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x86-64, IA64 or PPC-64 - AMD is about to release their x86-64 implementation of the Opteron processor. This brings the PC (x86) into the 64 bit arena. Technically, Intel is already there. They've had their IA64 Itanium chips (EPIC instruction set) on the market for years. But Intel has a really hard sell. While the IA64 has an emulation mode which will run IA32 apps, it isn't up to par with the current IA32 (x86) processors at the task of running 32 bit programs. So most people's aren't willing to pay the penalty on the majority of their apps, for the sake of the very few which will run "native" or full speed. Plus it is a big, expensive and hot chip

Rumor: IBM gives the Green Light to Commence PowerPC 970 Production - The article states that IBM will commence production of the 970 starting April 15, and will be used in IBM Blades by the end of June

Debunking Dvorak With Napkin Math For OS X On Intel - As is the norm with his writing, it got me to thinking. In this case, how realistic is a move to OS X on Intel hardware by way of licensing to clone makers? So I fired up a spreadsheet and did some napkin math to see what it would take. Here are the results

PowerPC 970: A "G4-Killer"? - The article suggests that the 970, at least initially, might be preserved for the 'Pro' models in Apple's line-up. This wouldn't be altogether a bad thing, says author Rondeau Benjamin at MacGeneration. The G4, he says, still has some considerable life left as a 'consumer' chip, particularly as Motorola has ramped up production sufficiently to produce the 1.25 and 1.42GHz G4s in volume. This would mean, at last, that the iBook could go G4, opening the way for wall-to-wall DVD-R throughout Apple's model line-up

How the MacIntel Will Change the Market - My recent column in which I suggested that Apple may be contemplating a switch to the Intel architecture resulted in some interesting discussion . Much of it came from Mac mavens who seem to think that such a savvy move to an Intel platform is unlikely and ill-advised, since the new IBM-made PowerPC chip appears to be the front-runner for a future upgrade. But Apple must go with Intel or risk its future. I'll explain why

Buzz: IBM Pushes Production at Fabs, pushes up PPC 970 - The PowerPC 970 and future 980 will be produced at IBM's new state-of-the Art $2.5 billion, 300mm facility. This is the same facility where Nvidia's new chips will be made

What Hyperthreading Can (and Can't) Do for You - Hyperthreading. The word alone sounds like a marketing tactic, an esoteric feature designed to convince OEMs and end users to upgrade to the latest and greatest Intel-based systems. And to some extent, hyperthreading is exactly that. With returns diminishing on increased clock speeds and memory caches for the average user

Why Itanium Would Be Suicide for Apple - Unlike the Itanium2, IBM's PowerPC 970 isn't that different from the chips Apple is already using. Its die size, power dissipation and core voltage are all in line with what Apple would need for 64-bit PowerBooks

Intel and Apple - Intel recently backed up Apple's claim that 2003 is the year of the portable. Intel's new Centrino lineup introduces the Pentium M processor, the first Intel chip designed from the ground up for mobile systems. Traditionally, Intel's laptop chips have been "diet" versions of their desktop chips. While features like Speed Step help increase battery life, Intel (and AMD for that matter) based laptops just haven't been able to keep up with PowerPC based laptops

Intel granted overclocking blocking patent - In short, the chip dynamically compares its current operating clock speed to a reference signal, generated by an oscillating quartz crystal, and automatically reduces its clock speed if it finds it's running faster than it should b

Rumor: PowerPC 970 Macs - DP 2.3GHz, SP 1.8, 1.4GHz - Interestingly, MacBidouille reports that Apple will make display models of PPC 970 Macs available at the time of introduction, although orders will not be filled for 6-8 weeks. Generally, display models are usually available only when a model is in stock

McNealy on Itanium: 'a serious disaster' - Discounting Intel's Itanium chip as a "serious disaster from a very good company", McNealy also confirmed plans for the launch of a new Sun microprocessor next year. Coined Niagara, the new processor will come with eight processor cores which can handle four instructions each, he said

Rumor: Apple Tenders PowerPC 970 Motherboard Manufacture - The article says that Cupertino has offered the manufacture of the card for tender to Taiwanese firms. Two firms will reportedly be retained. If accurate, this suggests Apple intend to build very large quantities of the microprocessor card and do not intend to experience supply problems

Apple's 'G5' motherboard blueprints ready-to-go; dimensions suggest new Power Mac case design - The article says that the 'pro' version of the motherboard will be much longer and narrower than the boards currently in Power Macs, which suggests a new case design on the way for the "G5" Power Macs.

IDC researcher 'confused' about Centrino CPU speed versus performance - "Intel claims its Pentium M processor offers higher performance than the Pentium 4-M. Intel said the 1.6GHz Pentium M offers a 13 per cent to 15 per cent improvement in performance over the 2.4GHz Pentium 4-M. The 1.6GHz Pentium M also offers 76 per cent longer battery life than the 2.4GHz Pentium 4-M, according to Intel."

