The Devil is in the Details

The Devil is in the Details

A computer is only as fast as it's slowest component. From looking at the specs of the G4 processor, it doesn't look like the CPU will be a limiting factor. What about the rest of the system? Let's look at the available systems:

Apple G4 System Config

This chart reflects the difference between the G4 available today, and the ones slated for release over the next several months. The low-end 400Mhz version uses a slightly modified version of the G3's motherboard, while the high-end systems will debut with the new "Sawtooth" motherboard design. The new motherboard will add an AGP 2x port, as well as increase the memory bandwidth to take advantage of the G4's increased speed.

Most of the options above will look familiar to PC users. One megabyte of ½ speed L2 cache; ok that's twice the size of an average P3. PC 100 SDRAM? That's nice and standard. AGP 2X slot, that's normal…wait a second. What is that I see plugged into the graphics slot? Is it the perennial water boy of 3D accelerators? The North American equivalent of a generic overseas OEM part? Yes, it is! It's an ATI Rage 128. Even Apple's top of the line, $3500 "Desktop Supercomputer" is equipped with an infamously underachieving OEM chip with only 16MB of non-expandable memory. If the G4 has an Achilles heel, this is it. But why did Apple consciously do this?

Why, Apple? Why?

Over the past couple years, Apple has started dropping it's proprietary standards for PC standards. Examples? PC100, PCI, and AGP. Apple figured out (finally) that it couldn't compete against all of the technical innovation (this doesn't include case design J) possible with a open standard like the PC. Unfortunately, the only chip Apple could get working in time was the ATI Rage 128. In theory, any AGP 2x video card with the right drivers can be slipped into the slot the ATI inhabits, but few cards currently have stable driver support for Mac OS. 3dFX recently announced that it will partner as an OEM for Apple, and it's commitment to the platform has been shown by it's work towards getting the Voodoo3 to run on Macs.

Another factor is the current lack of demand for cutting edge 3D performance. Who cares the most about 3D on PC's? Gamers. Why don't gamers buy Macs? Bad 3D performance. See a pattern? While the Mac-philic crowd at Seybold didn't think too deeply about Job's presentation, any PC aficionado would have notice the conspicuous absence of any demonstrations of 3D processing power. Jobs mostly showed Photoshop filters running twice as fast on a G4 than the PIII, but he didn't boot up Quake3 and start fragging 14 year olds.

Of course, this was a publishing conference, and Photoshop is the application those people were most familiar with. Early reports peg the G4 as roughly 10% faster per clock cycle than the G3, which would make the G4 slower in integer than a higher clocked Athlon. However, we won't be able to really compare the G4 to the best that PCs can offer until we have one in our own hands.