Revised PM G5s?

[masterjedi73]

What is the real difference going to be? What will the real difference in the processor do for someone who uses the computer for graphics and music? I don't understand the 90 nanometer stuff....what is in the current? how is it different? why should I wait till they debut to buy a mac?

 

[Sun Baked]

The conversation about what's happening is here...

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=8300945231&m=9080959175&p=21

Basically a die shrink, unknown internal changes...

So most of the speed increase is the MHz bump.

 

[wordmunger]

I read the Ars technica thread. Pretty technical, but the basic gist seems to be that 90 nm is cheaper and cooler. If it's cooler, it would seem to me that you could clock it at higher speeds, as long as your box has sufficient cooling. The result may be G5 iMacs at slow (<1.6 GHz?) speeds, and G5 PowerMacs that run faster than the current 2 GHz max.

Whether you want to wait for that depends, I suppose, on how much productivity you're losing with your current machine.

 

[masterjedi73]

How much of a difference do you think it would be? Will the new processor run at much faster speeds?

 

[wordmunger]

Will it be substantially faster? I don't think so--maybe a 10-20 percent speed boost at the most--but it might mean that you could get the current top-of-the-line machine for a lot less money.

 

[invaLPsion]

Three different rumor sites are actually pointing to significantly faster powermacs.
The speeds are 2.2 ghz, 2.4 ghz, and 2.6 ghz. Those are about right because by the next update (July) the powermacs should be at 3 ghz.