Apple has worked with graphics maker Nvidia Corp. to feature four new graphics options for the refreshed Power Mac G5 line, including the Quadro FX 4500 -- Nviidia's fastest workstation card. This fills a gap in the Power Mac line that has long been criticized by 3D graphics professionals and others who have wanted faster graphics systems than the consumer-oriented cards and chips Apple has offered in the past. The Quadro card can support dual 30-inch displays, according to Moody.
The new Power Macs G5 "Quad" system touts eight floating point units, four velocity engines, four 1MB Level 2 caches and is capable of processing 76.6 gigaflops. "There is some serious horsepower under the hood," said Moody.
The Power Mac G5 starts in a single-processor, dual-core configuration clocked at 2.0GHz for $1,999. The 2.3GHz dual-core system costs $2,499, and the "Quad" dual-processor, dual-core system starts at $3,299.
Cinema HD Displays
Apple has also realigned pricing on its 23-inch and 30-inch CInema HD Displays. Effective today, the 23-inch Cinema HD Display costs $1,299, down from $1,499, while the 30-inch Cinema HD Display costs $2,499, down from $2,999.
