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IBM's PowerPC 970FX... at 2.5GHz?

so, uh, upgrades soon?

Then another upgrade come WWDC '04.

Since Apple missed the Jan. upgrade on Power Macs I think they should just wait until WWDC and do a MAJOR upgrade.

But hey, that's just one man's opinion and this one man is not getting a new computer soon.
 
IMO this is what will appear in the next powermacs:

PCI express maybe, it will depend on who releases capable graphics cards. ATI 420 and Nvidia NV40 will be anounced Feb-March with availability in May-June coiciding with the new G5's.

Hypertransport 2, unlikely it was only recently anounced, possible but it would require basicley a motherboard overhaul.

DDR2, IMO this will have negative imapact on performance when used with the G5 as the memory system is prety good and efficient anyway, all youll get is much higher latency in return for 133MHz increase in memory speed. DDR2 will have to mature like DDR did before increases in performance happen and also dont expect modules to be cheap, especially 1GB/2GB DIMMS. Could happen.

Ondie Memory controller yes likely.

Dono about the audio.

CPU's above 3GHz, unlikely unless Apple is employing liquid cooling, it will be too hot/ too loud.
 
It's not too hot!

I read that the 90nm G5 only uses 11w@1.4ghz and 24w@2.0ghz as opposed to the 130nm G5 which draws 51w@2.0ghz.

These numbers are very respectable for a laptop. It won't need liquid cooling!

Expect G5 PowerBooks this summer!
 
Re: It's not too hot!

Originally posted by digitalbiker

These numbers are very respectable for a laptop. It won't need liquid cooling!

Expect G5 PowerBooks this summer!
Click to expand...

I was talking about the desktop. Liquid cooloing is only effective if your radiator is big, not exactly ideal for a laptop.
 
Originally posted by limpidezza
This is (slightly off topic but still) interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/11/technology/11CND-CHIP.html?hp
Click to expand...

I read the article... very interesting. The technology seems at least a decade away from any real world use though.

As for the G5's this year... what's up? I don't get why we haven't heard a peep, good or bad. Makes me wonder why there hasn't been an update.

I have some theories though:

1. Either Apple has something big up their sleeve (unlikely at this point),

2. the chip has run into serious manufacturing delays...

3. Apple is trying to reorganize it's release schedule to better coincide with Intel/AMD chip releases (basically, they may be rescheduling their release schedule due to the fallout of the whole Macworld Boston fiasco)
 
Re: It's not too hot!

Originally posted by digitalbiker
I read that the 90nm G5 only uses 11w@1.4ghz and 24w@2.0ghz as opposed to the 130nm G5 which draws 51w@2.0ghz.

These numbers are very respectable for a laptop. It won't need liquid cooling!

Expect G5 PowerBooks this summer!
Click to expand...

i think 51 W was even at 1.8 Ghz so the 2ghz at 130 nm even consumes more.. thats a lot for a dual at 130nm (still less than new P4)
24,5W@2.0 is pretty impressive 4 new PowerPC 970 take as much energie as _one_ new Pentium 4

11w@1.4 seems good but how much faster is the 1.4G5 than the 1.33 G4 ?
somebody has more Watt usage facts about those G4s,Pentium-Ms ?
 
If the power usage spread is similar typical/maximum, then the 2.5GHz 90nm may be replacing the 1.8 and/or 2.0GHz 130nm part.

Since you're looking at somewhere around 51W typical/100W maximum right now for each G5 CPU.

So a DP 2.5GHz G5 in the middle or top position wouldn't be too bad coming up real soon.

But it all depends on the yield of the faster chips...
 
well 3 GHz in th Fall... so do the math

Last year when Jobs unveiled the 2GHz G5 he mentioned hitting 3GHz in about a year..... if you guess the 3GHz will hit the stores about 12 months after the 2GHz ones hit the racks at the Big Mac cluster... that's still a few months off. That would allow for one more revision before then, or maybe 2 minor hops? It's a safe guess the 3GHz chips won't just be faster versions of what the towers have now, so whatever IBM presents next week will probably give insight into the next revision.... unless the towers just get what is in the Xserves now. it is possible the Xserve's get the initial batches of these chips so they could have any G5 chip due to their tighter requirements. They also guess a year or so for a G5 laptop so unless something crazy happens, it will be more than a few months.

will all the other investment in IBM and the demand for the G5 family of chips from IBM, it will only lead to better things from IBM. you may be unhappy now, but think about how we all felt a year ago when Motorolla was still making all the big chips. Moto is refocusing their efforts into other things, and IBM's 970/980 plans seem solid and safe.
 
Originally posted by MacsRgr8
This feels gr8!

What a difference IBM has made (eh.. will make?) to Apple's future!
Click to expand...

Not if Apple decides to not to put them into the whole product line because people keep buying G4 based Macs.
 
For me, one of the conclusions to draw from the article is that the processors IBM is about to ship are intended for new desktop machines rather than the XServes (since the article says the latter have already been shipped). On the earlier thread today, many were speculating that this new batch was intended for XServes. This gives me hope for new desktops sooner rather than later.
 
Originally posted by g30ffr3y
we still need to see these chips get into the product line... i hope the wait isnt going to be too much longer... though ill probably keep waiting til the dual 3's that were promised a big speed bump would definatly help apple keep momentum and give bragging rights over the winblows boxes...
Click to expand...

Apple get the lead out. If we are supposed to see 3GHz by summer, shouldn't there be mid year speed bump? We're not really going to see a full year between upgrades to the Pro Desktop are we?
 
