thedoc1111 said:
The 750 series made by IBM still have a superior architecture than any Motorola Chip.
Actually, they aren't. The 74xx series can dispatch more instructions per clock, has a more efficient system bus, and has a better floating point unit. The only thing that was really disappointing about the 74xx series was Motorola's lack of motivation to make them run at high clock speeds.
thedoc1111 said:
The Altivec unit need not be a retrofit, as the unit in the G5, for instance, isn't identical to the G4 unit but just bolted on the side.
Retrofit: to install (new or modified parts or equipment) in something previously manufactured or constructed
The 970 was designed with Altivec, as such the Altivec unit was not retrofitted into it. The 750 was not designed with Altivec, as such adding one would be a retrofit. But that is just arguing semantics (you could say the 970 was originally a Power4, therefore it is, and that a "750VX" was a new chip and thus it is not, but the reality is that each chip was designed to be what it is).
thedoc1111 said:
We know what happened when one company relied on just one high end processor series and expected it to fulfil every role (desktop, high-end laptop, low-end laptop, intergrated compact computer, high-end server). I think the company's name began with an
'M' perhaps.
IBM sells 400 series PowerPCs for embedded operations, 600 & 700 series for systems that require processing power on a small power budget, the 900 series for workstation class performance, and the Power series for server class performance. Of all those chips, only one comes with an Altivec unit (the 970) and I doubt that either Apple or IBM is willing to invest in adding Altivec to a 750 when 1) Motorola sells a better unit in the 7447/7457 and 2) The added circuitry would likely make the 750 worse than the 7447/7457 in terms of power usage.
thedoc1111 said:
There is no hard evidence yet, but we will see.
Yup, and there is no good reason to make one either. If you want 750 power usage and Altivec, go grab a 7447/7457. If you want lower power and don't need Altivec, grab a 750. If you want Altivec and high performance, grab a 970.
thedoc1111 said:
(And btw, the 750 is not obsolete, look at the wattage numbers:
The FX has equivalent Watt per Megahertz to the new Pentium M Series at 8W for 800-900MHz. (1)
The GX has 1MB 1:1 speed L2 cache and is likely to have even better characteristics.
What is obsolete about that?)
(1)
http://www.silentpcreview.com/modul...ns&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=31&page=1
The 970 FX consumes 12.3W at 1.4Ghz and is considerably faster than the 750. It has a slightly smaller cache, but also a superior bus. Adding Altivec to a 750 could potentially add 2-4 watts to the power budget of the 750, making it no better than the 7447/7457
and still not as fast as the 970FX.
. There is zero, zilch, zip, no evidence that the 750VX ever has or ever will exist. Really. Don't count on ever hearing about it. IBM would be better off spending their research dollars on making the 97x series lower power and with a better Altivec implementation than in retrofitting a 750 with an Altivec unit. iBooks will stay with Motorola G4s until the PowerBooks have had G5s for 12-18 months, and then we will be able to bid adieu to Motorola's sinking chip ship.