Power5 Processor Notes

[Gyroscope]

Originally posted by Plutoniq
It may be that this chip (or derivitive) will be used by Apple for use in Powerbooks. Considering the 970's lack of Dynamic Power Management, the inclusion of this on the Power 5 seems to hint towards portable application. The speed of the chip (1.5ghz) seems so line up well with where the 7457 G4's will finish off (1.33ghz). As far as the 130nm process, considering that the upcoming PowerPC 750GX & Moto's 7457 utilize the same die size (Both portable CPU's), theres no reason why the G5 has to come down to a 90nm process before it is able to be used in portables.

The lack of dynamic power management onboard the 970's seems to imply that it was never designed, and maybe never will be used for, a portable CPU.

P9

From Arstechnica article

Regarding my question about the 970's power management capabilities, Sandon had this to say:

Peter Sandon: Well, it's got doze/nap/sleep mode, which we've supported on previous PowerPCs, which turns off some parts of the processor when things are quiet--under OS control. Then, it also has for thermal management a diode on chip for monitoring temperature with leads that just go off chip allowing external control.

 

[a1291762]

Power5 is not a desktop CPU

Why must people spread confusion about IBM's new CPUs?

The Power5 is the successor to the Power4 and is a server-class CPU. You would not want one of these in your desktop machine. It will not include Altivec. It will sacrifice Mhz for reliability. It will cost much more than the latest P4. It will probably use more power then a P4 too. It will be used in IBM "mainframes"/servers.

There are rumors of a PPC980 that is based on the Power5. This is the chip that Apple can use in their machines.

If you don't think this will be significantly different to the Power5, compare the 970 and the Power4. The 980 will use the same technology as the Power5 but it will be a very different chip. For example, I would not expect to see multiple cores on the 980 even though they're on the Power4 and Power5.

/rant

 

[panphage]

Yes, Power5 is not the G5+ OR the G6, it's IBMs next big iron badboy. Apparently we are looking for a 980 instead of the Power5. Can anyone confirm the thought bouncing around in my head that the Power5 and the "980" were supposed to be developed concurrently?

 

[hvfsl]

Originally posted by panphage
Yes, Power5 is not the G5+ OR the G6, it's IBMs next big iron badboy. Apparently we are looking for a 980 instead of the Power5. Can anyone confirm the thought bouncing around in my head that the Power5 and the "980" were supposed to be developed concurrently?

There is no reason why Apple won't use the Power5 in its own servers, or maybe even high end desktops. And about the power5 costing more than a P4, well the G4 and PPC970 already costs more than a P4, which costs a lot more than a AMD chip.

And as the PPC970 is based on the Power4, a PPC980 is meant to be in development by IBM (according to their road map), but I can't remember if it is based on a Power5 or just an evolution of the current PPC970.

 

[mim]

Originally posted by hvfsl
There is no reason why Apple won't use the Power5 in its own servers, or maybe even high end desktops. And about the power5 costing more than a P4, well the G4 and PPC970 already costs more than a P4, which costs a lot more than a AMD chip.

And as the PPC970 is based on the Power4, a PPC980 is meant to be in development by IBM (according to their road map), but I can't remember if it is based on a Power5 or just an evolution of the current PPC970.

Err, I think the Power4/5 would cost a lot lot lot more. Like more than you can imagine more. We can't say for sure, because Big Blue dosn't sell them to anyone else.

As an example the p630 (the last Power4 server I checked out) cost about $100,000 - and that was a dual processor.

They will not be going into Apple machines.

Currently a P4 3.2Ghz is about $600.
Last year a MPC7455 1 Ghz was about $300 .

Cheap

<edit: found more current prices for the p630 ( and that's IBM's LOW end server, mind you) at around $20,000 for a single Power4+.

 

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by hvfsl
And about the power5 costing more than a P4, well the G4 and PPC970 already costs more than a P4, which costs a lot more than a AMD chip.

What is the price of the 970, and in what quantity?

 

[neilw]

If a PPC980 is built (and I assume it will), then it would figure to have a single core with SMT (a la Power5), plus a (possibly) improved Altivec unit. And it would also presumably start at 90 nm. That should give it a nice performance boost over the 970.

So we'll see the Power5 technologies, but not the dual core. The question is when.

Right now, I'd be satisfied with the 90 nm 970, deployed across the Powermac, PowerBook and iMac lines.

[above is personal opinion only]

 

[Vlade]

Re: Power5 is not a desktop CPU

Originally posted by a1291762
The Power5 is the successor to the Power4 and is a server-class CPU. You would not want one of these in your desktop machine.
/rant

I want one, it would be incredible, but they are WAY WAY WAY to expensive, and most likely wouldn't run OS X.