Apple's x86 plans don't include AMD - The foundation of Apple's OSX is Darwin. It's open source so if you fancy a look at it you can head over here . Much store has been put on the fact that Apple maintains an x86 version of the code, though only of Darwin and not the whole of OSX. Speculation was rife that Apple would produce a full-on version for x86. In theory there's still nothing to stop them from doing that and a quick trip here shows that you can download an ISO image of Darwin for x86. All very exciting until you hit the installation notes

Intel 'abandoning MHz myth' - Intel launched its Centrino package, which is based around the Pentium M processor (code name Banias). It incorporates a different architecture to that used in Intel's other mobile processors, such as the Pentium 4-M, offering better performance and longer battery life. It also includes an Intel 855 chipset, which supports a 400MHz front-side bus, and the Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 wireless LAN chip

PPC 970: is it enough? - It's almost certain that Apple will use PowerPC 970 chips in its next-generation Macs.
But will the new processors provide the speed boost necessary to best Intel and AMD?

IBM Power5: 3.0GHz in 2004 - This may not be the PowerPC road map Jobs has seen, but it's clear evidence that IBM is going for broke with PowerPC and Linux/AIX, versus Itanium and MS. Who ever would have thought in 1981 or 1984 that Big Blue would come to the rescue?

An Introduction to 64-bit Computing and x86-64 - When I first heard that AMD had plans to extend the x86 ISA to 64 bits, I thought it was a terrible idea. Though x86 is the world's most successful ISA, it's also the world's most widely disparaged. Programmers, analysts, architecture buffs, and enthusiasts often see x86 as a leaden albatross around the neck of the entire computing industry, and like the Mariner's albatross we were all hoping it would just fall off at some point and slip quietly into the deep. But in spite of such hopes, I really knew better. In fact, I've argued elsewhere that x86 isn't going away anytime soon, and it no longer makes any real sense to gripe about its quirks from a performance perspective

  CeBit: PPC 970's up to 1.8GHz - MacGuardians (German) report from CeBit that IBM's PowerPC 970 will debut at up to 1.8GHz as originally expected. (IBM's Microprocessor Forum presentation in October 2002 indicated initial speeds for the PowerPC 970 ranging from 1.4GHz - 1.8GHz). The 2.5GHz models described in an IBM press release more recently are reportedly for the subsequent generation of 970's, but will apparently utilize the 0.13 Micron Process, contrary to ZDNet's report."

Rumor: PowerPC 970, 64-Bit OS X 10.3 Beta Coming - Hot, hot, hot - that's what a DP 970 would be like. The question is whether IBM can fab a low-power version to run in the PowerBooks - and, hopefully, eventually - the iBooks. For Apple, it would be quite a considerable marketing coup to have a 64-bit notebook in its users' hands

PowerPC speed 'will soar' - Microprocessor Review senior editor Tom Hafill remarked: "The 970 is such an obvious improvement over today's G4 chips, it is hard to imagine Apple using anything else in its top-of-the-line desktop Macs and servers." Neither Apple nor IBM has made any announcement on the matter.

IBM pumps PowerPC up to 2.5GHz - At CeBIT next month, IBM will show off some of its latest technology - including its next-generation PowerPC 970 chip that eventually will reach 2.5GHz speeds and could soon appear in Apple computers

PowerPC overview - The PowerPC, or PPC for short, is a CPU Instruction Set Architecture jointly developed by the AIM (Apple-IBM-Motorola) Consortium back in the early 90's. It has been driving Apple's PowerMac line and advanced Amiga computers since 1994, and has been extensively used in embedded devices as well. This article gives a brief presentation of the current span of the PPC family

Comments: Let the 2.5 GHz Flapdoodle Begin - Well, it's popping out all over. No, not spring, but the latest round of "Oh boy, when can I get one?" speculations over the IBM PowerPC 970 processors. The articles are appearing everywhere

PowerPC 970 Running At 2.5 GHz - kuwan writes "IBM has just released a Press Release that indicates they have the new PowerPC 970 running at 1.8 - 2.5 GHz making it "the fastest PowerPC so far." IBM's original estimates were to have the chip running at 1.4 - 1.8 GHz at introduction, so this is very good news for those of us hoping Apple will use this as their next generation chip."

