After launching a little app called Temperature Monitor, I revved up the dual 2.5 and taxed the processors to see how hot it would get. That doesn't mean, however, that it doesn't get hot inside the all-aluminum case. D'oh! But with those G5 chips fiery hot, the new cooling system was needed to keep the internal fans from spinning up to vacuum cleaner levels when you max out the processors. I have to admit that it is a bit disconcerting to see a warning printed inside the Power Mac's case that suggests you unplug the computer right away and to 'consult manual' should you see liquid leaking out. Apple touts four discrete 'thermal zones,' a variety of low-speed fans in each of those zones, 21 temperature monitors and the new, maintenance-free 'closed-loop liquid cooling system.' The 2.5-GHz G5 chip runs very, very hot, requiring a variety of solutions to keep this machine from self-igniting. This is Apple's first liquid-cooled Power Mac, and as best I can tell, the cooling system works as advertised. (The standard graphics card is the ATI Radeon 9600 XT - upgrading to the 9800 will set you back $300.) Like other Power Macs, it boasts the usual assortment of USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 and 800 ports, and an AirPort Extreme card for wireless networking. The review machine was packed with 4GB of RAM (it can take twice that amount), a 160GB Maxtor Serial ATA hard drive (with a 250GB Serial ATA hard drive available as a $100 built-to-order option), an ATI Radeon 9800 XT graphics card that offers 256MB of video RAM, and an 8x SuperDrive. But it offers more than enough warp-factor power for just about anything this side of genomic sequencing. No, it's not quite the 3.0-GHz G5 Steve Jobs optimistically promised in 2003. Thanks to Apple Computer's review program, I've been able to use one of the new Power Macs for the past three weeks or so, and I can tell you that if you need unadulterated processing power, the dual 2.5 is worth the wait.

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