Originally posted by l008com
I love that this web site reports "news" it sees on other sites, that is just speculation of rumors the authors read from this site in the first place. Which I'm sure is why we have no G5 20th Ann. iMacs, no bumped G5 towers yet. Everyone is too hyped up on rumors these days, rumors are now self-sustaining.
Click to expand...

I 2nd that motion 100% :D
 
Moblie Processor

If you take a look at the linked report IBM did not have a processor in the "mobile" category. I remember reading something about IBM creating a mobile version simultaneously with the 970 desktop processor. Any new news on that if it's true? Maybe the G5 won't be put into a Powerbook until there is a mobile version of it.
 
they did long ago...

i can assamble my 64bit notebook myself (athlon 64 3000+ mobile)...

and its about 1000-1200 eur (what you really pay if you got good connections ;p)
 
Neat-O!

I like the line about "it won't be matched by AMD or Intel anytime soon" - that's the kind of talk we need to hear more of. King of the hill for a while, and able to hold the position in the future.

I'll take two, please. :D
 
Originally posted by Sun Baked
If the power usage spread is similar typical/maximum, then the 2.5GHz 90nm may be replacing the 1.8 and/or 2.0GHz 130nm part.

Since you're looking at somewhere around 51W typical/100W maximum right now for each G5 CPU.

So a DP 2.5GHz G5 in the middle or top position wouldn't be too bad coming up real soon.

But it all depends on the yield of the faster chips...
Click to expand...
True and i wonder how many chips Ibm can produce in a month or a qtr? the 90nm can allways be clocked down to run in those laptops. 1.4 and 1.6 is very feasable and crank em up for powermacs and IMACS.
 
Originally posted by army_guy
and the 2.5Ghz will be released what? yes 25% but its hasnt been updated since its release. From a technical point of view the G5 should be at 2.6-3.0GHz now they just seem to be hanging around.
Click to expand...

Oy. Based on what?

The 970FX will clock, by most accounts, at 2.4 to 2.6 Ghz top end and consume, on average, 25W of power. It peaks around 55W or so. The 970 in use in G5's now uses almost DOUBLE that.

While I agree that a top of the line 970FX won't go in a laptop, the 1.6 or 1.8 chips run at 12 watts. That's plenty low. Again, I'm just referencing documents and discussion on these boards, so it's possible this could be proven wrong with IBM presents later this month.

The G5 does, indeed, run at up to 3.4 GHz right now if you count the 975 prototypes... but they are what will be in the june annoucement, august-september sale, revision of the G5.

All in all, it's clear the G5 will receive a 2.5 +/- 100 Mhz upgrade in the immediate future. Probably by mid March. In June they will announce the 3 Ghz+ upgrade, which will probably include HyperTransport 2.0.

My personal belief is that if Jobs said 3 GHz in one year (last June would place this announcement this June at WWDC), that he will EASILY be able to deliver on this. To that end, I agree with you that the parts we are all speculating about are indeed ready or imminently ready. Anyone that doubts the incredible talent of IBM's microprocessor factory is a fool. I know some people in the mix and they are working on stuff (not apple specific) that would make your jaw drop.

Jobs will be able to announce a 3.2 or 3.4 in june I'd bet. If you look at history you can EASILY extrapolate what is going to happen. Each time they rev. the pro line, it's roughly 20% CPU GHz/MHz increase, and they do it roughly every 6 months.
 
apple should hurry the PB G5. many profesional make look elsewhere for a 64bit processor
 
Originally posted by Illan
apple should hurry the PB G5. many profesional make look elsewhere for a 64bit processor
Click to expand...

If they're really professionals then I think they'll know better and wait.
 
Originally posted by crees!
If they're really professionals then I think they'll know better and wait.
Click to expand...

Exactly. People don't just wake up in the "professional world" and say "HEY... it's March 1st - time for a new laptop. Oh no, no new mac laptops, guess I'll completely change my work strategy and switch to PCs now."

It just doesn't work that way. Working folk who depend on a mac laptop have fine choices available to them right now, and if they feel they need to have the G5, they'd probably rather wait an extra little while and get a _finished_ product, rather than a rushed one, or just buy a desktop G5.
 
Originally posted by limpidezza
This is (slightly off topic but still) interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/11/technology/11CND-CHIP.html?hp
Click to expand...

From that article
One potential application, he said, would be an interactive digital television system allowing viewers to watch a sporting event from multiple angles, moving the point of view at will while the game is being played. With only a limited number of digital cameras, it might be possible to synthesize a virtual moveable seat any place in the stadium. Such a feature exists currently in video games, but it is far beyond the capacity of today's digital television transmission systems.
Click to expand...
Yea, sure. And I remember Byte magazine in 1995 or so (right before they went out of print) talking about Biological memory that would revolutionize RAM as we know it. Um, 9 years now and I don't think it's happening.

This Star Trek techno-stuff is interesting in a Lab, but actually putting into a product that you can make money with is a whole 'nother ball-game.
 
Originally posted by eric_n_dfw
Yea, sure. And I remember Byte magazine in 1995 or so (right before they went out of print) talking about Biological memory that would revolutionize RAM as we know it. Um, 9 years now and I don't think it's happening.

This Star Trek techno-stuff is interesting in a Lab, but actually putting into a product that you can make money with is a whole 'nother ball-game.
Click to expand...

Good point, and weren't we all supposed to be living on the moon by now?
 
Originally posted by Illan
apple should hurry the PB G5. many profesional make look elsewhere for a 64bit processor
Click to expand...

Yeah! I'm a professional and I have a 1.25 AlPB, but if Apple doesn't get off of their lazy asses and make me a 64bit PB* I'm switching to Windows...

HA, ha, haa, aha, haaa, ha... ha... um, sorry. ;)

* Which I really, really need for PS, AI and ID by the way. :rolleyes:
 
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