IBM Power6 hits 4.5Ghz Stock!!

[BigCharb]

while AMD and Intel and counting cores IBM stuck to two but supercharged it to 4.5Ghz stock and changed the architecture. while Intels C2D can get to 4.2 with high end water cooling, i say this IBM proc would hit 7 or 8Ghz if properly over clocked. heres a link of more detail http://www.realworldtech.com/page.cfm?ArticleID=RWT101606194731

 

[NMDante]

Looks like a dual core CPU, not a single core.

It's an impressive looking CPU, but it's for a totally different segment, compared to AMD and Intel CPUs (except in high end servers, which I think this CPU is designed for - maybe workstations).

 

[Artmic]

Sure would be nice to have a X6800 at 4.5Ghz with stock cooling 8)

 

[HotFoot]

Besides being a non-x86 processor, how specific to workstation/server is it? It wasn't that long ago that Apple was making PCs based on the Power5. Barring some major cost penalty since fewer of these chips are sold, what could keep them back from being an excellent choice for a Linux workstation? Are new versions of Mac OS still coming out for Power processors?

Unless your business is tied to Windows (which, granted, covers most businesses I know of), I don't see why these processors shouldn't be a hit. I would like to see how the Power6 stands up to Barcelona or Penryn.

There are a lot of 'if"s in the above paragraphs. I don't really know what besides the OS choice would be effected by using a Power processor. If I'm planning to use Linux anyway, is there some drawback? Would all my programs still work?

 

[Ycon]

P4s hit 8 GHz, so?

 

[HotFoot]

I'm pretty sure any P4 hitting 8 GHz was with LN2 or phase-change cooling. IBM is claiming 4.5 GHz at the same TDP as the previous generation's at half the frequency. One hopes they didn't sacrifice too much on the IPC side in order to hit those frequencies.

I'd take a Core 2 at 4 GHz over a Pentium D at 8 GHz any day.

 

[r0ck]

I think someone needs to read the title again :roll:

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

Ya, but what good is a PPC processor to anyone in the normal sect of computing?

x86 or bust I say.

 

[elbert]

Power6 may replace IBM's CELL processor's in the PS3 and could switch Apple back to RISC CPU's. One can only guess as a RISC can do anything a CISC CPU can do all be it without code changes in emulation.

 

[BigCharb]

i think someone in Apple is going to get a pink slip this Friday, if Macs had Power6 processors; that would mean a total different ballgame for Apple. The Power6 gets 4.5 at the highest voltage at this new architecture, if they just cut the voltage by 2 then that would mean a 2.25Ghz server proc in a mac book, or mini.

where would one have to go to buy an IBM Processor?

 

[HotFoot]

I don't think it's quite as simple as half the voltage - stable at half the frequency. Still, IBM should be able to spin this chip into a decent mobile part if they wanted.

Apple wasn't dumb to go with Intel chips... Most of what they sell are laptops, and Intel has had the best laptop CPUs since Apple went with them. IBM wasn't delivering with a mobiel Power5, so Apple's hand was forced.

Besides, if you think the Merom chips are impressive, then the Penryn should be that much better. High-K/metal gate should do good things for power consumption. 15W 1.6 GHz Penryn, anyone?

 

[Ycon]

What I was saying is that the GHz come from reducing IPC compared to POWER5.
Same with the Prescott that would lag behind a C2D, even at 8 GHz.

And there is no clock speed headroom, since it had to be slowed down to 4.7 GHz from 6 GHz that IBM initially calimed and even so it consumes well over 300W (and dissipates quite a bit).

 

[dasickninja]

You do realize that the competition for this chip is MP Opterons and Itaniums?

 

[r0ck]

They ~doubled GHz and ~doubled performance in same thermal envelope. You can have everything twice as fast with no increase in power or have the same performance with 1/2 thermal envelope.

 

[Valdis]

What I was saying is that the GHz come from reducing IPC compared to POWER5.
Same with the Prescott that would lag behind a C2D, even at 8 GHz.

wrong the pipeline is the same as for power 5

 

[CaptRobertApril]

Ya, but what good is a PPC processor to anyone in the normal sect of computing?

Hey, you can run OS7 on it. Nice Finder! :lol:

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

My gigahertz are bigger than your gigahertz. I win, right?

 

[elbert]

i think someone in Apple is going to get a pink slip this Friday, if Macs had Power6 processors; that would mean a total different ballgame for Apple. The Power6 gets 4.5 at the highest voltage at this new architecture, if they just cut the voltage by 2 then that would mean a 2.25Ghz server proc in a mac book, or mini.

where would one have to go to buy an IBM Processor?

I think walmart has PS3's which has IBM's CELL processor.

 

[jamesgoddard]

My CPU runs at 4.5GHz on air cooling just fine, does that make me elite, or is there more to CPU's than just MHz....

Sun's Niagara II chip is running at onlt 1.4GHz, but will wipe the floor with the power 6.

 

[HotFoot]

Sun's Niagara II chip is running at onlt 1.4GHz, but will wipe the floor with the power 6.

In server applications, no doubt, what's the piepline length on the Niagara? 6?

I guess there's really not that much hope of seeing a Power6-based desktop any time soon, but I'd still hold that the Niagara chip is another class alltogether.