PowerPC 970 (G5) prototype hits 2.5GHz; Apple may debut G5 this July - According to IBM, the PowerPC 970 prototypes are now running at between 1.8GHz-2.5GHz. The CPU offers full symmetrical multiprocessing, a 512KB L2 cache, AltiVec and system bus throughput of up to 6.4GB p/s

Power5 Multithreading - Coming to Apple? - Previous Power5 articles hinted at a four-fold increase in performance over the current Power4. It appears that IBM will be accomplishing this with Multithreading

Megahertz Myth: Power5 Desktop Edition May Debut at 'Only' 1.5GHz - A DP 1.42GHz Power Mac with all the fruit may be the fastest Mac on earth, but proving once and for all that clock cycles aren't everything is IBM's Power5, currently in prototype form

IBM Power5 will be multicore and multithread - The Power4 was dual core, effectively two processors on a chip. The Power5 64bit processor is still dual core but adds multithreading capabilities to both cores

Conversations With A "Mac OS X For Intel" Fan - One of the great debates in the tech world that rears its ugly head every few weeks is whether or not Apple should port Mac OS X to Intel. The rants and raves echo throughout the halls of the Mac world, and sometimes in the PC world, too. I am of the opinion that this is not a rational business model for Apple for a variety of reasons, and that it is utterly anathema to what makes Steve Jobs tick

The Real Computer Chip Speed Barrier - Despite all of this complexity, the core of the problem is simple: The bus is not keeping pace with the core. Specifically, the front-side bus connecting the CPU to memory runs at a mere fraction of the clock speed of the CPU's core (the part of the chip that performs calculations). Core frequency for a modern Pentium 4 chip has passed 3 GHz, but bus speeds are stalled at 533 MHz

IBM Touts Power5 As 4x Faster Than Power4 - weberik writes "Although it's not expected to see the light of day until 2004, IBM is making sure people know that its news 64-bit chip is no slouch

IBM PowerPC Processor Wins Industry Honor - The IBM PowerPC 440GX embedded processor has received the fourth annual Analysts' Choice Award for best high-performance embedded processor of 2002 by Cahners In-Stat/MDR (MicroDesign Resources), a well-known industry consulting firm and publisher of The Microprocessor Report

Whoa! Intel's New -- Slower -- Chip? - The giant says its latest laptop processor will slip in clock speed, yet achieve better performance. You can bet AMD and others are listening

Intel shatters MHz Myth; to attempt 'CPU speed isn't everything' campaign - Intel wants to take your mind off chip speeds -- especially if you're going to be in the market for a new laptop. That might sound crazy to anyone who has watched Intel constantly crank out newer, faster chips -- and constantly try to convince consumers and corporations that the speediest semiconductor is the answer to all their computing prayers

Intel Offers a Peek at Future Processor Designs - Intel will offer the three models of the Madison chip with a 3MB, 4MB, or 6MB Level 3 on-die cache, Modi said

Intel sets Banias release for March 12 - Banias, which will be sold under the Pentium-M name, differs substantially from its predecessors, both from a technological perspective and in terms of how it will be marketed. Earlier Intel notebook chips were essentially desktop chips enhanced for notebook use. They consumed less power than their desktop counterparts. Laptops containing them, however, could still only run two to four hours on a battery charge.
Pentium-M, by contrast, was designed specifically to fit into notebooks

Why Apple Can't Use IBM's PowerPC 970 - The sad truth of the matter is that Apple can not and will not use IBM's PowerPC 970 64-bit chip in any of its systems anytime in the foreseeable future. Why? Well, suffice to say it gets complicated and involves support and developers, in that order

New Xeon chip makes early appearance - The 3.06GHz chip, expected to launch later this quarter, will offer the fastest clock speed in Intel's Xeon line. It follows the release of the chipmaker's 2.6GHz, 2.66GHz and 2.8GHz Xeon chips in September and new supporting chipsets in November.

News on IBM's Power5 Chip - John Timmer writes "There's some news out today on IBM's Power5, which should make an appearance next year. Interestingly, from the sound of this article, they've put a lot of work into power consumption on this processor so that it can go in anything from blades to big iron. This may preclude the need for a specializ

Apple 'will change chips' - Omni chief - Speaking with OS News yesterday, former NeXT developer Case added: "I'm sure Apple is keeping its options open, and will introduce support for another CPU architecture."

G4 chips smell of stopgap - The performance of Motorola's existing PowerPC G4 chips has been so disappointing - in marketing terms, at least - that until last week Apple has been putting two of them in every Power Ma

See This Chip? - It's Intel's most powerful processor ever. It has the ability to take on IBM, sink Sun, make or break HP, and crush or revive AMD. It's keeping every CEO in computing up at night. And it's just getting started. The multibillion-dollar battle between Itanium 2 and its rivals has begu

A PowerPC 970 in Every Pot? I Doubt It... - Everyone thinks that the PowerPC 970 is a stone cold lock for Macs sometime in the near future. (If the 64 bit monster shows up on a Mac anytime soon I'll be first in line. Sure I don't need the extra power, won't use the extra power, but heck it's extra power and how can I pass that up?) So while the Power PC 970 may or may not show up ensconced in a tasteful Apple enclosure all I can say is "Either way, it won't really matter."

