Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop M9590LL/A (Dual 2.0 GHz PowerPC G5, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, Double-Layer SuperDrive)

by Apple

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 18.7 x 8.1 x 20.1 inches ; 44.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 55 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000AO5PF6
• Item model number: M9590LL/A
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 14, 2006

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Power Mac G5 Dual and Power Mac G5 Quad introduce dual-core PowerPC processors, a modern PCI Express architecture, and wicked-fast workstation graphics. Power one up today and blaze through your work, deliver ahead of schedule, and astound your clients.

Quad-Core G5 Processing
With two dual-core processors, at speeds up to 2.5GHz per core, the Power Mac G5 Quad doubles the punch of its dual-processor predecessor. Do the math: Quad-core processing means four Velocity Engines and eight double-precision floating-point units for blistering performance of up to 76.6 gigaflops. That means you can manipulate mountains of images or miles of footage. Crunch enormous data sets. Encode HD video or high-bit-rate audio. All at speeds you never imagined possible.

PCI Express Architecture
A modern PCI Express architecture opens up a world of high-performance expansion cards to the Mac platform. Two four-lane slots and one eight-lane slot are designed for the latest video I/O, audio DSP, and Fibre Channel expansion cards--so you’ll have tremendous power and productivity in a single system.(1) And with 533MHz DDR2 main memory and integrated dual Gigabit Ethernet, you can customize your Power Mac G5 for your professional workflow--even join an Xsan media network while connecting simultaneously to the Internet.

Workstation Graphics
Graphics assume a new level of realism with the latest PCI Express graphics cards. Drive two Apple displays — including a glorious 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display — from every Power Mac G5. Or upgrade to the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500, the industry’s fastest workstation graphics solution, for rapid-fire effects, 3D animation, and scientific stereo-in-a-window applications.(2) How much reality can you handle? Try adding up to eight all-digital Apple Cinema Displays to your Power Mac G5 and enjoy a veritable dreamscape of stunning visuals.(3)

Enormous Performance Gains
Quad-core processing dramatically accelerates performance in real-world applications. Take, for example, Adobe After Effects: The Power Mac G5 Quad renders 3D images up to 69 percent faster than the fastest dual-processor Power Mac G5 ever built.(3)

Scientists, researchers, and developers will benefit from similar performance gains. Building an Xcode project on a Power Mac G5 Quad, for example, runs 76 percent faster than on the fastest dual-2.7GHz Power Mac G5.(4)

(1) PCI Express slots are not compatible with PCI or PCI-X expansion cards.
(2) Stereo-in-a-window requires an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 graphics card, a CRT display, and stereo goggles (sold separately). The NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 graphics card occupies the 16-lane PCI Express slot and adjacent PCI Express slot.
(3) To support up to eight 20-inch or 23-inch Apple Cinema Displays, install up to three additional NVIDIA GeForce 6600 graphics cards.
(4) Testing conducted by Apple in September 2005 using preproduction 2.5GHz Power Mac G5 Quad units; all other systems tested were shipping units.

Product Description

The M9590LL/A Power Mac G5 is the ultimate creative platform. This high-end content creation application is an amazing tool for producing the very best designs, music, High-Definition Video or the even next scientific breakthrough. The newer, faster 64-bit Processing with whiplash-fast frontside Bus mean no more lags when accessing Memory or the hard drive. With its powerful dual-core configuration, you'll have computing power on a scale you've never seen before. It's exactly what you need to run the powerful 64-bit Mac OS X operating system. This Power Mac G5 comes with Tiger, the latest release of Mac OS X. Search your entire Power Mac in a single click with Spotlight. Access up-to-the-second information with Dashboard. Automate complex or repetitive tasks and streamline your workflow using Automator no programming required. And with its 64-bit features, Tiger provides access to as much physical memory as you can install in your Power Mac G5, up to 16GB. In fact, your transition to 64-bit performance is seamless: Current 32-bit code such as the Mac OS 9 Classic environment and existing applications runs natively at processor speed. With no interruptions! 160 GB Serial ATA hard drive; 7200 RPM 16X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL, DVD+/-RW, CD-RW) 3 open PCI Express expansion slots - Two 4-lane slots, 1 8-lane slot Dual 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) Ethernet ports, with integrated wireless antenna Ports and Bays - 1 FireWire 800 port, 2 FireWire 400 ports (one in front), 4 USB 2.0 ports (one in front), 2 USB 1.1 ports (both on keyboard), 2 internal hard drive bays (one occupied) Audio - Optical digital audio input & output, analog line-level input & output, front headphone minijack & speaker Software - Mac OS X, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iLife(incl. iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand), iCal, DVD Player, Art Directors Toolkit

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Power than ever, with Dual Cores, October 26, 2005

By 

Steve H "books911" (U.S.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop M9590LL/A (Dual 2.0 GHz PowerPC G5, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, Double-Layer SuperDrive) (Personal Computers)

Ever since Apple introduced the Power Mac G5, in 2003, it has been the top dog, when it comes to Macs. Every Mac fan, geek, or professional wants one. With the October 2005 update to the Power Mac G5, Apple has made its professional desktop more powerful than ever.

