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By John G Spooner
IBM is planning to design the new desktop PowerPC chip using
technology from its Power4 processor for servers and is talking to
Apple about a potential tie-up, sources say.
Though the server chip has a different name and a different design,
Power4 is essentially a PowerPC processor on steroids. The two chip
families are grounded in the same architectural concepts, but the
Power4 contains enhancements not seen in the PowerPC family.
The new chip, which will be unveiled in the autumn, is designed to
deliver higher clock speeds and 64-bit processing to desktop
computers and also to entry-level servers. Moving to 64-bit
processing from the current 32-bit processing should allow computers
to use more memory and should provide a performance boost with
data-intensive applications such as games and databases.
Network equipment and other communications gear is the most likely
destination for the new PowerPC, as the bulk of existing PowerPCs are
used there. However, IBM is also wooing Apple, sources familiar with
the chip said. The company is in a constant tug of war with Motorola,
which makes most of the PowerPC chips slotted into Macs, for Apple's
business.
The new chip offers significantly higher performance than IBM's
current desktop PowerPC 750 and so could provide Apple with a
performance boost if used in future desktop computers, the source
said.
Apple's current desktop machines operate at speeds of up to 1GHz,
with its top-of-the-line model offering a dual 1GHz chip set-up.
In addition to having Power4 DNA, the new PowerPC will use an
eight-way superscalar design, meaning it will be able to issue up to
eight instructions per clock cycle. It will also support symmetric
multiprocessing, allowing more than one chip to be used inside the
same computer, according to the Microprocessor Forum Web site. But
it's not likely this new PowerPC will use chip-multiprocessing
techniques - unlike the Power4, which includes two processors on a
single chip - sources familiar with the plans said.
Moreover, the new PowerPC will have a vector-processing unit with
more than 160 specialized vector instructions, the Microprocessor
Forum site said. This processing unit, which is similar to Motorola's
AltiVec technology, will allow the chip to break up large amounts of
data and process them in parallel form. It will be used when the chip
is handling graphics or processing signals.
The chip's heritage - the Power4 design - suggests that it will be a
high-performance processor. Though it's unclear what clock speed the
new PowerPC will offer, IBM has been gunning for 2GHz. The company
said last year that it intended to hit that speed target by the end
of 2002.
http://www.silicon.com/public/door?6004REQEVENT=&REQINT1=55033&REQSTR
1=silicon.com
By John G Spooner
IBM is planning to design the new desktop PowerPC chip using
technology from its Power4 processor for servers and is talking to
Apple about a potential tie-up, sources say.
Though the server chip has a different name and a different design,
Power4 is essentially a PowerPC processor on steroids. The two chip
families are grounded in the same architectural concepts, but the
Power4 contains enhancements not seen in the PowerPC family.
The new chip, which will be unveiled in the autumn, is designed to
deliver higher clock speeds and 64-bit processing to desktop
computers and also to entry-level servers. Moving to 64-bit
processing from the current 32-bit processing should allow computers
to use more memory and should provide a performance boost with
data-intensive applications such as games and databases.
Network equipment and other communications gear is the most likely
destination for the new PowerPC, as the bulk of existing PowerPCs are
used there. However, IBM is also wooing Apple, sources familiar with
the chip said. The company is in a constant tug of war with Motorola,
which makes most of the PowerPC chips slotted into Macs, for Apple's
business.
The new chip offers significantly higher performance than IBM's
current desktop PowerPC 750 and so could provide Apple with a
performance boost if used in future desktop computers, the source
said.
Apple's current desktop machines operate at speeds of up to 1GHz,
with its top-of-the-line model offering a dual 1GHz chip set-up.
In addition to having Power4 DNA, the new PowerPC will use an
eight-way superscalar design, meaning it will be able to issue up to
eight instructions per clock cycle. It will also support symmetric
multiprocessing, allowing more than one chip to be used inside the
same computer, according to the Microprocessor Forum Web site. But
it's not likely this new PowerPC will use chip-multiprocessing
techniques - unlike the Power4, which includes two processors on a
single chip - sources familiar with the plans said.
Moreover, the new PowerPC will have a vector-processing unit with
more than 160 specialized vector instructions, the Microprocessor
Forum site said. This processing unit, which is similar to Motorola's
AltiVec technology, will allow the chip to break up large amounts of
data and process them in parallel form. It will be used when the chip
is handling graphics or processing signals.
The chip's heritage - the Power4 design - suggests that it will be a
high-performance processor. Though it's unclear what clock speed the
new PowerPC will offer, IBM has been gunning for 2GHz. The company
said last year that it intended to hit that speed target by the end
of 2002.