That's because of the RAM they use: 400MHz, 128-bit DDR SDRAM. Most places sell RAM much cheaper than Apple, but I don't know about this stuff.
Either way, HDs are incredibly slow (150 MB/s I believe), the G5s can transfer to the RAM at 6.4 GB/s. Translation, you can copy an entire DVD to your memory in less than a second. Having more RAM allows programs to store more in the memory, making things go much faster, where usually it would have to start writing to the HD. Imagine editing 5 GB of raw DV, keeping it all in the RAM would be a dream come true. But the average consumer doesn't need nearly that much.
The Power Mac line is the best computers Apple offers. Where most PC companies have different models for consumer and businesses, Apple has their consumer and power user lines, and the Power Mac G5 is supposed to suit everyone from your consumers looking for top-of-the-line, to your businesses editing 200 GB of video and photoshop documents ranging in the hundreds of MBs. Most people never need everything maxed out, but if you have the cash, go for it
Re: WWDC 2003 - Mac Heaven
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