The Power Mac is impressive right out of the box, with its beautiful aluminium enclosure. Truly, it is a piece of art.

Processor - The power, in this Powermac, comes from its dual-core 2GHZ Power PC G5 processor. This is the latest technology, from IBM. This single dual-core chip provides significant speed increase over the previous dual processor model. The processor features a 1GHZ front side bus. This is a trend that will continue. More and more computers are going to sport dual-core processors, and you can enjoy it in your Power Mac now.

Memory - This Power Mac G5 comes with 512 MB of memory. 512 MB of memory might be sufficient, for someone checking their email and browsing the web. However, obviously, buyers of the Power Mac are going to be power users, or at least multitask extensively. For that reason, the included 512 MB of memory is truly not sufficient. However, what's the great thing? This Power Mac supports up to a whopping 16 gigabytes of memory. Once you have your machine, simply pick up an affordable upgrade, from one of the trusted memory suppliers out there.

Hard drive and optical drive - This Power Mac's hard drive is 160 GB. This would be plenty of space for many consumers, but there will be some power users who need more. Nevertheless, if you find yourself needing more space you can add a second hard drive to your system. The included optical drive is a 16x Superdrive, with double-layer burning support. What more do you need? Burn up to 8.5 GB of data, on a double-layer disk. Fantastic.

Video Card - Apple is often given a hard time about providing what some consider less than the very top, when it comes to video cards. The card in this Mac is a NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE with 128MB of GDDR SDRAM, one single-link DVI port, and one dual-link DVI port. This Power Mac provides significant features over the standard graphic card, in the previous low-end Power Mac. For example, you'll be able to connect an Apple 30-inch cinema display, plus you could connect a 20 or 23 inch cinema display next to that.

Ports - You'll have the standard ports you'd expect on a Power Mac. Firewire 800, 2 Firewire 400, 4 USB 2.0, and 2 USB 1.1 on keyboard. When it comes to networking, Apple has provided 2 gigabit ethernet ports, so they really have you covered there. A Mighty Mouse and Apple Pro Keybaord are included in the box, both of which have a good feel to them.

Mac OS X - If you're considering Macintosh for the first time, you're going to love the Mac operating system, Mac OS X Tiger. It is incredibly user friendly, and you'll quickly find the interface and design is saving you time. Furthermore, Mac OS X is much more secure than Windows, so you can put your mind at rest.

iLife - Although many power and professional users of a Power Mac are going to be using his or her Mac, for a lot of professional work, with professional applications, Apple still includes iLife with every Mac. iLife can still be a great way to manage your personal digital life. Store and manage your digital images in iPhoto, jam to music in iTunes, create music in Garageband, and simple movies in iMovie.

Furthermore, there are convenient applications built right into the operating system such as Dashboard, iCal (a great calendar that syncs up with your external devices including iPod), Dictionary, Expose, Stickies, DVD Player, and more.

Overall, the newest Power Mac G5 is another phenomenal product, from Apple. You'll be impressed many times, when you use this Power Mac. You'll be impressed when you pull its stunning aluminum case out of the box, when you use it for the first time and witness its speed, and everyday as you come to appreciate the convenience and joy of owning a powerful machine like the Power Mac G5. Apple has improved upon the Power Mac in several areas, and quite simply, they give you more value, for your dollar. Enjoy the Power Mac.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Highly Recommend This Computer!, January 8, 2006

By 

David L. Merten - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop M9590LL/A (Dual 2.0 GHz PowerPC G5, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, Double-Layer SuperDrive) (Personal Computers)

This is the 4th Power Mac G5 I've owned, and must say, by far the best. It's extremely quit. No excessive fan revving like on previous models. Multi-tasking is improved with the new dual-core chips. You can't beat buying a Power Mac from Amazon. (...). I also highly suggest getting AppleCare with it. You will be fully covered -- parts, labor, and phone support -- for 3 years. If you have any questions on a Mac, visit MacOSG.com -- an online Apple User Group. Lots of friendly knowledgeable people there to answer any questions.