ISSCC 2004: IBM on PowerPC 970FX

[MacRumors]

This IDG news article provides some very limited coverage if IBM's PowerPC presentation yesterday at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2004.

This particular article offers very few details, but does confirm a 2.5GHz rated PowerPC 970FX from IBM. According to senior technical staff member at IBM:

IBM's 2.5GHz PowerPC 970FX will dissipate about 50 watts of power during typical use, down from 66 watts consumed by its PowerPC 970 predecessor at a lower clock speed

Apple is using the PowerPC 970FX (at 2.0 GHz) in their Xserve G5s, and will presumably use the new processor in upcoming PowerMac revisions. More coverage of IBM's Monday presentation will be posted as available. IBM will also presenting information on the PowerTune technology on Wednesday February 18th.

[ph8te]

Is it not wonderful when so much is in the pipeline. Soon we will be inundated by new products and our choices will be limitless

[phonic pol]

Powermac updates here we come! What's the bets on early March?

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by ph8te
Is it not wonderful when so much is in the pipeline. Soon we will be inundated by new products and our choices will be limitless

Limitless? What are you talking about here? There's always something better coming along...

Its great that the 2.5 GHz uses less W than the previous version....makes you wonder if they could get even more out of it and keep the watts the same

D

[Mudbug]

good point - they've already made a rather incredible cooling system, so why worry so much about the wattage (heat dissipation) and worry more about sheer speed.

[johnpaul191]

well it said wednesday they will talk about powertune.... it's possible the Xserve chips are the chips capable of 2.5GHz but have been throttled down to 2.0GHz for heat reasons. that is if the rumors are true about powertune.....
*if* that's true, then new powermacs would just need a sufficient supply of these chips, and for the timing to be right for a release (low enough stock of the current models and whatnot). There were a lot of assumptions that the G5 case was able to cool a chip running much hotter than the 970/G5 currently in there.

[whookam]

Well it might not be the update that I want (PM!!!) but at least that frickin' awful iTunes/Pepsi front page has been replaced.

[gwuMACaddict]

mmmmm.... power mac upgrades... :drool:

[phonic pol]

Looking at the article in question reference is made to apple releasing one updated powermac with the new 2.5 GHz chip. If this is the case then the G5 powermac lineup will not change much short of one speed bump and some price reductions on the dual 2.0 and 1.8 GHz. Perhaps even deleting the dual 1.8 and keeping the 1.6 so as to have more even gaps between the speeds! Perhaps this is the reason why the dual 1.8 was released late ’03 – to diminish current stocks? Just a thought.

[numediaman]

This week will be the week of the mini iPod (and probably next week, as well). This should clear the decks for some updates or new product introductions.

This year has been incredibly disappointing so far. First, no desktop or laptop introductions at MWSF (in retrospect, the XServe news was important, however). A new iLife at MWSF, but it turns out that both iMovie 4 and iDVD 4 are disasters (I'm glad to see GarageBand looks great). Nothing at the Super Bowl except a poorly executed Pepsi campaign. Has the Apple marketing team taken the first quarter off?

I like what I'm hearing from IBM -- but I wonder, why the slow pace of updates? Is Apple locked into a contract with Motorola that they can't get out of?

I'm also concerned about the state of Apple software introductions. All I'm hearing is bad news concerning new software: QuickTime 6.5 is withdrawn (for G5 users), iMovie & iDVD suck, and 10.3.3 is withdrawn because it makes 20" iMacs blow up (OK, I made that last part up).

Let's hope March is better.

[wordmunger]

Originally posted by phonic pol
Looking at the article in question reference is made to apple releasing one updated powermac with the new 2.5 GHz chip. If this is the case then the G5 powermac lineup will not change much short of one speed bump and some price reductions on the dual 2.0 and 1.8 GHz. Perhaps even deleting the dual 1.8 and keeping the 1.6 so as to have more even gaps between the speeds! Perhaps this is the reason why the dual 1.8 was released late ’03 – to diminish current stocks? Just a thought.

I think you might be overreading the article. "Expected" in this case probably refers to the fact that we're all expecting the 90 nm chips in new G5s. I doubt the writer has any inside information about how or when those chips will show up.

