iMac G5 1.9, 2.1 GHz technical specs

[Eidorian]

Same speeds.

My Radeon 9600 Pro has a 400 MHz Core and a 600 MHz RAM clock. And 4 pipes.

Thank you very much.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Same speeds.

My Radeon 9600 Pro has a 400 MHz Core and a 600 MHz RAM clock. And 4 pipes.

However the specs on the Rev B iMac G5 seem to be Radeon 9600 (not-Pro not-XT) - if that's true the core may be 325 MHz. When looking at the memory speed, because they use DDR VRAM which is double-pumped, a 300 MHz clock = 600 MHz effective memory speed.

(Freaking Apple has done what they always do, mis-link the previous model spec link to the new model's spec page, bah.)

EveryMac.com says 9600 plain in the rev B 1Mac G5

(The Apple motherboard implementation won't necessarily have the same VRAM and options as the ATI cards.)
A list of the PC ATI cards and clock speed comparisons
http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.asp?p=347270&seqNum=3&rl=1
which suggests the X600 Pro is 500 Mhz core and 750 MHz memory (375 clock)

Haven't pinned down just what Apple is using though.

 

[FFTT]

I haven't found any particular link to the
X600 or X600XT " Mac Edition" at ATI
but did find the specs in general.

Specifications

Radeon X600 Technology Specifications
World’s first PCI Express®Graphics Chip
Native x16 lane PCI Express
Double the bandwidth of AGP 8X
Increased memory bandwidth to 12 Gigabytes/sec.
Four extreme parallel 3D rendering pixel pipelines
Two programmable vertex shader pipelines
128-bit memory interface supporting 128MB or 256MB DDR1 memory configurations
Full DirectX® 9 support
SmartShader™ 2.0
SmartShader™ defines the level of realism in latest 2D/3D games and applications
Complete hardware-accelerated Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 programmable vertex and pixel shader support
Full hardware support for OpenGL® 2.0
SmoothVision™ 2.1
SmoothVision™ improves image quality by smoothing jagged edges, improving blurriness and refining background details during on-screen motion and at lower resolutions.
SmoothVision™ settings are user configurable in ATI Catalyst® Control Panel:
2x/4x/6x Anti-Aliasing modes
Sparse multi-sample algorithm with gamma correction, programmable sample patterns, and centroid sampling
Lossless Color Compression (up to6:1)at all resolutions
Temporal Anti-Aliasing
2x/4x/8x/16x Anisotropic Filtering modes
Up to 128-tap texture filtering
Adaptive algorithm with bilinear (performance) and trilinear (quality) options
HYPER Z™ III
HyperZ™ ensures optimal hardware performance by discarding irrelevant object data that is not visible to end-user on their display.
Leverages key features from ATI’s third generation HyperZ™ III technology that conserves video memory bandwidth for improved performance in demanding 2D/3D games and applications.
Lossless Z-Buffer Compression (up to 48:1)
Fast Z-Buffer Clear
Z Cache optimized for real-time shadow rendering
VideoShader™
Seamless integration of pixel shaders with video in real time
FullStream™ video de-blocking technology for Real, DivX, and WMV9 formats
VideoSoap™ noise removal filtering for captured video
MPEG1/2/4 decode and encode acceleration
DXVA Support
Hardware Motion Compensation, iDCT, DCT and color space conversion
All-format DTV/HDTV decoding
YPrPb component output for direct drive of HDTV displays†
Adaptive Per-Pixel De-Interlacing and Frame Rate Conversion (temporal filtering)
Additional Features
Dual integrated display controllers
Dual integrated 10 bit per channel 400 MHz DACs
Integrated 165 MHz TMDS transmitter (DVI 1.0 compliant / HDMI interoperable and HDCP ready)
Integrated TV Output support up to 1024x768 resolution
Windows® Logo Program compliant
ATI Catalyst® Software Suite
2D DISPLAY MODES
Resolutions, colors and maximum refresh rates (Hz) in 256, 65K or 16.7M colors

 

[CanadaRAM]

This seems like the right thread to post this question:
The new 17" iMac G5 has a 250 cd/m brightness and 500:1 contrast ratio but does anyone have any knowledge on what the response time is on the 17". I know the 20" has better contrast and brightness...so it might also have a better response time? Some high end LCD's have 4ms-8ms response times. Average LCD's have around 20ms-25ms.
Thanks for any answers.

The big problem is that there is no standard way of measuring the response time, (black to white, gray to gray) so the manufacturers can basically come up with the figure they want by choosing the method of measuring . http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,121906,00.asp

You have to figure though, with a machine Apple is pushing directly into the personal video market, the screen has to be fast enough for smooth video playback.

 

[Grey Beard]

Thank you Trevor for a very informative post. It has reinforced my decision to run with the 20" when they hit NZ at the end of the month.
Grey Beard

 

[edesignuk]

So long as everyone is in a frenzy over the new systems, I've made this sticky. Very informative post CanadaRAM, thank you.

