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sacear

macrumors 6502
Jan 12, 2005
457
0
What I understand (and what I was saying) is that the PPC 970 is speed rated (clocked) by IBM before Apple puts the liquid cooling system on it. So that a 2.7GHz PPC 970 is IBM's 2.7GHz rating. The question is then, is IBM liquid-cooling these chips? Or rating them specifically for liquid cooling? My understanding is that Apple is the only company liquid-cooling the PPC 970 right now. That leads me to believe that the current speed ratings of PPC 970 chips are air-cooled ratings.

P.S.
I was thinking of an AC system, thanks for the clarifiction.
 

Josh

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2004
1,640
1
State College, PA
On the side, related to the naming...

Would it even be possible for the next generation to be called G6 now that there is a Pontiac under that name? (not sure how copyright or trademark comes in to play here)
 

BarfBag

macrumors member
Dec 13, 2004
66
0
sacear said:
Umm, yeah, of course. That is what I said. No one said they would be called G5s. Yet, the next Power Mac model (with Intel processor) could still be called G6.

So, could Apple call the upcoming Intel based Power Mac the "G6?" Well, they could. If they want to. The moniker Gx is Apple's and refers to the Power Macintosh model first and predominantly, and secondarily to the CPU. The CPU was named after the Power Mac model moniker. At this particular time the fifth generation Power Mac just happens to coincide with the fifth generation of PowerPC.

The next generation of Power Mac will still be the sixth (G6), no matter what they call it and no matter what processor is inside. Apple could easily call the new Intel processor based CPU "G6," if Apple uses the sixth generation of some Intel processor (hmm, P6 in the G6?) The Pentium itself was the fifth generation of Intel's x86 processor (80586, i586, P5), the Pentium Pro, Pentium ||, Pentium |||, and Pentium M are the P6, (Pentium M P6 in the Power Mac G6? PowerBook Yonah?) hmm.

So the next machine itself will still be a sixth generation Power Mac (G6). However, Apple may decide to change the naming scheme partially or altogether completely.

G6 already exists. Take a look. http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/s390/pes/
 

mklos

macrumors 68000
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
0
My house!
Josh said:
On the side, related to the naming...

Would it even be possible for the next generation to be called G6 now that there is a Pontiac under that name? (not sure how copyright or trademark comes in to play here)

It wouldn't make any sense to call the new PowerMactel a PowerMac G6. The "G6" would mean that it has the 6th generation of PPC processors in them. Just like the G5 is the 5th generation of PPC processors.

So it shouldn't be called the PowerMac G6 reguardless, unless Apple wants to change the reasoning behing the "G" series.

As far as the Pontiac thing goes, well its 2 completely different things. They're totally unreleated so I can't see how someone can confuse a PowerMac G6 to a Pontiac G6. But, of course GM would sue Apple over the G6 name, because everyone sues Apple for stupid reasons it seems like lately.
 

DakotaGuy

macrumors 601
Jan 14, 2002
4,226
3,791
South Dakota, USA
The "G" model name will die with the PowerPC, that is one thing that I could bet money on.

My guess is they will just call the products what they are and maybe make a series number or go by the Ghz rating.
 

mklos

macrumors 68000
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
0
My house!
Abercrombieboy said:
The "G" model name will die with the PowerPC, that is one thing that I could bet money on.

My guess is they will just call the products what they are and maybe make a series number or go by the Ghz rating.

Thanks for saying the exact same thing I just said!
 

matticus008

macrumors 68040
Jan 16, 2005
3,330
1
Bay Area, CA
Apple will do whatever it wants with regard to the name of the new products, but it's pretty likely that they'll still be PowerMacs. There's no reason to change that. Yes, it came out with the PowerPC processor, but the PowerMac is the brand identifier. It's the name consumers know. If they can get away with calling it a G6, they might, but it wouldn't be the best idea.

Despite all the turmoil the transition is causing in tech circles and for developers, customers don't care and it shouldn't become a big marketing problem. A whole new architecture, sure. But in the end, it's just a different CPU. On the surface, Apple will do everything it can to minimize the impact of the transition. PowerPC-only software, however, will have to come with a disclaimer along the lines of "Designed for G3, G4, and G5 Macintoshes only," meaning that maybe a different letter moniker is in order. "X" is a fashionable letter, but might get confused with the OS's X (ten). Or they could come up with a platform name, use series numbers like Intel's processors, or any of a dozen other ideas.

----------
As far as the speed rating supplied by IBM, I believe the 2.5GHz IBM 970 and the 2.5GHz "Apple G5" that is liquid cooled are identical. The Power server series by IBM is notoriously loud and has heavy-duty cooling equipment. It also belongs in a server farm where noise output isn't particularly important. The air handlers in places like that are usually louder anyway. Apple just went with liquid cooling over installing jet engines in the cases, as its air-cooled G5's sometimes get loud, and just imagine the cooler of a 2.7 PMG5.

That seems to be the most plausible explanation to me, anyway.
 

sacear

macrumors 6502
Jan 12, 2005
457
0
G(x) is Apple's moniker in reference to generation of Power Macintosh

mklos said:
It wouldn't make any sense to call the new PowerMactel a PowerMac G6. The "G6" would mean that it has the 6th generation of PPC processors in them.
No, the Power Mac Gx name refers to the generation of Power Mac independent of the chip inside. The G3 CPU was named after the Power Mac G3 not the other way around.

mklos said:
Just like the G5 is the 5th generation of PPC processors.
The processor is the IBM 970, the G5 name is what Apple calls the CPU.

mklos said:
So it shouldn't be called the PowerMac G6 reguardless, unless Apple wants to change the reasoning behing the "G" series.
The Power Mac Gx name refers to and has always referred to the generation of Power Mac first. The next generation of Power Mac will be the sixth, regardless of CPU.
 
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