[wordmunger]

Originally posted by numediaman
it turns out that both iMovie 4 and iDVD 4 are disasters

I had heard about the problems with iDVD, but what's wrong with iMovie? I've only seen good reviews, mostly praising bug fixes from iMovie 3.

[niall2]

Surprised this one hasn't come up. I don't know the specs on the G4 in my Powerbook, but if you can drop the power to 50 Watts at 2.5 GHz how fast does the power/heat curve drop on these bad boys. When can we expect a 2 GHz G5 Powerbook?

[a17inchFuture]

Is it just me, or do PM updates seem like a really dumb idea?(EDIT: a slight exaggeration) If one takes into account the fact that they updated literally a few months ago, I think it is ridiculous for Apple users to be griping for new ones. I mean come on, i get chided for asking for new powerbook revisions on this forum.

Being the line of apple's that has been most recently updated, i sincerely hope they don't update again before powerbooks. Its a bit ridiculous, really, that people are so demanding as well. Sure, the uppermost model wasn't changed, but everything else was.

The powermac's are nowhere in need of updating as much as the PB's.

They still have G4's, remember?

Sure PM's are easier to update than PB's, but with apple, its one product every few months, and personally, I will be disappointed if we are made to wait so 200 mhz can be added to the top of the line.

Seems less worthy to me.

[agreenster]

Thinking about it, this seems right on track with Apple's traditional timetable. August was the original intro for the G5, 6-7 months later (march) is the 2.5 update, 5-6 months later (August) is the 3.0 update.

Makes sense to me.

Difference is, we are seeing huge speedbumps instead of those dinky ones we were used to seeing. To 2.5 from 2 is pretty large. Remember when 500mhz was as fast as any Mac you could get? Now thats the increments the processors are moving in every 6 months. Nice. Theorhetically, we could see 4-4.5ghz G5s (G6?) by Summer 2005 at the rate IBM and the PPC is growing.

[robotrenegade]

We need news about G5 PB!!!

[cbatt]

PowerMac upgrades?

PowerBook upgrades!

C'mon Apple, show us the love!

[numediaman]

Originally posted by wordmunger
I had heard about the problems with iDVD, but what's wrong with iMovie? I've only seen good reviews, mostly praising bug fixes from iMovie 3.

I don't know whether the problem is iMovie itself, or the interface with iDVD. I'll admit, I don't have either because I am waiting on new G5s. But the problems have been dominating the Apple discussion boards since their introduction (discussions.info.apple.com). Threads with names like "IMovie 4 - worst update ever" are not encouraging (even taking into account that discussion boards tend to be negative because satisfied customers have no need to go to them).

One of the best "work arounds" I've heard is not exporting your iMovie to iDVD, but instead sharing using the DV Stream settings -- then bring that new file into iDVD. If you are considering upgrading to iLife 4, and plan to use either piece of software mentioned, I would strongly recommend looking at these boards so you will be familiar with the problems and work arounds.

At this point, I'm sure I will need to buy both DVD StudioPro and Final Cut Express if I want to successfully burn DVDs (using Toast is another option, of course).

My hope is that Apple will introduce 10.3.3, a new QuickTime, and iLife 4.1 in time for new G5s.

[a17inchFuture]

P.S., its been 154 days out of the average wait of 163 days for new pb's. Only nine more days til its reached the average. i ahve to say I am slightly disappointed in Apple. there last pb update came 8 months after the previous one, and this one is shaping up to be longer than average as well. That is pretty frickin' weak, as far as I am concerned.

So, literally, in a year and two months, Apple has managed to SQUEEZE less than 100 mhz more out of their processor for their high end pb. . . .

Wow, that is extremely impressive. oh wait, no, no it isn't impresive at all. Sure, they put out a completely new 15 inch version in september, but as far as I am concerned, those 15 inches shoudl ahv been aprt of the prior update in january. So in reality, we have had nothing but disappointments from apple in that regard.

Just put the goddamn pb updates out, and for crying out loud!! And they better be damn worthy updates,too. I don't want just 66 mhz more.

[agreenster]

Originally posted by a17inchFuture
Is it just me, or do PM updates seem like a really dumb idea? ...I think it is ridiculous for Apple users to be griping for new ones.

