPC
Company: Apple
Ph: 133 622; Fax: 02 9641 8160
Price: AU$6,995.
Rating: 4 Star
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