Could IBM Be the Next Computer Chip King? - Since the announcement of the PowerPC 970 last October, however, that may be changing. With this chip, IBM now has the makings of an excellent mid-range server or workstation chip. To make the 970, IBM tweaked its mainframe chip, the Power4, which packs two processors onto a single chip and has an amazing 128 MB of level 3 cache

Intel Already Over-Marketing Future Itanium - According to a story on Insanely Great Mac , Intel marketing folks have claimed that an unreleased Itanium will, in the most technical of terms, "blow away" any power advantage the PowerPC 970 has. IBM's 64-bit PowerPC 970 chip is expected to debut at some point in new Macs

Intel: We Will "Blow Away" the PowerPC 970 - Despite Apple's likely adoption of IBM's 64-bit PowerPC 970 later this year, Intel boasts that its forthcoming Itanium will "blow away" any power advantage the 970 may have

10.20GHz Intel Nehalem slated for 2005 - If Intel manages to migrate away from the 90 nanometer technology it will introduce towards the end of this year, by then the "Prescott" core will deliver at least 5.20GHz using the 800MHz system bus

The Longer Apple Sticks with Motorola, the Behinder They Get - Why Apple Should Switch to IBM, not Intel or AMD

Processors: Taking It To The Next Level - Intel, AMD, and other chip makers promise to make great strides in 2003 and beyond. We take a hard look at those promises and decipher the sometimes confusing architectural differences to help you choose the right CPU for your syste

Intel Alters Itanium Road Map - Intel Corp. is changing the road map for its 64-bit Itanium chip, adding in another Itanium 2 chip next year and putting dual-core processing technology into its Montecito processor, which initially was expected next year but now is due out in 2005

Intel Upgrades 'Gallatin' Xeon - Multiprocessor boosts cache, is first to implement hyperthreading.

Intel doubles cache on new Xeons - The new chips--formerly code-named Gallatin--are enhanced versions of Intel's Xeon line for multiprocessor servers. The fastest of the new chips runs at 2GHz and contains a 2MB tertiary cache, a reservoir of memory for rapid data access. The older Xeon, which came out in March, tops out at 1.6GHz and has a 1MB cache

Big Blue chips for Apple eclipse Motorola's G4s - PITY POOR Motorola. No sooner does IBM detail how it's going to wrest the performance crown away from its erstwhile PowerPC partner, courtesy of the Power 4-based 64-bit PowerPC 970, but information leaks out of Motorola showing just how slow its high-performance processor ramp really is

IBM's 970 - Power4-lite, and the future of the PowerPC? The end result is that the 970 should conservatively cut the difference in clock ratios from 1 GHz : 3 GHz to about 2:3.5 or 2:4. Which no matter how you look at it, is a big improvement for the PPC. More important, in the same time frame, I expect to see improvements in vectorizing compilers, the libraries that Apple has already created to help programs (and programmers and apple using them), the software that uses them, and most importantly improvement in the cache and memory subsystems which should radically help the PPC's ability to keep AltiVec fed (which is the only thing keeping the PPC from beating the P4 even worse in Vector performance)

Intel Pushes Pentium 4 Past 3 GHz - New desktop chip will be the first to feature hyperthreading technology, allowing your PC to perform as if it had two processors

IBM's Power4 will boost Mac performance - At the recent Microprocessor Forum in San Francisco, IBM unveiled a new PowerPC processor whose performance outclasses the Motorola G4 PowerPCs used in current Macs - and most Intel Pentium 4 chips used in Windows machines - by a good margin

  Inside the PowerPC 970 - From the moment IBM unveiled the Power4 a few years ago, Mac users began dreaming of a scaled-down, cheaper, Altivec-enabled version of the chip that might someday save Apple from Motorola's slow, suffocating embrace. Almost anyone who knew anything about the Power4 condescendingly chuckled at such silly fantasies

Active Cool AC 4G Quiet CPU Cooling System  - Could this be a solution for Apple's hot-running G4 Power Mac towers?

