Architecture Leap for PowerPC

My favourite parts of the articles

The fact is that a 0.06um based PowerPC 970 will have a lot of advantages: first of all, it will be really cooler than the current PowerPC 970, secondly it will by the way be able to reach even higher clock speeds, and finally, it will be cheaper to produce.
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ut the fact IBM wants to jump to 0.06um process for the production of it's future PowerPC processors is very good news for Apple, as it certainly means the company will be technically and financially able to go 100% G5 for all its Macs, including lap-tops and cunsomer Macs within a year.
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Like Whoa! If IBM can churn out 60nm PPC's, that would be something very special indeed. But I doubt that it will happen. I'm wondering if the 'reliable source' is a someone working in the fab or just some IBMer in an ivory tower somewhere.

This will not necessarily be a cost improvement, because I can imagine yields for 60nm SOI will be very low. But this will allow them to crank up the clock speed. I don't know a whole lot about SOI technology, but CMOS leakage is an issue as you shrink the geometries of the transistor, so a 60nm PPC970 at 3GHz may not necessarily be ideal for notebooks. But they may have done something special with the design to reduce leakage, which if they are smart they would do.

I don't see this an an architectural improvement, per se, as the PPC 970 arch hasn't changed. Just a process technology improvement.
 
Accoding to this pdf the PPC970 is at 130nm right now. If IBM went to 60nm in less than a year that would be a breakthough. I don't really think that would be possible. That would be amazing if they could pull that off, but from what I've read from other companies(AMD, Intel), they are looking at going to 80nm in the next year or so I think.
 
If these babies run cooler...

Could we possibly see the PBG5 this year?

Consider this, we're almost at 1 year from the last refresh of the 15" PB. Obviously this is not a technology issue, as they have created 12" and 17" laptop boards with FireWire 800, AirPort Extreme, etc.

Lets be honest, would anyone jump for joy at a 1.25GHz PBG4 anymore? I mean, I LOVE my 1GHz PowerBook, but it just seems so lack luster knowing that the G5 blows it away. Would you spend $2500.00 on that?

Even at 1.5GHz G4, it'd be a rough sale....

Lets say the new fabrication isn't ready, could they take a 1.6GHz G5 and underclock it down to 1.45GHz and produce the laptop?

Shouldn't we be seeing a 2.5GHz G5 around January/February to be on track for the 3GHz in one year promise?

Consider this as well...

Lets say IBM gets the new fabrication going and the chips will be ready in mid/late January...How perfect would it be for Steve to announce it in early/mid December to get those holiday dollars? Possibly offering a special promotional holiday pack to give as a gift that lets the recipient know their new laptop is on the way?

Also consider, why don't I have a job at Apple yet?! lol ;)
 
I've got it!

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Great deal for the iSight. I figure if they can do $129 for edu pricing, they can do $10 over retail to include a shirt, etc.

What do you all think?
 
Not only would this be good for apple but it'll also be very good for IBM and its brand

if IBM pulled such a stunt off then mabey yea they save alot of cash in not producing 90 or 80nm processors.

why not just skip to somthing that's gonna come later anyway?
 
Some of you are forgetting that Apple typically waits until after the holiday season for MWSF to announce their new products. It could be called a bad move, but that's when the expo is.

I think, if 60 nm transistors will help IBM sell more chips, and make the G5 that much more attractive, they should go for it by all means.
 
I'm well aware of it, but it boils down to this...

Not to be ego-centric about America, but with the economy shaky at best here, the job market very slow and the price of Apple's machines, I feel getting something on order before all the money is spent on holiday shopping would be huge.

We caught the attention of the world with the G5, now it's time to bring in the numbers and start adding more %'s.
 
Dreamin'... Sure, we'll see the PowerPC 970 become faster and maybe - just maybe! - reach a 90nm process one day (most other sites than macosxrumors mention IBM preparing 90nm processing for the chip _after_ the 970, which will stay at 130nm for 2004), but that is 'future talk' without proof.

If the PowerBooks go G5 anytime soon (and that means sometime 2004, not 2003!), they will have to build the 'book around the chip right now. Sadly.
 
2004 release could be accomplished by a late 2003 announcement.

Seriously, would you pay upwards of $2500-$3500 USD for a 1.33GHz G4 based laptop knowing how far superior the G5 is?

Unless Apple is prepared to introduce dual G4 laptops, I'd think the next batch might just fail.
 
Well, the G5 isn't THAT superior. Also, for portables there are other measurements. I don't want a fast portable that only has 1 hour of battery power, for example. The G3 and G4 is a 'good' notebook processor, concerning heat and power, the G5 - as of now - is not.

Btw.: MacBidouille has new info about a 65nm process for the G5. They're mentioning a 6-9 month time frame for production start (which probably means the chips can't be used in Macs for the next 10-12 months). This sounds much more reasonable. They also say that the source is _not_ the same one.
 
Page 14 of that PDF above says that PPC970 dissipates 42W of power at 1.8GHz(which could mean Apple overclocked it, or the PDF is a bit old).

How much power do the G4 and G3 chips dissipate?
 
About the PowerPC 750FX (used in iBooks): "The 750FX consumes only 3.6W (typical) at 800MHz, making it much more power-efficient than other microprocessors with comparable performance."

About the PowerPC 7455A (G4): At 1.25 GHz, the processor has a max power dissipation of ~25W.

Doesn't sound to me like the G5 would go anywhere a notebook *I*'d buy. At least not in this incarnation.
 
42W would burn a hole in your pants and singe your leg hairs. They definitely need to make it cooler before making it portable.
 
It's not a matter of heat and such right now to me, my main argument is, would you spend $3000.00 USD on a G4 based machine at this point in time?
 
If anybody has a chance to leap-frog the industry, its IBM. Everybody is now retooling to 90nm process, which is why Motorola is having problems producing 7457 in quantity. Their main plant for producing PowerPCs, MOS-13, at the Ed Bluestein campus (Austin TX) is undergoing retrofit now. But it won't be churning out anything until Spring 2004. Problem is the indusry now is in a slight rebound and their MRAM is getting to be a hot commodity. They won't use the MOS-12 plant at the Oak Hills campus because that's stuck at 180nm and filling big orders. The MOS-12 in Chandler, AZ just switched over from 180nm to 130nm so that is the likely candidate for producing 7457s. But they have a lot of big orders there too.
 
Iverson, if I needed a laptop for professional reasons, then yes, definitely.

Does anybody know how big (or, rather, how small) the transistors on the P4 and AMD proccy's are?
 
Go3iverson: Yes, I would. If I had the money and needed a new notebook. However, I rather need a new desktop machine sooner than later, so I'll probably get a G5 1.6 GHz (or a dual G4 1.25 GHz which in tests is the faster machine).
 
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