I was intrigued by this latest article on Geek.com, which talks about the performance of IBM's 970 processor vs Intel's P4. It basically says what everyone pretty much already knew. The 970, when it's released (and regardless of Apple's adoption), will be behind in comparison to the P4 at its highest clock speed.
When released, the 970's highest clock speed will be 1.8GHz. The Intel P4 is already at 3GHz and that number is likely climb before the 970's debut. However, it should be recognized that the 970 at 1.8GHz delivers 937 SPECint2000 Base and 1051 SPECfp2000 Base. By comparison, the P4 at 1.8GHz only delivers 596 SPECint2000 Base and 618 SPECfp2000 Base. The P4 at 3GHz does manage to beat the fastest 970 with 1085 SPECint2000 Base and 1092 SPECfp2000 Base.
It's interesting, I've been reading more and more about IBM's future PPC plans and I'm very surprised. They say that they hope to make the 970 reach 6GHz within the next couple of years. Hopefully, IBM will actually make the effort and Apple's PPC dilemma will be a thing of the past.
So, if Apple does decide to adopt the 970, how fast do you think it will be by the end of 2004?
When released, the 970's highest clock speed will be 1.8GHz. The Intel P4 is already at 3GHz and that number is likely climb before the 970's debut. However, it should be recognized that the 970 at 1.8GHz delivers 937 SPECint2000 Base and 1051 SPECfp2000 Base. By comparison, the P4 at 1.8GHz only delivers 596 SPECint2000 Base and 618 SPECfp2000 Base. The P4 at 3GHz does manage to beat the fastest 970 with 1085 SPECint2000 Base and 1092 SPECfp2000 Base.
It's interesting, I've been reading more and more about IBM's future PPC plans and I'm very surprised. They say that they hope to make the 970 reach 6GHz within the next couple of years. Hopefully, IBM will actually make the effort and Apple's PPC dilemma will be a thing of the past.
So, if Apple does decide to adopt the 970, how fast do you think it will be by the end of 2004?