07/07/2005, 4:30pm, EDT
Thursday, July 7th
IBM debuts dual-core 2.5GHz G5 chip
The 64-bit dual-core PowerPC "G5" 970MP chips, code-named Antares, contain two processing units per chip, each with their own execution core and 64K of Level 1 cache. The chips also offer 1MB Level 2 cache for each unit, making the chips more than twice as efficient as IBM's current 970FX PowerPC G5 processors, according to the company. The new dual-core chips also feature power consumption features to dyanmically regulate frequency and voltage as well as the ability to completely turn off one core for added power savings.
The 970MP chip offers SMP functions, enabling it to seamlessly integrate with other dual-core processors to improve performance without increasing processor speeds. In addition, IBM says it has integrated a power saving function to manage the electric power of the system dynamically.
The new family of low-power PowerPC 970FX chips will be available in speeds up to 1.6GHz. They will feature a 512K Level 2 cache. PowerPC 970FX chips are currently used in Apple Power Mac G5 and iMac G5 systems.
IBM also touted its "Power" architecture, noting that IBM processors are used in six of the top 10 supercomputers in the world an that 51 percent of the systems in the top 500 list are using IBM chips, which translates to 57 percent of the global supercomputer processing power.
IBM made the official announcement in Japanese and had yet to update its US website with information on the new chips.
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I don't know of any Power Mac G5s currently for sale with clock speeds that low.
I hope Jobs made the right decision!!!!
I for one wanted to have the same processor in my consumer desktop be the EXACT same one in a top ten supercomputer!
ibm's power everwhere, so far has mean in IBM branded machines, and apple's...
there is one small company selling powerpc linux motherboards, but they only use g4's from freescale.
mebbe this will be the first g5 chip that is actually on the market...i.e. you will see them in mac accelerator cards and in generic linux targetted powerpc motherboards.
so far, never seen a g5 sold in that fashion.
According to IBM... could find their way into ... its Xserve server and/or Power Mac G5 desktops.
Um, APPLE makes the Xserve and Power Mac, not IBM...
Sure would be nice if IBM made a chip we could put in a laptop, with a bus speed over 167Mhz ( Or Freescale! ) I think Intel has already promised "X Scale" Arm RISC core (Intel branded) at 2.5 Ghz !!! Those are for iPod, they plan on Making ACTUAL chips for portables too!
Weird, New P M uses a 14 stage pipeline ( G5 has 15-17 ) G4 would still rule but starving at 1.67Ghz -to- 167MHz system bus ( 10 clock cycle wait on RAM?) Even 533MHz system bus would really help performance...
Thanks IBM...
Let's hope so. Maybe IBM will make Apple think twice about downgrading to Intel across the board.
The thing that pushes against this is cost. These dual core chips are generally quite expensive when compared to single core chips. Factor in that the PPC Macs are being phased out over the next year and you have difficult situation: How do you sell expensive machines that are the end of a product