 

[Sun Baked]

Bluetooth and WiFi "g" are built in as expected. Sensibly, the telephone modem has been deleted and is available as a USB option.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

Any word on whether Apple ditched all three modules and stuck the chips on the main logic board?

We know that was coming at some point, hopefully this is it.

 

[vouder17]

Ok i know that it says that the new iMac can only be upgraded to 2.5GB RAM, so this means that these new iMac have only one slot that can be upgraded..that is sad. Just imagine putting 4GB in your iMac!!!

I really like these new iMacs, i am either gonna buy one of these or wait and see what the updated Powerbooks have in store for me..

 

[Platform]

Thanks CanadaRAM.......good post

 

[iGary]

I'd most certainly keep my old one, personally.

Soldered in memory on a desktop - Bad.

 

[andiwm2003]

The new iMac overcomes with the new x600xt GPU the main criticism that a lot of people had. However the Apple website says it can only mirror to a TV/external display. This is somehow silly because the new GPU could easily do screen spanning with an external 1920x1200 display. Does anybody know if the screen "spanning hacks" out there will work for an external 1920x1200 display? If not that would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[fklehman]

The PCIe interface is twice as fast as AGP, 16x vs. 8x. But the X600 isn't really fast enough the saturate the PCIe interface. So you are getting better GPU performance, but in a different way that just a better card (since the 9600 and X600 are not all that different performance-wise).

Incidentally, why is it "sensible" to remove the modem from the iMac and introduce that annoying USB dongle? I HATE dongles, and there are plenty of people who still use dialup connections. Modems aren't out of style yet, not until BPL comes onto the scene.

 

[fklehman]

P.S.: do we know yet what kind of G5 is in there? the 3x bus multiplier is odd. Is that jut Apple hobbling the iMac for product differentiation, or might there be a different proc in there? There's been specualtion elsewhere that it's the low-power G5 overclocked to 1.9/2.1 because heat has been an issue in the previous iMacs and even overclocked the 970GX (that's the low-power one right?) gives off less heat. Just a thought.

 

[Danksi]

P.S.: do we know yet what kind of G5 is in there? the 3x bus multiplier is odd. Is that jut Apple hobbling the iMac for product differentiation, or might there be a different proc in there? There's been specualtion elsewhere that it's the low-power G5 overclocked to 1.9/2.1 because heat has been an issue in the previous iMacs and even overclocked the 970GX (that's the low-power one right?) gives off less heat. Just a thought.

Would that mean it's lower power, less heat, but still higher performance at 1.9?

 

[Dreadnought]

The new iMac overcomes with the new x600xt GPU the main criticism that a lot of people had. However the Apple website says it can only mirror to a TV/external display. This is somehow silly because the new GPU could easily do screen spanning with an external 1920x1200 display. Does anybody know if the screen "spanning hacks" out there will work for an external 1920x1200 display? If not that would be a deal breaker for me.

For the iBooks and other iMacs there is a hack for it, made by some German guy. Do a google and you have it in notime. Don't know if it works/supports this iMac yet. But there will probably come an update of it, it's a pretty much used hack.

 

[fklehman]

Would that mean it's lower power, less heat, but still higher performance at 1.9?

You mean does a 1.9 gHz overclocked 970GX outperform a 1.9 gHz 970? I have no idea. It would put out less heat and consume less power, that's all I know. The 970GX consumes 16w at 1.6 gHz and isn't even supposed to scale to 2.1 (max is 1.8 or 1.9 I think?), but IBM's generally pretty conservative with its chip ratings and Apple often pushes those ratings--look at the mini, where Apple is overclocking 1.25 gHz G4s to 1.42 and 1.33 to 1.5, etc. Assuming the 970GX is rated conservatively as well, there's no reason Apple couldn't be overclocking it to 2.1, especially if it helps to mitigate the fan/cooling problems that plagued both rev. A and B models (although A more than B). I've seen some people on other threads even wondering if this bodes well for a PB G5, but let's not open that kettle of fish.

 

[Danksi]

You mean does a 1.9 gHz overclocked 970GX outperform a 1.9 gHz 970? I have no idea. It would put out less heat and consume less power, that's all I know. The 970GX consumes 16w at 1.6 gHz and isn't even supposed to scale to 2.1 (max is 1.8 or 1.9 I think?), but IBM's generally pretty conservative with its chip ratings and Apple often pushes those ratings--look at the mini, where Apple is overclocking 1.25 gHz G4s to 1.42 and 1.33 to 1.5, etc. Assuming the 970GX is rated conservatively as well, there's no reason Apple couldn't be overclocking it to 2.1, especially if it helps to mitigate the fan/cooling problems that plagued both rev. A and B models (although A more than B). I've seen some people on other threads even wondering if this bodes well for a PB G5, but let's not open that kettle of fish.

