Review: Power Mac G5 Quad
- Article 1 of 9
- Computer Arts, December 2005
Apple's first Mac to feature four CPUs smashes all speed records
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Other minor improvements include a better aerial position for wireless technologies such as AirPort and Bluetooth, support for Bluetooth 2.0 and Apple's Mighty Mouse. You'll probably find yourself switching to another multi-button mouse or turning off all but the main button after a few days, but the mini-trackball is a worthwhile addition.
Bold claims
Speed is of utmost importance here, and with a base price of £l2,300 and a top price of £12,900 (a couple of Apple 30-inch Cinema HD displays will add a further £3,600), we were expecting the Quad to provide some seriously speedy kit.
We weren't disappointed. Our first test? Video encoding using the relatively unoptimised open-source 'mencoder' application. On a 700MHz G4, it takes a good hour and a half to encode a 45-minute video. On the Quad, it took just ten minutes. If you're still using a G4, the Quad is a massive step up in speed.
If you already own a dual G5, the Quad is still a huge speed improvement. With Final Cut Pro 5, while we couldn't quite get the 60 per cent speed improvement on SD video encoding that Apple promises over the dual G5, we were able to get an impressive 50 per cent improvement out of the Quad. Similar claims about Adobe After Effects rendering (up 69 per cent) and LightWave 3D animation (up 59 per cent) were again only mild exaggerations.
Photoshop CS2 enjoyed great leaps in speed. Most filters completed in just a few seconds, making it hard for us to test Apple's claim of "45 common filters and actions" being "43 per cent faster" without employing ridiculous file sizes. Even converting a 100x80cm 300dpi image from RGB to CMYK took just 11 seconds. It was only when we chose to 'Crystallize' virtually the whole image that we brought the Quad to its knees: end-to-end, the whole filter took a little over three minutes to run. Nevertheless, that was one of the longest results we came across.
The Quad G5 is an incredibly fast machine and, while it may be tempting to hold off until the end of 2006 for Apple's first Intel-based Power Macs, the G5 is still an extraordinarily powerful chip. Four G5s are even more powerful, so if you need a new machine, need the power and you have the money, you won't go wrong with a Quad.
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