IBM Unveils Energy-Efficient PowerPC Chips

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 3rd Oct 2006 22:08 UTC

IBM is rolling out new PowerPC processors aimed at the embedded space that are designed to improve performance while consuming less power than their counterparts. The new chips illustrate IBM's commitment to building processors that do not rely solely on speed bumps for performance improvements, but also are energy-efficient, said Ron Martino, director of Power architecture solutions for IBM's Technology Collaboration Solutions unit.

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I wonder

by twenex (2.56) on Tue 3rd Oct 2006 22:32 UTC

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Was Apple's Intel move a wake-up call?

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RE: I wonder

by mdoverkil (2.68) on Tue 3rd Oct 2006 23:00 UTC in reply to "I wonder"

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It was probably a combination of companies. Mainly AMD, Intel and SUN all releasing energy efficient chips. It would be stupid for IBM not get on the energy efficiency side of things.

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RE: I wonder

by umccullough (3.68) on Tue 3rd Oct 2006 23:01 UTC in reply to "I wonder"

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2006-01-26
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Doubtful - I'm sure it was already on their roadmap.

If anything, I suspect companies like Microsoft and Sony have been applying pressure to get lower-power processors for game consoles.

I get the impression Apple was just using it as another excuse to switch. I believe Apple no longer wanted to be "bound" to the PPC architecture regardless of it's technical merit.

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RE[2]: I wonder

by rayiner (3.56) on Tue 3rd Oct 2006 23:33 UTC in reply to "RE: I wonder"

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[QUOTE] I believe Apple no longer wanted to be "bound" to the PPC architecture regardless of it's technical merit.[/QUOTE]

Or lack thereof...

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RE[3]: I wonder

by helf (3.12) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 02:14 UTC in reply to "RE[2]: I wonder"

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<sarcasm>hey now, EVERYONE knows that the 1.2ghz g4 macs are WAAAAY faster than 3ghz p4 machines!!!</sarcasm>

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RE[4]: I wonder

by twenex (2.56) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 02:21 UTC in reply to "RE[3]: I wonder"

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"Speed" != the be-all and end-all of technical merit.

Maybe Apple were just waiting until AMD got rid of the stupidities of x86 architecture for them.

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Too Little - Too Late!

by mattv427 (1.35) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 03:23 UTC

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With regret, I must say that Apple's move to Intel was the right choice. I love the concept of PowerPC's and being different, but what's faster than Core 2 Duo? Nothing. And to think -- those Mac Pros have got to be outrageous. So fast, they will get you arrested! Buy one of those and you will be in for some hard time.

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RE: Too Little - Too Late!

by Fransexy (2.48) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 03:04 UTC in reply to "Too Little - Too Late!"

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"but what's faster than Core 2 Duo? Nothing"

that causes annoying and desperation to me because I have a Core duo running Windows and it is not indeed what I call fast.So if it is the fastest.......that god take us confessed

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Back on track

by flywheel (1.28) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 04:30 UTC

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Well the main target of the PPC lines at IBM has almost always been embedded devices, where the PPC is rather excellent and always has been sold in massive numbers.

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RE: Back on track

by Ethyriel (2.8) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 05:22 UTC in reply to "Back on track"

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the PPC focus of Freescale embedded while for IBM it's the server? Maybe I'm missing something, but PPC970 is on IBM's low end compared to Power 4 and 5.

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RE[2]: Back on track

by olexiy (0.75) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 06:47 UTC in reply to "RE: Back on track"

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I'd better say POWER is for server and PowerPC is for embedded/desktop.

These new CL chips with reduced power consumption will certainly find their way to high-performance embedded targets. If I'm not mistaken, many PowerPC chips are available for both commercial and industrial temp. range, unlike, for example, chips from Intel and this is very important thing for embedded...

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RE[3]: Back on track

by kaiwai (1.44) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 09:05 UTC in reply to "RE[2]: Back on track"

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Depends on how IBM achieved these 'energy savings', was it through raw 'lets grab the achitecture and make it really efficient' or is it nothing more than glorified tweaking of the mhz scaling which they current use.

Look at the Core processor and what they've done, and the massive improvements to the underlying architecture to improve efficiency - 1cycle to complete a SSE instruction, for example; and compare it to what IBM has there lack of achieved.

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RE: Back on track

by h3rman (3.44) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 12:06 UTC in reply to "Back on track"

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2006-08-09
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>> ... embedded devices, where the PPC is rather excellent ...

Is that something like, "75% pregnant"?
;)

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So much for PWRficient

by lproven (1.39) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 12:46 UTC

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2006-08-23
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Makes me feel sorry for poor little PASemi. I guess things don't look so good for them now.

They barely got started & the Apple X86 switch was a real kick in the teeth for them...

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Nintendo Wii

by slashdev (2.52) on Wed 4th Oct 2006 14:17 UTC

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2006-05-14
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These processors are probably based on the processor design that Nintendo and IBM worked on together for the Nintendo Wii. Which is why it is ok to sell (avalible immediately), now that IBM has enough capasity(sp?) for Nintendo's Wii Production.

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