IBM hypes PowerPC 970 - IBM has published a Web page with some pictures of the PowerPC 970 and a nice summary of information. Although some of it is a rehash, there are some interesting details on the chip's creation

IBM's 970 CPU may have difficulty competing - SPEC benchmarks indicate that at 1.8GHz the 970 is slower than a current 3GHz Pentium 4. Given that the clock speed of the 970 was little over half that of the Pentium 4, this result isn't too surprising. However, when the 970 becomes available the Pentium 5 should be scaling to 3.6GHz with a faster bus. Even with the 970's impressive Instruction Per Clock (IPC), IBM will need to speed up the part to at least 2GHz relatively quickly

TMO Reports - IBM Confirms AltiVec To Be In New PowerPC 970, Tightens Up Time Table For Production - This is truly great news for Macintosh fans who have been clamoring for more power. The use of the name AltiVec is the strongest evidence yet that the chip is bound for the Macintosh, as it is the only personal computer that uses the technology. Although most have assumed the vector unit would at least be AltiVec compatible, it's a relief to have a definitive answer

PowerPC 970 - First in a new family of high-performance 64-bit PowerPC microprocessors - With the introduction of the PowerPC 970, IBM has taken PowerPC performance to new heights. At up to 1.8 GHz, the PowerPC 970 is the fastest PowerPC yet introduced. But the 970 employs much more than frequency to answer the demands of high-performance computing customers. The 970's multiple execution units including an AltiVec compatible vector processor are fed by an up to 900-MHz processor interface bus, which can deliver data at a rate of up to 6.4 GBps

Extreme CPUs: 430 cores on a die - British start-up picoChip has announced an extreme processor with 430 16bit cores on a die, and is testing the first silicon. It's a pretty radical and interesting approach, which involves a massively parallel array of four different kinds of processors

Carbon Chip Breakthrough May Crush Silicon - Xerox (NYSE: XRX - news) researchers in Canada claim they have stabilized polythiophene, a normally unstable, yet highly flexible, semiconducting polymer that can be etched with electronic circuits in place of rigid silicon chips, promising newspaper-thin computer monitors and televisions you can pin to your wall

RISC or CISC Which is better? - AMD has written some things lately, as well as Intel has in the past, pointing out that the difference between RISC and CISC no longer matter. That CISC is catching up and surpassing RISC. So let's look at this hypothesis.

'Double' chip promises faster PCs - The chip inside your computer is about to get better at doing its job. The world's largest chip maker Intel is introducing technology that tricks a computer into thinking it has two chips instead of one

Apple 'may adopt new IBM chip' - Observers noted the AltiVec support built-in to the chip, and a wave of undiminished speculation has followed as the market tries to decide if Apple will adopt IBM's solution This report, written by senior editor, Tom Halfhill adds to the speculation

The Mysterious G5 - we would probably see them at MacWorld Expo in New York during the Summer of 2002... or so we thought. When MacWorld New York 2002 rolled by... no G5s were to be seen. What we got were more G4 PowerMacs with overclocked processors to get them past 1 GHz. Things were started to look worrisome

Apple should port OSX to Hammer - Lets say Jobs ports OS X to x86-64, thus giving Apple 64-bit kudos, excellent performance, great price, and teaming up with AMD brings to the table cutting edge technology that will continually and quickly grow due to competition. And we all know Apple could use a more steady increase in performance then just a jolt here and there as in the past.

Intel doubles cache on new Xeons - Intel released three new Xeon chips for four- and eight-processor servers in a move to increase the pressure on Sun Microsystems. The new chips--formerly code-named Gallatin--are enhanced versions of Intel's Xeon line for multiprocessor servers. The fastest of the new chips runs at 2GHz and contains a 2MB tertiary cache, a reservoir of memory for rapid data access. The older Xeon, which came out in March, tops out at 1.6GHz and has a 1MB cache

Big Blue chips for Apple eclipse Motorola's G4s  - PITY POOR Motorola. No sooner does IBM detail how it's going to wrest the performance crown away from its erstwhile PowerPC partner, courtesy of the Power 4-based 64-bit PowerPC 970, but information leaks out of Motorola showing just how slow its high-performance processor ramp really is

IBM's 970 - The end result is that the 970 should conservatively cut the difference in clock ratios from 1 GHz : 3 GHz to about 2:3.5 or 2:4. Which no matter how you look at it, is a big improvement for the PPC. More important, in the same time frame, I expect to see improvements in vectorizing compilers, the libraries that Apple has already created to help programs (and programmers and apple using them), the software that uses them, and most importantly improvement in the cache and memory subsystems which should radically help the PPC's ability to keep AltiVec fed (which is the only thing keeping the PPC from beating the P4 even worse in Vector performance)

Intel Pushes Pentium 4 Past 3 GHz - New desktop chip will be the first to feature hyperthreading technology, allowing your PC to perform as if it had two processors

IBM's Power4 will boost Mac performance - At the recent Microprocessor Forum in San Francisco, IBM unveiled a new PowerPC processor whose performance outclasses the Motorola G4 PowerPCs used in current Macs - and most Intel Pentium 4 chips used in Windows machines - by a good margin. Dubbed the PowerPC 970, it's a combination 64- and 32-bit chip, derived from IBM's Power4 processor.

