The top-of-the-line Power Mac G5 with dual 2.5GHz processors squeezes high performance into relatively tight quarters. To cool down those dual 2.5GHz G5 CPUs, Apple designed a sophisticated liquid cooling system that takes off the heat without bumping up the noise. Mac OS X controls and dynamically adjusts the flow of the fluid and the speed of the fans based on temperature.
The dual 2.5GHz Power Mac G5’s innovative liquid cooling system is more efficient than a traditional heat sink. This system provides a continuous flow of thermally conductive fluid that transfers heat from the processors as they work harder. The heated fluid then flows through a radiant grille, where air passing over cooling fins returns the fluid to its original temperature.
In addition, each of the four thermal zones within the Power Mac G5’s aluminum enclosure is equipped with its own dedicated, low-speed fans. Apple engineered the nine fans to spin at very low speeds for minimum acoustic output. Using 21 different sensors, Mac OS X constantly monitors component temperatures in each zone, dynamically adjusting individual fan speeds to the appropriate levels for the quietest possible operation. As a result, the Power Mac G5 runs two times quieter than the previous Power Mac G4 enclosure.
Find out more about the liquid-cooled Power Mac G5’s design here.
What’s the deal with the weak graphics card option on the 1.8 and 2.0? What’s a gamer to do?
So the iMac will get a G5 by WWDC.
Now which of these puppies has my name on it?
Uhh, get a PlayStation?
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There are graphic card upgrades available by BTO. Apple kept the prices down by doing this. People complain one way or another. Not everybody needs gamer graphic cards… some of us use computers for productive work you know!
Liquid cooled technology – can’t wait for the first ever liquid metal Macintosh!
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http://homepage.mac.com/johnhood
just kick up the BTO to a real grfx card and pay the coin. if you are already spending 4Gs on a machine with the right ram, what’s $50 to get the 9600?
the liquid cooling interests me a lot. we did this we alpha and cgi stations in the 90s with custom rigs for FX work, and it increased performance. we cooled them TONS, really refrigerating them, but this is one step to that. i could see someone modding the coolant to a compressed refrigerant and pulling 20-30% more power. for whatever reason, the supercooled machines never EVER crashed.
oooh makes me wet.
sorry
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I cant wait for Barefeats to get a hold of one. I wanna know how fast they really are and if the dual 2 @ 90nm makes a big difference
This is great news, really. But, can I get a dual 3.0 GHz for bragging rights?
processor mhz is a function of fsb in these boxes. Anyone figure out how to overclock them yet?
Nice….Nice. I dont have to put dry ice in my CPU and make it look like a space laser whatchmacallit.
Beth will a Maxi Pad….er uh…..dry you up? Or I can just put one of them 9 fans on it.
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Dual 2.5… Let the complaints begin.
“processor mhz is a function of fsb in these boxes. Anyone figure out how to overclock them yet?” – Joe McConnel
You got it backward… the FSB speed is a function of the processor’s clock speed.
This is clearly the same 2.0ghz part from the Xserve that is overclocked to hell to 2.5Ghz. Sure, IBM will stamp it as a 2.5ghz part, but it really isn’t. The liquic cooling isn’t for quiet. It’s for the overclocking.
THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM. IBM cannot get it’s crap together to put out parts. The only difference between Motorola and IBM now is that back then, liquid cooling wasn’t an option.
Moreover, their liquid cooling is designed by an idiot. Closed loop for 2 processors!!?!? Duh. One of the processors is going to pour HOT water on the other. So one processor will always be running hotter than the other. This has lame ass hack spelled all over it.
I’m worried again for Apple’s processor and machine design again.
Finally this machine, beyond making the entry level headless mac prohibitively expensive, is NOT suitable for a lot of pros. It’s a fully HUGE tower and it still cannot have more than 2 hard drives and one optical drive. Pathetic.
The only thing that is good about all of this is they announced it before WWDC, because it’s such a complete miserable dissappointment, it would have been a big downer. Kudos to Apple’s marketing for playing that right to get this crap news out of the way beforehand.
Expect G5 sales to stay relatively crappy.
WOW! 1.25Ghz FrontSide bus on the highend G5. I don’t care if Apple missed the 3Ghz mark by a half Ghz, that extra system bus should add a nice little chunk of speed.
Hey Arrogant Mac Guy, You’re busted!
I bet you’re a Wintell Troll! I see you have posted exactly the same BS to a lot of the feedback sites.
Go get a life
Yea I did. Because everyone is so pollyana on this that I want to get the meme out. This is a serious production product. I think it’s important mac enthusiasts talk about it. Maybe I’m wrong. Easily possible. But it’s an issue no one else has taken on.
BTW, I completely agree with SteveJack’s view that sj should stop flapping his big mouth and then constantly under-delivering. Is SteveJack a troll? Just because you say something bad about Apple, doesnt mean youre not a fan. It just means youre more concerned and not willing to overlook teh obvious.
Apple has such an incredible history of production problems and delivery problems, mac fans ignoring this is only a sign that theyre drinking way too much koolaid.
