Originally posted by spikey
I dont see it possible to catch up with intel but with the Athlon it is possible.
It isnt moving very fast really.
Your theory on the G4 powermac is very valid, but i think the reason you give is wrong. Apple wouldnt release a G4 powermac and max it out before they give it to the imac. In my opinion they would let the appollo max out in the imac.
I think the above is not Motorola's biggest tech problem, but Apple's biggest marketing problem. Let me explain. From what I've read, which could be wrong, Mhz is a relative term that varies from processor to processor. Say, a G4 Mhz means something different from an Intel Mhz. It may even be true that a G3 Mhz is different from a G4 Mhz.
This makes sense for a couple of reasons. Number one, Mhz means millions of cycles per second (or cycles, I'm not sure which). So what is one cycle? Could it not vary. Again, this reasoning could be off, and correct it if it is, but one cycle of a bike wheel is a lot different from one cycle of a ferris wheel. The second reason, as I see it, is that the processor is not purely Mhz driven, but other features, like the fact that the Velocity Engine can process 128-bit data chunks or 4 32-bit data chunks at a time, should factor in. Right?
That's why Motorola chips do so much better than comparative Intel and AMD chips. Motorola is foolish and set its Mhz standard relatively high. To change now would be utterly confusing, and perhaps lead to law suits for misleading consumers. This means that Apple has to market the 1 Ghz chip when Intel is marketing a 2.4 Ghz chip, although the motorola's 1 Ghz might be comparable to perhaps a 2 Ghz Intel. Mind you, this still leaves Motorola significantly behind, but not so far behind that it can't catch up. If this new manufacturing process allows Motorola to make faster chips more consistently, the true power of the highest-end Motorola PPC could exceed that of the Intel and AMD processors soon.
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IBM: I Buy Macs.
Microsoft: Software for users with micro-budgets, micro-needs, and micro-brains.
Dell: Sorry, I always get the "D" and "H" keys confused with each other.
Gateway: It is the gateway, to doom.
HP: <b>How</b> about a <b>Printer</b> instead?
Now that we know the new G4's are not topped out, that seems to me that its a pretty good indication that we arent gonna see G5 too soon. Which is fine..