Inside the PowerPC 970 - What I offer you today is the first part of a two-part series on the PowerPC 970, IBM's first entry into a market that doesn't yet exist: the 64-bit desktop market.

Potholes on Apple's chip roadmap? - he unsigned piece considers revisions to the 745x processor that was originally launched in January this year. Its author(s) suggest a tentative timescale which sees faster revisions of the current 745x leading to the introduction of 970-based systems in 2004. But what happened to Motorola's 7470?

Details on Motorola G5 Processor Emerge - It appears from this road map that the next Motorola "G-something" processor will be a G4, its model number being MPC7457, with a MHz range between 867-1833MHz. This chip is based on a SOI (silicon on insulator), .13micron process and appears planned for sometime in 2003

Reader Report: PowerPC Performance - Here are some SPECint2000 and SPECfp2000 benchmark results which I found on the internet. These can be used to compare against the estimates given by IBM for the PowerPC 970

Mac OS X Built For CISC, Not RISC - WCityMike writes "One of the programmers at Unsanity, maker of haxies, recently posted a rather shocking relevation on the company's weblog. He says that Mac OS X's Mach-O runtime ABI (Application Binary Interface) comes from a NeXTStep design for 68K processorts, and is not designed for the PowerPC architechture. Had they used the latter, things would have been approximately 10-12 percent faster

Schiller: "We Are Committed To PowerPC" - Schiller was asked about Apple's commitment to Motorola. Perhaps revealingly, Schiller said that Apple was committed to PowerPC, but did not mention Motorola. Apple is also reported to be considering an IBM Power4-derived chip, but currently relies on Motorola for supplies of its G4 processor

Why OS X on X86 Is the Stupidest Thing Apple Could Do - Here are the reasons I believe Apple will be well advised to keep its OS off the x86 platform

AMD's Opteron could spur dual-core processor showdown - Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said its upcoming Opteron microprocessor will feature better integer performance than all other server processors, setting up a possible race with Intel Corp. to move to dual-core server processors as early as next yea

Intel's Itanium: Before Its Time or Just in Time? - Itanium 2 has been buffeted by rumors, hype and slower-than-expected adoption. All of the chaos surrounding the chip's introduction has made it difficult to discern its true role in the overall marketplace. Will Itanium 2 be a championship contender, or will it fade into the background, eclipsed by newer offerings?

Details emerge on IBM's PowerPC 970 chip - Put simply, 64-bit processing allows a processor to work on more data with each clock cycle. Sandon said that another advantage from 64-bit operation is the ability to add more than 4GB of RAM to a system. However, code must be created specifically for 64-bit operation to see an advantage

Topic: Ê A Brief Look at the PowerPC 970 - Even before the session yesterday, the PPC 970 had been widely rumored to be an 8-wide superscalar machine. This led some reporters and online discussion participants to confuse instruction dispatching with instruction issuing. I'll briefly attempt to clear this up here,

IBM Discloses 64-bit PowerPC Details - Performance-wise, IBM believes the chip can record a benchmark of 932 on SPECint 2000 and a score of 1051 on SPECfp2000, both at 1.8-GHz. Peak SIMD GFLOPs should be about 14.4, Sandon said. Using Dhrystone MIPS, the chip should output a score of 5,220. or 2.9 DMIPS/MHz/. IBM expects the chip should test 18 million RC5 keys per second

Processors begin 64-bit push - The CPU is expected to spark debate over whether the desktop is ready to break through the 4-Gbyte addressing of 32-bit architectures. Whatever the answer, the 970 would give Apple Computer Inc. a chance to deliver high-performance 32-bit systems that could later be upgraded to full 64-bit computers.

IBM Remains Coy About Apple Chip - the chip's support for "single instruction multiple data," or SIMD, on the IBM chip is the same as Motorola's Altivec. SIMD allows a chip to perform the same mathematical operation on multiple sets of data at the same time. And though IBM has said nothing about potential customers for the chip, speculation over the chip's future was sufficient to give Apple's stock price a 22-cent boost on Oct. 14, the day that IBM first released details about the chip

Could IBM's 64-bit PowerPC chip kick start Yamhill? - Yesterday, Gartner analysts wrote off the chances of processors that run both 32-and 64-bit code, as an irrelevant half-way house. But, with AMD, IBM, and possibly Apple using 64-bit CPUs that also run 32-bit code, it will be interesting to see Intel's response

Wraps off IBM's 1.8GHz chip - The PowerPC 970 sports a 900MHz bus and supports multiple processors. The bus can deliver information to the processor at up to 6.4GB per second. The bus in a computer links the processor and the internal memory

Opinions Vary On IBM's PowerPC 970, IBM's Specs Offer 900 MHz Bus Speeds - Whether or not the PowerPC 970 makes it to a Mac near you, its capabilities seem impressive to us. At the very least, it will put a little fire under Intel and AMD in the race for 64-bit supremacy

