Future PowerPC beyond 3.2 ghz?

MacFreak

Chic Not Geek
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?

:D
 
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
 
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.
 
Convert said:
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
MacFreak said:
IBM and Apple own PowerPC. They approved to let Micro$hit to use PowerPC processor for XBoX only.
Isn't Nintendo's next console supposed to be PPC also?

The Chinese website Unika.com have what they claim are the Spec's for Nintendo's next-gen Revolution! Here's a quick translation by Google.

# CPU: IBM G5 Custom x 4 2.5GHz cores, level 1 cache 128KB, a level 2 cache 512KB share

# GPU: RN520 x 2core 16MB eDRAM, PC R520 AMR technology supports 720p and 1080i.

Source

Looks like IBM is going to be busy...... :cool:
 
IBM is delivering the PS3's CPU, too (although it's not strictly a PPC, IIRC). Also, the GameCube uses a variant of the G3. IBM's busy, indeed.

It's kind of ironic that the state of Mac gaming is so sad when so many consoles use the same processor family. Even the SNES used Apple-like processors (a variant of the processor used in the Apple II, with some added graphics routines).

There was actually a rumor going around that IBM was giving MS and Sony the exact same processors. But that turned out to be just a rumor. Would've been funny, though. :)
 
If the specs on CNET are right, it is most probably one of the most powerful gaming consoles ever done. But I wonder when they put 3.2 GHz G5's into those consoles, then why aren't there any PowerMacs with these speeds? I find it a kind of strange.
 
Well, several sites report saying it's not exactly the same G5 we're using, so then you might have to wonder if it's pin compatible with the Apple motherboard.
If not then there's probably firmware and chipset support to take into consideration. Cooling the chip doesn't seem to be a problem as the heatsink I've seen from leaked pics looks small.
 
HomunQlus said:
If the specs on CNET are right, it is most probably one of the most powerful gaming consoles ever done.
Um, isn't that the reason they come up with new consoles? How much sense would it make to take a performance step back?
 
Oscar Castillo said:
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.


Yes, you can get Linux on there (like I have on my Xbox), but it's not there in the first place. By linux I mean An actual desktop, etc.

You'd have to either hack it and install it, or hack it to release it.
 
Convert said:
Yes, you can get Linux on there (like I have on my Xbox), but it's not there in the first place. By linux I mean An actual desktop, etc.

You'd have to either hack it and install it, or hack it to release it.
In the words of the words of the Donald Rumsfeld, "It'll be a long hard slog", but I think anyone here would understand that if they were to try.
 
I feel maybe the 3 GHz hold up from IBM may have been the development of the chip for the XBOX. I just hope IBM will translate the knowledge to the Mac G5 version chip.
 
Oscar Castillo said:
In the words of the words of the Donald Rumsfeld, "It'll be a long hard slog", but I think anyone here would understand that if they were to try.

Agreed.

I had someone install Linux for me, it's a Red hat distro, works well. He did a soft mod though (no actual hardware modifications needed!)
 
Well, well, what do you know. According to the XBox 360 developer video it's also water-cooled. Some nice closeup shots of the system board too.
 
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