Sure, the uppermost model wasn't changed, but everything else was.

I think whats the driving force is that the Mac hasnt been the FASTEST home computer in like, 10 years. So Mac enthusiasts really want to get to see a 3ghz G5, which could potentially actually be the fastest with all the new compilers and stuff. Plus, the primary purpose of a PowerMac is Power alone. Not portability or an all-in-one. POWER. So any time we see potential for MORE power (oh oh oh), we drool over it.

PowerBooks have had less of a driving force to be cutting egde, because lets face it, they're laptops and will never be true workstations. Innovations there are less about power and more about wireless network, form factor, LCD res, etc.

Though I would also like to see PBG5's, being a 3D animator, I care monumentally more about speed and performance. My 1ghz PB is perfect for what I need it for: portability, usability, etc. But I certainly dont use it for rendering or large scene animations.

Thats what my dual Xeon is for. But you see, I wont trade in my Xeon until I can see matched performance from a G5. THATS why we wants updates.

::side note::
The only update 2 months ago was with the 1.8 line, making it dual. Thats all. I wouldnt call it a revision. No new chips were introduced. 6 months for chip revision is common for the PM line.

[phonic pol]

Makes total sense to me that PM's are updated sooner than PB's - the powermac is apple's flagship line and provides the material to which the PC competition craps itself i.e. more business and more people like me switching! Bring on the heat!

[HiRez]

Originally posted by niall2
Surprised this one hasn't come up. I don't know the specs on the G4 in my Powerbook, but if you can drop the power to 50 Watts at 2.5 GHz how fast does the power/heat curve drop on these bad boys. When can we expect a 2 GHz G5 Powerbook?

The last I heard, there was a 2.0 GHz 90nm G5 chip that can throttle back to 1.4 GHz (and anywhere in-between). Seems like this is the one they might use for a PowerBook. IIRC, at 2.0 GHz, it used something like 25-27 watts (probably maximum as opposed to typical, but still quite a lot for that form-factor), and at 1.4 GHz, people were speculating in the neighborhood of 12 watts. Personally, I'd rather have a dual 1.4 GHz G5 PowerBook than a single 1.4-2.0, but that's just me. That's probably doable in the 17", but tricky in the 15", and almost impossible in the 12". Plus there are still power issues with the current memory and system controllers that are probably helping to hold up a portable G5 design. Getting a 90nm G5 into a PowerBook certainly looks promising, but there's a lot more to the equation than just the CPU.

[a17inchFuture]

Originally posted by numediaman


At this point, I'm sure I will need to buy both DVD StudioPro and Final Cut Express if I want to successfully burn DVDs (using Toast is another option, of course).

Umm, if you can get what you need out of imovie and idvd (the non-buggy versions, obviously) then FCP and DVDSP are way too complex and expensive for your tastes.

I personnally am a film director, so i know about these things. If you absolutely need to buy something, try FCP express and then using it with idvd, because buying both in unneccessary it sounds like (imovie is the prob, that or its interaction with idvd), and if you are a "home-video" editor, as imovie and idvd have made so many people into, then you really wont use 90 percent of FCP's features, and at 1000 dollars, that's quite a large investment, not to mention the 1000 for DVDSP!

Good luck, whichever way you go!

[agreenster]

Originally posted by a17inchFuture

Just put the goddamn pb updates out, and for crying out loud!! And they better be damn worthy updates,too. I don't want just 66 mhz more.

Relax there Tonto. How long was the wait between the G3 powerbooks and the G4 powerbooks? Quite a bit if I remember, over a year.

Trust me, Apple isnt sitting around saying, "Nah, lets not make a G5 powerbook. Who wants those?" Its a matter of developing the technology, and keeping it from FRYING the motherboard and casing. Do you want a G5 Powerbook or a skillet? Take it easy. They're coming. Making a 64bit Powerbook aint exactly easy.

[Some_Big_Spoon]

Originally posted by whookam
Well it might not be the update that I want (PM!!!) but at least that frickin' awful iTunes/Pepsi front page has been replaced.

Yes, but replaced by an equally awful ipod mini countdown.. ugh.. that is just a grim deal