Intel says Itanium development on track - "I think the industry and the analysts are fairly impatient - I think impatient is the right word - in the ramp of Itanium but internally the Itanium 2 and the Itanium processor family is actually on track with our expectations," said Andy Combs, general manager of Intel's Enterprise Platforms Group

64 bits How much should you care? - the concept of "64 bit computers" is rearing its head again. The Itanic, er, Itanium is 64 bit, AMD is coming out with its own next generation x86 processor that will support both 32 and 64 bit, and IBM's GPUL (next generation PowerPC) or rumors of the G5 are also 64 bit. This all begs the questions, "how is this better for me?" The answer is surprisingly little

IBM to unleash new PowerPC chip - The PowerPC 970 chip, due next year, will run at 1.8GHz, nearly twice as fast as Big Blue's quickest existing PowerPC chip, the 1GHz 750FX. It will also be able to handle both 32-bit software, the current standard on desktops, and 64-bit software, used on high-end servers

IBM Promises Muscle for the Mac - Industry sources say that IBM plans to announce a new 64-bit processor on Monday -- known as the PowerPC 970. It will run a new line of Macintosh products that could be available by the end of next year

IBM Debuts 64-Bit Chip - Will Apple Bite? - IBM said its PowerPC 970 -- the first in the company's planned line of high-end PowerPC processors -- is a 64-bit chip that will run at initial speeds of up to 1.8 GHz.

IBM server chip seen slimmed down for Apple Macs - IBM said the new PowerPC 970 microchip is a "lite" version of its Power4 chip, which it launched last fall in its sophisticated computer server, code-named "Regatta." The PowerPC can run 32-bit applications as well as 64-bit ones and is tuned for graphics, like some Intel chips

Power4-based chip May Give Insight into Next-Generation Apple CPU - Jobs has had a sneak preview of the PowerPC roadmap that we aren't privileged to, but it's safe to say he's happy with the 'options'

IBM processor hints at Apple's 64-bit future - IBM Corp. may give a peek into Apple Computer Inc.'s 64-bit future when it details a new version of its Power4 microprocessor next week. Aimed for use in desktops and low-end servers, the 64-bit Power4 could be IBM's first PowerPC-compatible chip to support the Altivec multimedia instruction extensions defined by Apple and Motorola Inc

IBM's PPC 750FX G3 Now Available at 1GHz - Currently running at 700MHz, the 1GHz G3s give Apple the option to run both the iBook and the original CRT iMacs on the G3 for the foreseeable future. It's inexpensive to do so and it's probably doubtful whether average users will need or use the power offered by the G4

Atomic memory developed - Imagine a CD with a storage capacity not of 650 MB but 650 million MB. Such a storage capacity is theoretically possible because of experiments using individual atoms to store data

AMD plans its biggest product launch: 'Hammer' a challenge to Intel - AMD is planning its biggest launch - and it's no Intel knockoff. The new processors share some of the same elements found in powerful servers but will also target personal computers

IBM makes nanotube breakthrough - IBM researchers have discovered a way to fabricate carbon nanotubes that could be incorporated into processors to make them more powerful

AMD narrows gap with new notebook chips - The Athlon XP 2000+ and 1900+ processors are expected to be featured in consumer notebooks coming out from Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu-Siemens and others, according to AMD. The chips will provide around the same performance as Intel's 2GHz and 1.9GHz Pentium 4 chips, according to historical trends

Rumour mill suggests an earlier Intel 3.06GHz P4 - WHILE AMD is expected to introduce its 2800+ and 2700+ Athlon XP chips this week, rumours are growing that Intel might attempt to steal its thunder and rush its 3.06GHz Hypethreading Pentium 4 out of the door earlier

Second Thoughts about Intel in Macs - While some agreed that such a move would be disastrous for Apple, others said it could be a good idea -- if done right. And you know what? I think they may have a case. Let me lay out their argument

Apple, IBM Team On 64-Bit CPU - The eWeek article claims the size of the chip is about the size of a Celeron, would that be good enough for laptops, and if so does that finally mean portable dual processing (with 2 cores per chip)?

