Some people in the media production business still cling to the fiction that the G5 is the 'fastest personal computer in the world.' On our travels around we always encounter a few die-hards like this. By now, everyone should know that this is just not the case - our computers outperform the fastest G5. It's almost unfair to compare an S2 to a G5. One has an Intel P4 running at 3.2GHz and the other two obsolete G5 processors.
In case you are not aware, Apple has decided to abandon the G5 processor in 2006 in favor of the much better, much faster Intel Pentium 4. Forgetting all this, our test results speak for themselves - the S2 is way faster and way more powerful than any G5 you can bring to our test bench. However, there is a lot more to the S2 that just CPU speed. The whole feature set has established a high water mark that all other computers, including the G5, can someday aspire to. The S2 is the best computer for media production period. This comparison chart illustrate that it is in a class by itself:
| PowerMac G5 | Professional S2 | |||
| Processor | PowerPC G5 | Intel® Pentium® 4 HT | ||
| Speed | Dual 2.5 GHz | • |
3.2 GHz | |
| Cache | 512K | 512K | ||
| Front Side Bus | • |
1.25 GHz | 800 MHz | |
| RAM TYPE | DDR 400 | DDR 400 | ||
| RAM SIZE | 512 MB | • |
1024 MB | |
| RAM MAX | • |
8 GB | 4 GB | |
| Chassis | Aluminium | Aluminum | ||
| Optical Drive | 8X DVD-R / CD-RW | • |
12X DVD+/-RW / CD/RW | |
| Write Speed | 32x32x10x8 | • |
48x40x16x12 | |
| Hard Drive 1 | • |
Serial ATA150 | ATA133 | |
| HD1 Speed | 7200rpm | 7200rpm | ||
| HD1 Size | • |
160 GB | 80 GB | |
| Hard Drive 2 | none | • |
SerialATA150 | |
| HD2 Speed | none | • |
7200rpm | |
| HD2 Size | none | • |
160 GB | |
| Hard Drive 3 | none | • |
SerialATA150 | |
| HD3 Speed | none | • |
7200rpm | |
| HD3 Size | none | • |
160 GB | |
| Total Drive Bays | 3 | • |
11 | |
| 5.25" Bays | 1 | • |
4 | |
| 3.5" Bays | 2 | • |
7 | |
| USB 1.0 ports | 2 | none | ||
| USB 2.0 ports | 3 | • |
8 | |
| FireWire 800 ports | • |
1 | none | |
| FireWire 400 ports | 2 | 2 | ||
| Dual VGA output | No | • |
Yes | |
| Video In | none | • |
Composite | |
| TV out | none | • |
S-Video | |
| AGP Speed | 8X | 8X | ||
| AGP Slots | 1 | 1 | ||
| Video RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB | ||
| Max Analog resolution | 1600 x 1200 | • |
2048 x 1536 | |
| Max Digital resolution | 1920 x 1200 | 1920 x 1200 | ||
| Ehternet/LAN | Gigabit 10/100/1000 BASE-T | Gigabit 10/100/1000 BASE-T | ||
| 33MHz PCI Slots | none | • |
5 | |
| 133MHz PCI-X slots | • |
1 | none | |
| 100MHz PCI-X slots | • |
2 | none | |
| S/PDIF | • |
Input/Output | Output | |
| Microphone In | Yes | Yes | ||
| Headphone Out | Yes | Yes | ||
| Stereo In/Out | Yes | Yes | ||
| Rear L/R | No | • |
Yes | |
| Surround/LFE | No | • |
Yes | |
| AC'97 support | No | • |
Yes | |
| Parallel Port | none | • |
1 | |
| Serial Ports | none | • |
2 | |
| Joystick Ports | none | • |
1 | |
| MIDI Interface | none | • |
16 channels I/O | |
| Length | 475 mm [18.7"] | 482 mm [19.0"] | ||
| Width | 206 mm [8.1"] | 219 mm [8.6"] | ||
| Height | 511 mm [20.1"] | 436 mm [17.2"] | ||
| Net Weight | 20.2 Kg [44.4 lbs] | • |
14.2 Kg [31.3 lbs] | |
| Power Supply | 400W (PFC) | |||
| Operating System | Mac OS X version 10.3 "Panther" | Microsoft Windows XP® Pro | ||
| Retail price | $2,999.00 USD | • |
$2,599.00 USD | |
| Recovery System | No | • |
Yes | |
| Free Telephone Support | 90 days | • |
2 years | |
| Mouse buttons | 1 | • |
2 | |
| Mouse Wheel | No | • |
Yes |