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Apple's Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors)

dual bay Power Mac G4

Apple introduced the Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) systems on August 13, 2002. The Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) adds dual processors across the line, DDR memory, greater expandability, and several other enhancements to the fourth generation of a Power Macintosh G4 product line Apple originally introduced almost three years ago, in September, 1999.

Information Systems & Computing (ISC) sees the Power Macintoshes as evolutionary improvements over the previous generation "Quicksilver" models.

Specifications

The Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) is offered in three standard configurations at the Computer Connection:

Processor Dual 867 MHz PowerPC G4 Dual 1 GHz PowerPC G4 Dual 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4
L3 cache 1 MB DDR SRAM per processor 1 MB DDR SRAM per processor 2 MB DDR SRAM per processor
System bus 133 MHz 167 MHz 167 MHz
Memory (2 GB maximum) 256 MB PC2100 266 MHz DDR SDRAM 256 MB PC2700 333 MHz DDR SDRAM 512 MB PC2700 333 MHz DDR SDRAM
Hard disk drive 60 GB Ultra ATA/100;
7200 rpm		 80 GB Ultra ATA/100;
7200 rpm		 120 GB Ultra ATA/100;
7200 rpm
Optical drive Combo
(DVD-ROM/CD-RW)		 SuperDrive
(DVD-R/CD-RW)		 SuperDrive
(DVD-R/CD-RW)
Graphics support NVIDIA GeForce4 MX with 32 MB of DDR SDRAM ATI Radeon 9000 Pro with 64 MB of DDR SDRAM ATI Radeon 9000 Pro with 64 MB of DDR SDRAM

Expansion slots & bays Four open 64-bit, 33 MHz PCI slots; AGP 4X slot with graphics card installed; four internal hard drive bays (one occupied); two optical drive bays (one occupied)
Ports Two FireWire, two USB 1.1, front headphone minijack and speaker, rear Apple speaker minijack, audio line in, audio line out, ADC and DVI connectors
Networking Built-in 100/100/1000BaseT Ethernet and v.92 56K modem; AirPort ready
System software Mac OS X version 10.2, Mac OS 9.2
Included accessories Apple Pro Keyboard, Apple Pro Mouse, DVI to VGA adapter, and modem cable

Technical issues & recommendations

ISC does not expect there to be significant hardware-related compatibility problems with the Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors). However, the Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) will have the same software-related conflicts that any Mac OS X version 10.2.x or Mac OS 9.2.x workstation would have.

ISC has tested the Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) for compatibility with University supported hardware and software, including the PennConnect 2002 CD-ROM. As always, support providers should be aware of the potential technical issues associated with any new workstation design.

These workstations meet or exceed ISC’s desktop recommendations for Macintoshes, with the addition of extra RAM and/or an external Zip 250 drive. For most users, the dual 1 GHz workstation is an appropriate choice, having the best combination of processor speed, bus speed, video card capability, and price.

--John Mulhern III, Senior IT Project Leader, ISC Technology Support Services (September 5, 2002)
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