Topic: Ê More on Apple's upcoming 64-bit white horse from IBM - the revelation that Apple is (thankfully) working on a new bus architecture, called ApplePI, to replace Maxbus for use with the GPuL. No details on what improvements this bus architecture will bring, though, except the obvious: point-to-point topology and higher frequencies. The GPuL chip is likely to debute on a 0.13u SOI process at speeds ranging from 1.4 GHz to 2 GHz, and it will feature four processor cores packed onto a single die for four-way on-chip SMP

Apple, IBM Team on 64-Bit CPU - According to sources, IBM Microelectronics, a division of IBM, is working with Apple on a 64-bit PowerPC processor for use in the latter's high-end desktops and servers. Sources said Apple is testing the CPU, dubbed the GigaProcessor Ultralite (GPUL) on Mac OS X-based hardware at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, and making sure that the processor complies with a new bus architecture on tap for future Macs

Altivec And Monte Carlo Methods - Anonymous Coward writes "It is great to see that Apple is releasing numerical libraries with Altivec optimizations (e.g. the BLAS). While double precision calcs are (alas) not speeded up by the G4, if you can get by with single precision, the Altivec can be quite advantageous. Last week I realized that up to 50% of the computations that I do at work (on Pentium 4's) rely on tight loops with random number generators. That is the nature of Monte Carlo methods for simulation. It occurs to me that the Altivec unit should pretty much rock for this sort of thing

The Desktop Microchip Race: Who's Ahead? - As desktop computers reach performance levels once considered appropriate for global weather modeling, buyers may wonder which company is producing the most advanced microprocessors. But there is no simple answer to this question. Which processor is best depends on when one buys it and what one plans to do with it

Tri-gate transistor called post-planar contender - "The triple-gate devices are very scalable to smaller sizes. But this is just a possibility, one candidate. We are also considering planar devices, and non-silicon approaches to the 45-nm node. We want to give our manufacturing people the best option to pick from. We do believe the geometry control of making these fins is viable, but clearly it will take years of work to make them manufacturable

Mac OS X on x86 could be a good idea - There are really two platforms to think about, hardware speaking. PowerPC (Macs) and x86, commonly known as Intel. x86 is what people commonly refer to as a Windows computer, but some do install Linux, and even Darwin, the core of Mac OS X which has been publicly available for x86 for quite some time. The rest of what makes up Mac OS X is not available for x86, that is a PowerPC exclusive. One should note that you can also run Linux and Darwin itself on PowerPC. The idea that Mac OS X already exists for x86 is frightening to some, but it shouldn't be

Mac and PC: Ne'er the Twain Will Meet - Could Apple make OS X run on Intel chips? Yes, but it would blunt the unique Mac edge and spark a war that Microsoft is sure to win

Intel reveals more about its new processor for notebooks - The world's largest chip maker announced at its Intel Developer Forum in San Jose that the new processor, code-named Banias, will operate at much lower power levels than Intel's current chips, enabling notebook computers with longer battery life and better performance.

AMD opens the transistor gates - Advanced Micro Devices has created new high-performance transistors in its labs based on the simple concept that sometimes two are better than one. The chipmaker said Tuesday it has manufactured in its labs a new kind of transistor with two pathways, or gates, for electricity--instead of one. The new transistor design can double the amount of electricity that flows through a transistor, similar to the way that adding extra lanes can increase the capacity of a highway

Support Lags for New Pentium 4 - Intel Corp. is expected to unveil this week a performance-enhancing technology that's due in an upcoming release of its 3GHz Pentium 4. But an apparent lack of necessary support from Microsoft Corp. will mean few early adopters will be able to take advantage of it

IBM chip fights power leaks - Scientists at the Armonk, N.Y.-based company revealed that they have manufactured a working static RAM chip out of so-called Fin-Fet transistors, which feature two gates, rather than a single one, for conducting electricity. To date, IBM has said little publicly about double-gate transistors. At a technical conference in December, the company will provide details about the memory chip and also talk about other research on transistors

HP Researchers Make Tiny Memory from Molecules - Using previously patented technology, the H-P scientists have created a 64-bit memory unit that fits inside a square micron -- a micron is one millionth of a meter. The memory contains 10 times more bits per square micron than today's most advanced DRAM computer chip memory chips

Diamonds Are a Chip's Best Friend? - For chipmakers, diamond is a tantalizing material. Theoretically, it appears ideal for many types of microcircuits. It combines some key properties of silicon with those of less-familiar semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide and silicon germanium. These so-called compound semiconductors are used for jobs beyond the capacity of ordinary silicon

Readers contribute info on IBM 64-bit PowerPC & G4/G5 AltiVec - "Concerning your article about IBM's future chip being Altivec compatible, I believe the only thing proprietary about Altivec is the trademark, as the vector unit extensions for PowerPC were named VMX in some roadmap papers before Altivec first appeared, seeming VMX to be an extension of the common PPC architecture developed by the AIM group."

Intel to unveil nanotechnology plans - Multigate transistors are an answer to the problems created by the shrinking size of components on a chip. Chips increasingly need greater amounts of electricity flowing through their transistors to hit their performance targets. However, transistor gates, which control the flow of electricity across transistors, measure only a few atoms thick and are getting thinner. The mismatch is akin to hooking up a fire hose to a Waterpik nozzle