I see now, thanks. I'm hoping that since Apple's redesigned the iMac internally, they've learned some lessons from the heating/fan issues in the RevA & B.

 

[fklehman]

I see now, thanks. I'm hoping that since Apple's redesigned the iMac internally, they've learned some lessons from the heating/fan issues in the RevA & B.

Well everything I said assumes that there actually IS a 970GX in there. But even an overclocked low-power 970GX would put out less heat than a 2.1 gHz rated 970 running AT 2.1 gHz, so it's possible they're in there. IBM announced the chip in the summer, after all, and just because Apple couldn't get them into PBs doesn't mean there wasn't SOME use for them. I don't think we'll know for sure until someone who gets on checks System Profiler (SP would tell what kind of G5 it is, wouldn't it?). So maybe someone with a new iMac can help us out...

 

[Danksi]

Well everything I said assumes that there actually IS a 970GX in there. But even an overclocked low-power 970GX would put out less heat than a 2.1 gHz rated 970 running AT 2.1 gHz, so it's possible they're in there. IBM announced the chip in the summer, after all, and just because Apple couldn't get them into PBs doesn't mean there wasn't SOME use for them. I don't think we'll know for sure until someone who gets on checks System Profiler (SP would tell what kind of G5 it is, wouldn't it?). So maybe someone with a new iMac can help us out...

I read somewhere that the new iMac are designed to come apart as easily as the RevA & B's. Memory access for example is through a slot in the back, rather than the whole back being accessible.

 

[Mal]

I'm curious, how do we know what type of connection the remote uses? I didn't see anything about it on the Tech Specs page, and there's no mention of an IR port anywhere (though if it can't be used for other forms of data, it might not make it on that page). Couldn't it be RF or Bluetooth even?

jW

 

[debroglie]

I'm curious, how do we know what type of connection the remote uses? I didn't see anything about it on the Tech Specs page, and there's no mention of an IR port anywhere (though if it can't be used for other forms of data, it might not make it on that page). Couldn't it be RF or Bluetooth even?

jW

The iSight can sense IR. My guess is that it is the receiver for the remote.

 

[Danksi]

The iSight can sense IR. My guess is that it is the receiver for the remote.

This was the suggestion in a couple of other threads as well.

 

[reberto]

Check his link again. It is 1 2gb chip. And yes, you can order it now

Nope.

The item cannot be ordered, it is out of stock. Quite simply, it is a typo, They have used the part number for the 2 Gb module but priced it as a 2 x 1 Gb kit. The 2 Gb part is going to be about $745 (that's what the Kingston ValueRAM equivalent is). They'll catch the mistake before they post new inventory and open it up.
"Please note:
Due to limited supply, all stock is sold on a first-come first-serve basis. Auto notify does not guarantee availability or price. All prices are subject to change without notice."

 

[CanadaRAM]

Check his link again. It is 1 2gb chip. And yes, you can order it now

I guess they haven't caught on yet. The price is way below wholesale -- my point was that they are advertising the 2 Gb part, but they have mistakenly applied the price of a 2 x 1 lkit, so it's a great bargain if you can get delivery before they cotton on to it.

Incidentally, why is it "sensible" to remove the modem from the iMac and introduce that annoying USB dongle?

I haven't installed a new Macintosh on a dial-up connection for 3 years or more. I know it's different in rural areas, but literally every new computer here is on broadband.

One thing that is hellish is dealing with the Apple Software Update downloads on a slow connection, even DSL lite. It's between 100 Mb and 200 Mb of updates to be downloaded on a brand new machine... I can't imagine how impossible that would be on a dial up connection.

 

[Demon Hunter]

A list of the PC ATI cards and clock speed comparisons
http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.asp?p=347270&seqNum=3&rl=1
which suggests the X600 Pro is 500 Mhz core and 750 MHz memory (375 clock)

Haven't pinned down just what Apple is using though.

It's worthy to note that Apple never uses standard clock speeds. In every model I've come across the clock is lower, and sometimes by a wide margin! If the X600 is using less power, they might have increased the clock.

look at the mini, where Apple is overclocking 1.25 gHz G4s to 1.42 and 1.33 to 1.5, etc.

How can you be sure? It's common to underclock to differentiate product lines, but overclock thousands of units? I don't think so.

The PCIe interface is twice as fast as AGP, 16x vs. 8x. But the X600 isn't really fast enough the saturate the PCIe interface. So you are getting better GPU performance, but in a different way that just a better card (since the 9600 and X600 are not all that different performance-wise).

Right. And really there aren't any cards on the market that even begin to saturate it (which is the point of a new standard, I suppose). It's like driving on the Autobahn with a go-kart. What's important here is that Apple is embracing PCI-E.