 

[nop]

Besides being a non-x86 processor, how specific to workstation/server is it?

It is intended for servers. That said, you could use it in something else, However....

Barring some major cost penalty since fewer of these chips are sold, what could keep them back from being an excellent choice for a Linux workstation?

I've not seen numbers on these, but when I last went to an IBM presentation, I had difficulty convinvincing myself that, for all their technical excellence, the IBM server products built around the previous generation of power products were cost-competitive (against Xeons, etc), so my strong expectation is that the price of a system built around one of these will be uncompetitive.

And you've probably got used to the idea that there is an enormous choice of motherboards with an enormous choice of hardware and overclocking facilities that you can choose from. There won't be as soon as you enter the Power world. And as for economical motherboards, or even just slightly uneconomical motherboards, you probably need to forget it.

At that point, the cheapest Power server (1U, lowest ram, lowest/no hard disc) was about £2000 - £2500. Bear in mind that you could get superficially similar x86 servers from HP and Sun for about half that (and they probably had the higher spec in terms of memory and disc space) and you can see why my interest was limited.

Unless your business is tied to Windows (which, granted, covers most businesses I know of), I don't see why these processors shouldn't be a hit. I would like to see how the Power6 stands up to Barcelona or Penryn.

...against Xeon would be a more interesting (or, at least, more likely to be constructive) comparison (because of price).

There are a lot of 'if"s in the above paragraphs. I don't really know what besides the OS choice would be effected by using a Power processor. If I'm planning to use Linux anyway, is there some drawback? Would all my programs still work?

No. Anything you can recompile yourself could, theoretically, be made to work, but if you have binary only programs (flash, video drivers, potentially anything not 'free') then you only have the chance of the software supplier compiling a version for you. I'm guessing this is a 'probably not', but YMMV.

and, from DaSickNinja

You do realize that the competition for this chip is MP Opterons and Itaniums?

errr, and Xeons, as mentioned. I'm surprised there isn't more interest in Xeons. The latest X3000 and X5000 series parts are not unreasonably priced (compared with FX and Extreme Edition parts you could even argue that Xeons are cheap, but what isn't compared to them? Oh yeah, Lamborghinis :roll: ), the motherboards are a bit expensive, as is ram, but overall they can be competitive with the high-end 'traditional' gamer systems, provided 'loads of cores' is an advantage, which it isn't for some applications. Think you might have difficulty getting an SLI Xeon 8 core motherboard, though

 

[HotFoot]

Good points, all around.

 

[nop]

And, in the unconventional position of replying to myself:

Yeah, but.

Yeah, but Intel has just released review samples of 'V8'. Now, as I understand it, V8 isn't an actual product that actual punters can buy, but it is quite closely related to an actual product that will be released, or that you can put together off the shelves.

2x4 core Xeons (5365s which are fairly high end quad core Xeons at 3 GHz on a S5000VXN motherboard, 4G ram). So that'll be 8 cores rumbling away at the 3 GHz, then. I think the Xeons that you can buy today (5355s) are more like 2.8 GHz or slightly smaller cache or something. How could you put up with the low performance ? (...but the real value is a bit lower down the price list, with prices comparable to an E6600). But I've seen everything, including MoBo, RAM, Xeons and PSU priced at £2400, and I'll be slightly surprised if the IBM 1u rig comes in quite that low and you could really save money on the Xeon chips without hiting the multi-threaded performance in the real world.

Yeah, but Amiga. Now bundle this may well be vapourware. And most of you will be thinking that Amiga got out-evolved in the '90s and, having become extinct, wouldn't be heard of again, but the latest rumour of a high-end Amiga from the ever-phoenix-like ruins of the Amiga organisation (and whoever owns it this week) revolved around PA semis PWRficient PA6T-1682M. So that'll be the two Power PC cores clocking away at 3 GHz (seems like the number of the day). And there is some confusion whether that's a single dual core chip or two dual core chips, due to ambiguity in the little information available.

So this would be running software that used to run on something like a very single core 68020 at 50 MHz (at best) on 2 or four cores of multi-issue Power PC goodness. And the software wouldn't have the 'bloat' that has clung to some other systems in the last decade. I'm not expecting it to be slow. Well, not slow in operation, although it might take forever to get released. And that same hardware would run Linux, theoretically, but that's only interesting if someone drives the volume up so the price comes down.

These are interesting times, even if everything that has come out of AMD recently is bullstuff, and I really hope it isn't.

 

[babybudha]

Power6 may replace IBM's CELL processor's in the PS3 and could switch Apple back to RISC CPU's. One can only guess as a RISC can do anything a CISC CPU can do all be it without code changes in emulation.

So Sony spends like a billion to help design the cell processor, just to get it replaced within 1-2 years of the PS3 being out? I know the cell has other uses and potential in other products........but man that sucks.

 

[HotFoot]

How likely is the switch from Cell to Power6? These chips are so different how could the PS3 possibly work with the Power6? Also, what's the processing power of the Cell when programs are actually able to take advantage of it?

I agree that the Cell wouldn't be a good DT CPU, but if the applications are written for it, it's very powerful. I would be suprised to hear that the Power6 is more powerful. Rather, I think the Power6 is more of a true general CPU.