Yea I did. Because everyone is so pollyana on this that I want to get the meme out. This is a serious production product. I think it’s important mac enthusiasts talk about it. Maybe I’m wrong. Easily possible. But it’s an issue no one else has taken on.
BTW, I completely agree with SteveJack’s view that sj should stop flapping his big mouth and then constantly under-delivering. Is SteveJack a troll? Just because you say something bad about Apple, doesnt mean youre not a fan. It just means youre more concerned and not willing to overlook teh obvious.
Apple has such an incredible history of production problems and delivery problems, mac fans ignoring this is only a sign that theyre drinking way too much koolaid.
That liquid cooling picture is an artists rendition and may not be accurate. Apple may be cooling each of the processors independently, there is no reason to think otherwise. “Closed cooling system” means just that, the liquid cooling is a permanent closed loop. It does not need to be maintained or replaced.
Pathetic is an understatement. This is a nightmare come true.
Even the top end model is poor when you take away the speed bump. Almost one year on almost nothing on this line has changed.
Prices are ridiculously high. I see the two low-end (strange term when you consider pricing) G5s dying a death. How long til the real refresh? Six months? I’d say less, knowing that very few people will touch these machines.
Expect to see Apple’s share price hit by this news. What with no consumer G5 yet on the table, the outlook for Apple is pretty black.
It’s non-G5 stuff is a technological joke. Even the G5 stuff itself is hardly anything to write home about this late in the day. Apple really is selling yesterday’s technology today!
Let’s hope that someone gives Apple a double whammy and they come to their senses.
For what they are offering users should be asked to pay much, much less.
Hey Arrogant Mac Guy, show up proof that the 2.5 Ghz processors are just overclocked 2 gigi units.
Arrogant Mac Guy-busted, I don’t think you’re a troll, but I am curious about your statements. I don’t understand what you mean about IBM overclocking the chip. Do you have any proof that this chip is somehow not a normal, legit chip?
The liquid cooling being used for both processors does seem to be a bad idea, although I’d like to see more details.
“Finally this machine, beyond making the entry level headless mac prohibitively expensive” well clearly these are not mean to be entry level by any means. Apple should release an low-cost headless Mac, but that’s another topic altogether.
“a fully HUGE tower and it still cannot have more than 2 hard drives and one optical drive.” Is there a big need for more hard drive and all? Hard drive capacities are huge nowadays, and if you’re pushing the terabyte limit, you probably need a rack anyway. It’s a bit of a limitation, but not one most users are going to care about.
Just my 2 cents…
HeartMan. I have no proof. It’s clear supposition. What I think is MOST likely is that the 970fx from the Xserve (that is a 2GHZ chip) was taken and over clocked. Now Apple asked IBM to stamp 2.5ghz on it, and IBM did that. But its from the exact same batch, and it NEEDs the liquid cooling or it wont run.
That is the very definition of overclocking. That IBM is willing to “play ball” and put some stamp on it that says its a 2.5ghz part, doesn’t mean it is by traditional definitions.
You have gamers on PCs liquid cooling for only one reason, when you overclock a chip that far out of spec, it is NECESSARY.
Now of course Apple and IBM can deny this and say, see here, look at our pretty stamp. That makes it official. But the official party line, and reality can and often are very different. Just look at the world of politics at large for the “official” story and what the reality is out on the street.
But youre right. I’m no reporter with some smoking gun evidence. I’m just using common sense to piece together.
If it were merely a question of quiet, then Apple would have put it in all of the models.
MRCLIV: I agree that the machine may not be MEANT to be entry level. However, if you WANT a headless mac, it is your ONLY choice. That makes it entry level headless mac, by definition. There is no other choice.
Yes, there is a need for 4 drives in a machine. A machine that expensive will be around for years. Tossing in another drive here, there, that’s fine. Getting 4 250GB drives is far cheaper than getting 2 or 3 400GB drives. Finally, you didn’t respond to the lack of a second optical drive. Yes, all of those are needed for PROs. Maybe not for consumers, but the PROs can and do use them. Go to bearfeets and see how much they work with raids there, and they’re just enthusiats.
People could get Xserves, but lots of PROs don’t want an enterprise Xserve as their production machine.
It’s an inexusable disgusting design to have a case that big with that little upgrade capacity inside it. It is a LOUSY design. The G4 case was way better. 4 drives, dual optical. Swing door. Nice.
Now aesthetics wise, I think that the G5 looks pretty. But inside, design wise, it’s a miserable design.
I second that SteveW. The G5 line up suck eggs… only a 2.5. I was really impressed on the 1.25 FSB. But apple made a big mistake… they should have done that to the whole line up. The comment made by the Arrogant Mac Guy about the cooling system might be true… if it is closed loop. This is bad news. But I can�t seem to find a fact to back this up anywhere. mrcllv had it right when he said that is sucks that it only hold 2 HDs. I mean come on apple figure it out… Plus this bugs me… the top computer can take up too 8 gigs of ram but no app build that I know of can use that much… the most I�m heard of is 4 gig. So apple needs to make some changes to software ram use or the number of dim slots. Apple really should go back to the drawing board on this computer and get a dual SATA ports for a master and a Raid. That way the computer could be used for High Def Video Editing.