Future PowerPC beyond 3.2 ghz?

**MacFreak** · May 14th, 2005, 04:24 PM

IBM and Apple own PowerPC. They approved to let Micro$hit to use PowerPC processor for XBoX only. It's very interesting since it will have 3.2 ghz this Dec 2005. Therefore PowerMac will go beyond than 3.2 ghz? Its very interesting since Apple have no comment about this. Umm... Already leaked?

**TimR** · May 14th, 2005, 05:20 PM

I'm no expert but other threads at macrumours etc were saying that they are 3.2 but also that they were "stripped down" versions designed to do one thing very fast and were not really suitable for a computer enviroment which has many varied tasks.

Its all a bit deep for an average computer user like myself (I'm learning!) but suffice to say whatever money gets spent developing at IBM will eventually trickle down to Apple.

later
Tim

**Convert** · May 14th, 2005, 05:39 PM

Yeah, after all, the XBox is a gaming machine. It has an OS, but it's different to Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux, it's not like that, it's made just for gaming.

**Oscar Castillo** · May 14th, 2005, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by Convert

Yeah, after all, the XBox is a gaming machine. It has an OS, but it's different to Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux, it's not like that, it's made just for gaming.

I wouldn't sound so sure about that. Where there's a CPU, there always seems a way to get Linux onto there. XBox, PS2, Gamecube all have implementations of Linux running on them. I'm sure there will be hacks to get the new XBox to do things it wasn't intended to do.

**Oscar Castillo** · May 14th, 2005, 08:11 PM

TimR is correct, the CPU in the XBox is a stripped down PPC. How much has been stripped away is unknown, but at the very least playing with speeds above 3GHz and mass producing them can only help the rest of the PPC line get better.
I've always believed that all these PPC derivatives coming out of IBM has slowed production of PPC we know as the G5. R&D and tweaking of the manufacturing process for these new PPCs, like he one in XBox and Cell, which appear to have been developed simultaneously, probably took away key people working on future G5/G6 CPUs.
The resources needed to keep the flow of chips to Sony and Microsoft to keep up with demand has to have put a strain on IBM's manufacturing.

**Captain Code** · May 14th, 2005, 09:21 PM

I haven't read anything saying that it's a stripped down version, besides people's comments on it with no proof. It just says it's a custom PPC chip.

I read that Microsoft was showing game demos on a PM G5 though so this does seem like it's pretty close to the same chip.

**Oscar Castillo** · May 14th, 2005, 09:43 PM

ZDNet quotes a Microsoft spokesman saying that the XBox 360 demos running on the G5 emulate some of the technology behind XBox. So some stuff is certainly there, some stuff is not. I'm sure they must be pretty close. Specs are impressive.
I noticed the max FSB bandwidth is the same as the dual 2.7Ghz PM and from one chip has to be a phenomenal performer.

**texanpenguin** · May 15th, 2005, 02:11 AM

The boon for Mac users will be that IBM will have a very steady income flow from this (the XBox will sell great and everyone knows it), and that should enable them to overcome the hurdles they have about going faster at present.

Edit: I don't know if the derogatory misspelling of Microsoft was required.