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PowerPC 970 at 90nm and the Power5

Thursday November 13, 2003 8:08 am PST by Arnold Kim
A Japanese news blurb reports that IBM will be presenting two papers at the 2004 ISSCC (in Feb 2004):



"Design and Implementation of the POWER5 Microprocessor"

"PowerPC 970 in 130nm and 90nm Technologies"



Current shipping PowerPC 970s utilize a 130nm process, though it was reported in September that IBM was already sampling 90nm chips. A 90nm chip would theoretically bring higher clockspeeds and lower heat production as compared to the corresponding 130nm chip.



Meanwhile, Microprocessor Watch is reportedly providing subscribers with more details about the Power5 from IBM's presentation at the Microprocessor Forum. MacWorld.co.uk notes that the Power5 will ship in 2004, with a Power5+ in 2005 and the Power6 in 2006. Notes from the same presentation were previously detailed in this report.



Meanwhile, a new AppleInsider report claims that 90nm chips will bring Apple above 2.0GHz while the PowerPC 980 (Power5 based) chip will bring Apple to 3GHz. If true this could confirm a previous report which claimed the same... that the 970 would top out at 2.6-2.8GHz, while the 980 would bring Apple to the 3GHz mark. And a Page 2 report hints at specifically designed low-power mobile PowerPCs.

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sethypoo
108 months ago
90NM.....cooler running.....I hate to bring this up but could we be seeing a G5 PowerBook a little sooner? I think so.....

:) :rolleyes: :D
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arn
108 months ago

Originally posted by sethypoo
90NM.....cooler running.....I hate to bring this up but could we be seeing a G5 PowerBook a little sooner? I think so.....


Um, I'm sure Jobs et all were aware of this logical step when he said it was going to take some time.

In other words, this is a natural progression... not a surprise advancement.

arn
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mactastic
108 months ago
This should mean we are still on track for 3Ghz G5s by Q3 of 2004 right? And hopefully 2.4 - 2.6 Ghz updates in January?

And is the 90 nm process going to be the one that makes it into the PB? If so then hopefully we will see those before we see the 3Ghz PowerMacs.
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dieselg4
108 months ago
OK, now to incite seom speculation . . . andy tech types care to guess how much heat a 90 nm G5 would produce, maybe at 1.6 GHz? And how might that realate to the heat a 1.33 GHz G4 produces? Granted I haven't see one up close for very long, but the heat sink for the G5 looksa like it almost ans tall as the case is wide. . .
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Rincewind42
108 months ago

Originally posted by dieselg4
Granted I haven't see one up close for very long, but the heat sink for the G5 looksa like it almost ans tall as the case is wide. . .


It is nearly as tall as the case is wide. But that's just so that there is a large area for air to flow over, which means that the heat can dissipate faster, the fans can run slower, etc. Don't be fooled by the size of the heat sinks - the G5 doesn't put off that much heat :)
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dongmin
108 months ago

Originally posted by mactastic
This should mean we are still on track for 3Ghz G5s by Q3 of 2004 right? And hopefully 2.4 - 2.6 Ghz updates in January?

And is the 90 nm process going to be the one that makes it into the PB? If so then hopefully we will see those before we see the 3Ghz PowerMacs.

I take this to mean that Apple will have shipping 90nm products by then. My guess is for revised Power Macs, with an outside chance for iMacs. And yes, we should be on track for a 3 ghz G5 in Q3 2004. It might come even sooner than that. Supposedly, they had 3.2 ghz chips sampling way back last September.

Quoting an earlier rumor the 90nm G5 dissipates 34 W at 2.0 ghz. So a 1.6 ghz G5 should come in around 27 W, probably too high for a PowerBook but doable for a revised iMac. I'm sure the redesign of the iMac is specifically to accomodate the hotter running G5s.
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iGav
108 months ago
woah, this feels kind of weird, after years of Moto, knowing that we've got regular substantial performance increases in the pipelines for the next few years atleast and probably way beyond...

feels good.... feels very good!! ;)
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AmigoMac
108 months ago
Someway, it means PB's coming, but how soon? I have a PB 12" and think a lot about selling it and get a 15", but would be a deal with this news? or will it take more than 1 year before the nice G5 gets into the PB? ohh no, it's pretty confusing ...:( :)
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dieselg4
108 months ago

Originally posted by AmigoMac
Someway, it means PB's coming, but how soon? I have a PB 12" and think a lot about selling it and get a 15", but would be a deal with this news? or will it take more than 1 year before the nice G5 gets into the PB? ohh no, it's pretty confusing ...:( :)

Unless you really want a bigger screen, I'd keep the 12" for awhile. If you jsut got it, you take a loss on eBay to sell it. The 12" is a fine machine (I bought one myself) and its highly portable. Why spend another grand or so for a computer that isn't a whoel lot faster (unless you'd really like a bigger screen)
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agreenster
108 months ago
Its GREAT to see serious progress happening in the Apple world.

For TOO long it was Motorola running the show (or should I say 'ruining' the show) and slowing down the release of new Apple hardware. Now that IBM is in the picture, it seems like they (Apple + IBM) will be keeping up with Intel when it comes to chip upgrading roadmaps and times.

Can I get an amen?

:D
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