IBM today announced that the first servers based on its next generation POWER5 microprocessors are up and running in IBM’s Poughkeepsie labs. Initial internal performance tests indicate that POWER5 based eServer systems are expected to offer four times the system performance over the first POWER4 based servers. Apple’s new Power Mac G5 PowerPC 970 CPU is based upon IBM’s POWER4 microprocessor.
POWER5 based eServer systems are expected to start shipping to customers next year in IBM eServer pSeries and iSeries systems as well as IBM TotalStorage(TM) Enterprise Storage Server.
“This is a significant milestone for IBM and our customers,” said Adalio Sanchez, general manager, IBM eServer pSeries in the press release. “Since its inception IBM has delivered the POWER technology roadmap with substantial performance improvement from one generation to the next. IBM is committed to winning by consistently delivering customers the best performing technology at the lowest possible cost.”
POWER5 based eServer pSeries systems will be available with AIX – the industry’s fastest growing UNIX operating system (based on year-to year IDC Q1 03 UNIX server tracking data) – or Linux, offering customers the widest possible choice for proven application support.
IBM previously announced that the Department of Energy will use over 12,000 POWER5 microprocessors to power ASCI Purple, the world’s first supercomputer that will be capable of up to 100 teraflops of processing power, which will be more than twice as fast as the most powerful computer in existence today.
IBM’s POWER family of microprocessors is among the most widely used in the industry and can be found in Nintendo game consoles, Apple computers and some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers and storage systems.
POWER5 to be the basis for the Power Mac G6?
I would bet that it will be in the XServer line sooner rather than later.
PowerPC 980 in the next generation Mac, included PowerBook
12,000 processers in one machine.
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Wonder how many fans that needs
Hmm wonder if that will be faster than dual prescott machines. Probably not if you ask a wintel head
“IBM previously announced that the Department of Energy will use over 12,000 POWER5 microprocessors to power ASCI Purple, the world’s first supercomputer that will be capable of up to 100 teraflops of processing power, which will be more than twice as fast as the most powerful computer in existence today.”
I hope they don’t use Apple’s benchmarking technique to figure that out!!!
I don’t know what IBM did to achieve performance four times greater. However, as with ‘hyperthreading’, improvements for server systems don’t necessarily translate to all applications. So, I wonder how these improvements might ultimately translate to a Mac.
Perhaps instead of G6 they should call it the G5+. That way when the Power 6 becomes a chip for Apple, it can be the G6, matching the numbers.
The Power4 core was the basis of the core for the PowerPC 970 (aka G5). The Power5 core is the basis of the core for the PowerPC 980. Will the 980 be labeled G6? I don’t know. I’m inclined to believe not since the 980 is expected sometime next year (too soon for another processor renaming…it’ll prolly be labeled somethingl ike G5+ or something the same way that the G4+ was used and the PPC 604e was used). Just my to cents.
Don:
Wierd; that’s *exactly* what I was thinking.
Brother Mugga
PS: By the way, having the same train of consciousness should *really* concern you. I’d stuff out in the buffet car and then jump off at the next stop, if I were you…
Apple didn’t do the G5 benchmark nimrod. It was a 3rd
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party company that did it. Can’t stand the thought of
your puny pentium getting royally toasted, eh?
Mac Maven
OR…
Matt was being quite droll?
I’m going for option ‘B’ to be honest.
Jeeesh, this G5 really is getting everyone’s goat (whatever that means).
When I switch, I’m keeping the PC just so I can be all things to all men….
Brother Mugga
Here is the key point:
When that Power5-derived PowerPC980 becomes available to Apple, we will have even faster Macs! How they name the chip isn’t really that important, is it?
Would that Apple would chime in and state that its next XServe will be using the POWER5 Lite or something… but they don’t, they won’t, they’re afraid sales of XServes would dry up.
But just knowing that some type of G5/970/980 XServe is in the works would likely be having the same affect already, without anything to help organizations plan.
Ahh the naming debate …
Here is my take:
The entire “G” series was a motorola thing to start ..
So Rename the current towers Just G5, No powermac, Call it a Stop Gap
Then The power5s release , Make the “pro” line the “Power5” The consumer line the “g5” and we have a happy public thinking wow awesome a g5, when its still just the same consumer line changed over for cost reasons, and model year updates.
Easy marketing , easy product identification, Same Consumer identity. .. dont put it past them. Remember the Quadra/Centris days or the performa/powermac days? more recently the powermac/imac.
the powermac moniker is getting long in the tooth .. expect a change … Notce a 5th gen imac strangely absent … what about the “power V” and the “imac V”, for concorrunt release, weve been mighty fond of roman numerals as of late ..
Anyways My 2 cents
Hoop
When Apple do get to use a modified version of this chip, then it would make sense to call that the G6 – because it would be great progress, an would look like ‘momentum’. In the meantime, the G5 is not quite here yet – but almost, and a faster second revision may be available sometime next year. Steve said in 12 months time.
– Nice if it had more integer units next time.
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